Johnny Romano R.I.P.

[Lip Man 1]

Not many guys left now off that 1959 team, not a bad hitter in two stints with the Sox. Some of his moments with the club are listed here:

January 20, 1965 - Another big deal pulled off by Sox G.M. Ed Short which kept the franchise’s streak of winning seasons going. The Sox were part of a three team trade with the Indians and Athletics. When all was said and done, the Sox parted with outfielders Jim Landis and Mike Hershberger, pitcher Fred Talbot and catcher Cam Carreon.

In return they got back power hitting catcher Johnny Romano, pitcher Tommy John and outfielder Tommie Agee. Agee would be named Rookie of the Year in 1966 becoming the first Sox player ever with 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in a season; John would be part of the Sox brilliant starting rotation, making the All Star team for the first time in 1968. Romano wasn’t a slouch either in his second stint with the club, banging out 33 home runs in two seasons before being traded.

April 19, 1965 – White Sox manager Al Lopez tied the record when he used five pinch hitters in the seventh inning of what turned out to be a 7-2 win over the Orioles at Comiskey Park. The Sox trailed 3-2 when Lopez began his maneuvering. By the time the inning was over he used Don Buford, Danny Cater, Johnny Romano, Dave Nicholson and Gary Peters as pinch hitters with Romano and Peters both hitting singles and driving in runs.Peters’ hit would give the Sox the lead for good. Lopez first used five pinch hitters in an inning on May 18, 1957 at Baltimore.

September 25, 1965 - The Sox set the franchise record by hitting their 15^th consecutive solo home run. The streak started at Baltimore on September 2 in the second game of a double header when Johnny Romano homered. The run continued until a game on this date was played in New York. Pitcher Tommy John hit the last home run in the streak. The breakdown saw Ken Berry with five solo home runs, Don Buford, Romano and Pete Ward with a pair each and John, Floyd Robinson, Bill “Moose” Skowron and Bill Voss with one solo home run. The Sox would tie this rather odd record in 2016.

December 6, 1959 - In an effort to try to repeat as American League champs Bill Veeck and Hank Greenberg decided to make a series of moves to bring in hitters at the expense of some of the top young players in the Sox system. Veeck originally tried to get young stars like future Sox coach Orlando Cepeda from the Giants and Bill White from the Cardinals but was turned down. So he went in the only direction he felt he could.

The first deal brought the Sox back outfielder “Minnie” Minoso at the cost of future All Star power hitting first baseman Norm Cash and future All Star power hitting catcher Johnny Romano. Cleveland also got John “Bubba” Phillips. Sox manager Al Lopez was quoted after the controversial deal as saying, “Some of us, like me, are not worried about next year because we might not be around then.”

 

 

 

[flavum]

8 left from the 1959 team.

Aparicio is the last living Sox player that played in the 59 Series.

Barry Latman and Ken McBride were pitchers that played significant time with the Sox that year.

Lou Skizas, OF and Claude Raymond, P played in April, 1959.

Joe HIcks, OF, JC Martin, 3B, and Gary Peters, P were September callups in 1959.

Skizas will be 87 in June, is the oldest.  Raymond will be 82 in May, is the youngest.

 

 

 

Edited March 1, 2019 by flavum

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

On 3/1/2019 at 1:21 PM, Lip Man 1 said:

Not many guys left now off that 1959 team, not a bad hitter in two stints with the Sox. Some of his moments with the club are listed here:

January 20, 1965 - Another big deal pulled off by Sox G.M. Ed Short which kept the franchise’s streak of winning seasons going. The Sox were part of a three team trade with the Indians and Athletics. When all was said and done, the Sox parted with outfielders Jim Landis and Mike Hershberger, pitcher Fred Talbot and catcher Cam Carreon.

In return they got back power hitting catcher Johnny Romano, pitcher Tommy John and outfielder Tommie Agee. Agee would be named Rookie of the Year in 1966 becoming the first Sox player ever with 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in a season; John would be part of the Sox brilliant starting rotation, making the All Star team for the first time in 1968. Romano wasn’t a slouch either in his second stint with the club, banging out 33 home runs in two seasons before being traded.

April 19, 1965 – White Sox manager Al Lopez tied the record when he used five pinch hitters in the seventh inning of what turned out to be a 7-2 win over the Orioles at Comiskey Park. The Sox trailed 3-2 when Lopez began his maneuvering. By the time the inning was over he used Don Buford, Danny Cater, Johnny Romano, Dave Nicholson and Gary Peters as pinch hitters with Romano and Peters both hitting singles and driving in runs.Peters’ hit would give the Sox the lead for good. Lopez first used five pinch hitters in an inning on May 18, 1957 at Baltimore.

September 25, 1965 - The Sox set the franchise record by hitting their 15^th consecutive solo home run. The streak started at Baltimore on September 2 in the second game of a double header when Johnny Romano homered. The run continued until a game on this date was played in New York. Pitcher Tommy John hit the last home run in the streak. The breakdown saw Ken Berry with five solo home runs, Don Buford, Romano and Pete Ward with a pair each and John, Floyd Robinson, Bill “Moose” Skowron and Bill Voss with one solo home run. The Sox would tie this rather odd record in 2016.

December 6, 1959 - In an effort to try to repeat as American League champs Bill Veeck and Hank Greenberg decided to make a series of moves to bring in hitters at the expense of some of the top young players in the Sox system. Veeck originally tried to get young stars like future Sox coach Orlando Cepeda from the Giants and Bill White from the Cardinals but was turned down. So he went in the only direction he felt he could.

The first deal brought the Sox back outfielder “Minnie” Minoso at the cost of future All Star power hitting first baseman Norm Cash and future All Star power hitting catcher Johnny Romano. Cleveland also got John “Bubba” Phillips. Sox manager Al Lopez was quoted after the controversial deal as saying, “Some of us, like me, are not worried about next year because we might not be around then.”

 

 

 

Thank you Lip for providing wonderful historical stories. I know it's meaningless ancient history to many here, As for myself I remember many of the names you mentioned but don't remember Romano playing for the Sox. I remember John , Peter ,Berry , Ward, Aparicio and Buford so my awareness of the SOx started around 1967 or 68 at the age of 9 or 10. Of course I know of him because as I got older I became more aware of Sox history and even got an A on a paper I wrote comparing a Sox team to the 59 team. It was probably the 1975 or 1976 team. I knew my teacher was a Sox fan too . One of the few easy A's I ever got in H.S.

Sounds so strange now to hear Peter's was used as a pinch hinter and got a hit even though I'm aware he was a good hitting pitcher thanks to sometimes playing Strat-o-matic baseball before the computer age.

[Lip Man 1]

17 minutes ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

Thank you Lip for providing wonderful historical stories. I know it's meaningless ancient history to many here, As for myself I remember many of the names you mentioned but don't remember Romano playing for the Sox. I remember John , Peter ,Berry , Ward, Aparicio and Buford so my awareness of the SOx started around 1967 or 68 at the age of 9 or 10. Of course I know of him because as I got older I became more aware of Sox history and even got an A on a paper I wrote comparing a Sox team to the 59 team. It was probably the 1975 or 1976 team. I knew my teacher was a Sox fan too . One of the few easy A's I ever got in H.S.

Sounds so strange now to hear Peter's was used as a pinch hinter and got a hit even though I'm aware he was a good hitting pitcher thanks to sometimes playing Strat-o-matic baseball before the computer age.

Eddie Stanky at times also batted Peters 6th or 7th in the lineup on the day he was pitching!

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

1 minute ago, Lip Man 1 said:

Eddie Stanky at times also batted Peters 6th or 7th in the lineup on the day he was pitching!

Yep didn't have great hitting teams then but the pitching was pretty good.

[Lip Man 1]

12 hours ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

Yep didn't have great hitting teams then but the pitching was pretty good.

Between 1963 and 1967 the Sox led the league in ERA four times and missed leading it the 5th season by a very slim margin to the Orioles as I remember. They produced pitchers like Detroit produced cars back then.

[Saufley]

On 3/1/2019 at 3:21 PM, Lip Man 1 said:

Not many guys left now off that 1959 team, not a bad hitter in two stints with the Sox. Some of his moments with the club are listed here:

January 20, 1965 - Another big deal pulled off by Sox G.M. Ed Short which kept the franchise’s streak of winning seasons going. The Sox were part of a three team trade with the Indians and Athletics. When all was said and done, the Sox parted with outfielders Jim Landis and Mike Hershberger, pitcher Fred Talbot and catcher Cam Carreon.

In return they got back power hitting catcher Johnny Romano, pitcher Tommy John and outfielder Tommie Agee. Agee would be named Rookie of the Year in 1966 becoming the first Sox player ever with 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in a season; John would be part of the Sox brilliant starting rotation, making the All Star team for the first time in 1968. Romano wasn’t a slouch either in his second stint with the club, banging out 33 home runs in two seasons before being traded.

April 19, 1965 – White Sox manager Al Lopez tied the record when he used five pinch hitters in the seventh inning of what turned out to be a 7-2 win over the Orioles at Comiskey Park. The Sox trailed 3-2 when Lopez began his maneuvering. By the time the inning was over he used Don Buford, Danny Cater, Johnny Romano, Dave Nicholson and Gary Peters as pinch hitters with Romano and Peters both hitting singles and driving in runs.Peters’ hit would give the Sox the lead for good. Lopez first used five pinch hitters in an inning on May 18, 1957 at Baltimore.

September 25, 1965 - The Sox set the franchise record by hitting their 15^th consecutive solo home run. The streak started at Baltimore on September 2 in the second game of a double header when Johnny Romano homered. The run continued until a game on this date was played in New York. Pitcher Tommy John hit the last home run in the streak. The breakdown saw Ken Berry with five solo home runs, Don Buford, Romano and Pete Ward with a pair each and John, Floyd Robinson, Bill “Moose” Skowron and Bill Voss with one solo home run. The Sox would tie this rather odd record in 2016.

December 6, 1959 - In an effort to try to repeat as American League champs Bill Veeck and Hank Greenberg decided to make a series of moves to bring in hitters at the expense of some of the top young players in the Sox system. Veeck originally tried to get young stars like future Sox coach Orlando Cepeda from the Giants and Bill White from the Cardinals but was turned down. So he went in the only direction he felt he could.

The first deal brought the Sox back outfielder “Minnie” Minoso at the cost of future All Star power hitting first baseman Norm Cash and future All Star power hitting catcher Johnny Romano. Cleveland also got John “Bubba” Phillips. Sox manager Al Lopez was quoted after the controversial deal as saying, “Some of us, like me, are not worried about next year because we might not be around then.”

 

 

 

Thanks for the memories!