This day In Sox History...January 27

[Lip Man 1]

January 27, 1953 - It was one of those deals that was too good to be true and unfortunately that turned out to be the case, as the Sox acquired two-time A.L. batting champ Ferris “Burrhead” Fain from the Philadelphia A’s as part of a five-player deal.

Fain never approached those numbers in Chicago, was a distraction off the field, got hurt himself, and was rumored to have gotten into a fight with second baseman Nellie Fox that resulted in injuries. Lockers were supposedly pushed on Fox during the altercation and he was pinned under them. The fight was thought to have taken place after a game in Washington D.C. against the Senators.

In 1953 he walked 108 times and in 1954 he hit .308 but despite those numbers and two All-Star appearances he was sent to Detroit after the 1954 campaign.

 

January 27, 2005 - So who needs scouts? (Just joking...) Sox G.M. Ken Williams signed Japanese second baseman Tadahito Iguchi after watching video tape on him. Iguchi turned into a very solid second baseman and second hitter in the lineup… delivering defense, home runs and RBI’s to a team that would go on to take the World Series.

Iguchi's three run home run in game #2 of the 2005 A.L.D.S. turned that game around and gave the Sox a commanding two game lead in the best of five series and then the following year in 2006, his single in the 19th inning on July 9 beat the Red Sox 6-5. That game was tied for the fifth longest in franchise history. His best offensive game came a few weeks earlier in a 10-9 extra inning loss to the Astros. Iguchi drove in seven runs, five scoring on home runs in both the eighth and ninth innings at U.S. Cellular Field. 
 

On April 15 of that same year he turned in one of the most incredible defensive plays in Major League history throwing out the Blue Jays Bengie Molina in the ninth inning of a 4-2 White Sox win. Iguchi threw the ball to first base sailing horizontally off the ground and from a most unusual throwing angle.