This Day In Sox History...April 14

[Lip Man 1]

April 14, 1910 - Sox pitcher Frank Smith fired the franchises only opening day one-hitter as he beat the St. Louis Browns in Chicago 3-0 in front of almost 24-thousand fans. Smith would later go on to pitch for the Red Sox and Reds. The only hit he allowed the Browns came off the bat of outfielder Ray Demmitt who’d later play for the White Sox in 1914 and 1915.

 

April 14, 1917 - Sox pitching star Eddie Cicotte no-hit the St. Louis Browns, easily winning 11-0. The game was at St. Louis and is the earliest no-hitter ever thrown by a Sox pitcher in a season. Only one member of the Browns came close to a hit but Jim Austin’s ground ball was ruled an error in the eighth inning when it went right through first baseman Arnold “Chick” Gandil who was in position to make a play but the ball bounced past him.  

 

April 14, 1942 - Because of the intervention of President Franklin Roosevelt, Major League Baseball continued during the World War. The Sox would lose to St. Louis 3-0, this opening day in front of less than 10-thousand fans. According to the reports at the time it was a very quiet, somber crowd. Marines and sailors marched in carrying the American flag from center field. Pearl Harbor was still etched in everyone’s memories.

 

April 14, 1953 - Cleveland’s Bob Lemon, who’d go on to manage the Sox in 1977 and some of 1978, almost duplicated Bob Feller’s opening day no-hitter, holding the Sox to one-hit in winning 6-0. Feller’s gem is the only opening day no-hitter in MLB history. He did it in 1940. “Minnie” Minoso got the only White Sox hit and that came in the first inning, a single to left field.   

 

April 14, 1955 - The White Sox and Sandy Consuegra defeated the Kansas City Athletics 7-1 in the Comiskey Park home opener. The game was the first ever between the Sox and the Athletics since the A’s move from Philadelphia to Kansas City. Sandy went the distance allowing only three hits. Right fielder Bob Nieman drove in three runs on the day, a pair coming on his sixth inning home run.

 

April 14, 1964 - The bittersweet 1964 season began with the Sox dropping a 5-3 decision to the Orioles in Chicago. Hoyt Wilhelm gave up two runs and three hits to lose the game. The 1964 White Sox would win 98 games...only to finish one game behind the Yankees for the pennant.

 

April 14, 1981 - In the home opener for the season and for new owners Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn, 51,560 fans poured into Comiskey Park to see the new faces and new attitude.

The Sox put on a show, blowing apart Milwaukee 9-3. The big blow was Carlton Fisk’s grand slam in the fourth inning into the seats in left center field, off former Sox hurler Pete Vuckovich. Another Sox newcomer, Greg Luzinski would have two hits and drive in two runs himself that afternoon.

 

April 14, 2017 – The White Sox started an all-Garcia outfield at Minnesota, marking the first time in Major League history a team's three starting outfielders all had the same last name. All three collected hits, including Willy Garcia, who doubled in his first big league at-bat in the second. He played left field with Leury Garcia in center and Avisail Garcia in right. Leury had a hit and Avisail had a pair in the game.

The Alou brothers all played in the outfield for San Francisco in 1963 a few times but all three never actually started the game. The Sox would win the contest 2-1.

 

April 14, 2021 – He’s always had the talent, he just could never stay healthy but on this night, Carlos Rodon put it all together and threw the 20^th no-hitter in White Sox history as he beat the Indians 8-0 at Guaranteed Rate Field. He got all the support he needed as the Sox put six runs on the board in the first inning.

Rodon almost went one step further and achieved the pitcher’s ultimate game as he retired the first 25 hitters in a row and was working on a perfect game before an 1-2 slider got away from him and he hit Roberto Perez in the left foot. He then retired the final two hitters to finish off the no-hitter. Carlos threw 114 pitches, striking out seven in the win.

He’d become a free agent and sign with the Giants for 2021 before becoming a free agent again and sign a monster contract to pitch for the Yankees.   

[The Grinder]

I dont remember Willy Garcia, prob for a good reason