This Day In Sox History...May 15

[Lip Man 1]

May 15, 1929 - Sox outfielder Art “The Great” Shires (Shires by the way gave himself that nickname) and manager Lena Blackburne got into a fistfight during a game at Comiskey Park won by the Sox 8-4 over Boston.

Before the game Blackburne had suspended and fined Shires for wearing a red felt hat during batting practice and for not taking the game seriously. Shires left the park but later returned and confronted Blackburne where the two men exchanged blows.

The two men would get into another fist fight later that season in September in a Philadelphia hotel room.  

 

May 15, 1941 - In a game in New York, Sox pitcher Edgar Smith allowed a hit to Yankee great Joe DiMaggio in the first inning. It would be the first hit in his record setting 56 game hitting streak.

The Sox won the game though 13-1 with outfielder Taft “Taffy” Wright driving in four runs. That year he’d hit .322 and knock in 97 RBI’s.

   

May 15, 1951 – It was a testament to the managerial genius of Sox skipper Paul Richards. It had been 30 years since the league saw a move like this.

In the ninth inning of a game in Boston where the White Sox were winning 7-6, relief pitcher Harry Dorish was removed in favor of Billy Pierce to face the left-handed hitting Ted Williams, only Dorish wasn’t removed from the game, he was moved to third base! Pierce retired Williams on a pop up, then was taken out of the game and Dorish put back on the mound.

Boston eventually tied the game but the White Sox would have the last laugh, winning 9-7 in 11 innings. The victory marked the start of a 14-game win streak, with 11 of the wins on the road. On May 30 after sweeping the St. Louis Browns, the Sox record stood at 26-9.

       

May 15, 1954 – With a 7-6 come from behind win over the Philadelphia Athletics at Comiskey Park, the White Sox secured the franchises 4,000^th win. It was catcher Carl Sawatski’s single with two out in the ninth inning that won the game.

That year the Sox went 94-60-1…and still finished 17 games back of the pennant winning Indians!

 

May 15, 1988 – It is an obscure record and one that probably will never be broken. Outfielder Dave Gallagher was picked up over the winter by the Sox after he was released by the Mariners and was called up to the club the day before. Playing in only his second game in a White Sox uniform he hit a walk-off home run in the 11^th inning to beat the Blue Jays 6-5 at Comiskey Park. The hit came off Toronto’s sidewinder Mark Eichhorn. It is the team record for fewest games played before hitting a walk-off home run. 

 

May 15, 1990 - Bobby Thigpen became the White Sox all-time saves leader in a 3-2 win over Baltimore at Comiskey Park. Thigpen pitched a scoreless ninth inning in nailing down his 100th career save, surpassing Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm on the White Sox all-time list. The save was Thigpen’s ninth of the year… before the remarkable season was over Bobby would nail down 57 saves which set the Major League record and be named Relief Pitcher of the Year.

 

May 15, 1996 - The Sox scored 20 runs in a game. They easily handled the Brewers in Milwaukee 20-8. The Sox scored 20, yet only hit two home runs. Frank Thomas had one of them and knocked in six runs on the night. Harold Baines and Robin Ventura had three RBI’s each as well.