This Day In Sox History...June 28

[Lip Man 1]

June 28, 1941 - White Sox infielder Don Kolloway became the only White Sox player to steal second, third and home in the same inning. Kolloway pulled this off in Cleveland as part of a 6-4 Sox win. His base-stealing feat took place in the ninth inning.

He also homered twice — his first two career Major League home runs — and is the only Major Leaguer in history to have two homers and four steals in a game. He also scored four times in the afternoon contest.

 

June 28, 1973 - The ill fortunes of the team really came into focus, as by the time the summer ended, a team that was in first place for two months, wound up placing 38 names on the injured list. Among the key injuries were Ken Henderson tearing up his knee sliding into home plate, Bill Melton suffering a groin injury, Carlos May had a bad hamstring, Brian Downing wrenched his knee on his first Major League play and was lost until August diving to catch a foul pop up and Pat Kelly having a bad back.

But the most damming injury occurred in Anaheim on the day listed above with the Sox a game out of first place. Dick Allen suffered a broken leg when Mike Epstein crashed into him on a play at first. Allen was stretching to grab a wild throw from third baseman Bill Melton in the sixth inning of a game the Sox would win 2-0.   

Here’s where it really got strange.....the injury took place just a little over 10 years after Sox first baseman Joe Cunningham suffered a broken collarbone against the same team in Southern California, on the same type of play (a wild throw) with the Sox in first place!

 

June 28, 1993 - In the first of what would become a series of major public relations disasters, the White Sox released Carlton Fisk on the road in Cleveland. Fisk accompanied the team to Ohio only to be told of his release before the game.

No question, Fisk was finished as a player, but the fans and media were outraged at the way the Sox handled the situation. In fact, the Sox sent faxes to the media announcing the move, not even having the courtesy to hold a press conference.

Fisk, the future Hall of Famer, had to say his goodbyes to his former teammates from the stands at Municipal Stadium during that evening’s game before returning to Chicago

[The Kids Can Play]

Carlton didn't forget that brutal and unprofessional release. When Carlton Fisk was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000, he chose to wear the Boston Red Sox cap and not the White Sox cap. Keep in mind, Fisk played 13 seasons with the White Sox and only 10 with the Red Sox. Furthermore, most of Fisk's all time records were set such as most HR's and games caught as a catcher having been achieved in a White Sox uniform. 

I guess this is where Jerry first learned how to be a classless and loser owner having no problem F'ing great players. Of course he did again in 1998 when he let Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson leave in 1999, because the idiot Jerry Krause wanted them gone.

[Melton1972]

Fisk's release was handles horribly by the White Sox front office, but I think his decision to wear a Red Sox cap was based more on the fact that he was from New Hampshire and grew up a Boston Red Sox fan. I thought I read somewhere that he wasn't happy with the Red Sox organization either and Joked that he was going to wear his little league hat to the Hall of Fame ceremony

[Lip Man 1]

August 4, 2000 - Catcher Carlton Fisk was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Even though Fisk played more games and for more years with the White Sox, he went in wearing the colors of the Red Sox.

Fisk explained to the Chicago media, that his choice in no way reflected any animosity towards White Sox fans but was based in part on his treatment by the organization and ownership over the years.

[The Grinder]

More PR gaffes by this disgusting franchise