This Day In Sox History...October 6

[Lip Man 1]

October 6, 1905 - The Sox lost the pennant on the next to last day of the season when pitcher Guy "Doc" White couldn’t beat the bottom feeding St. Louis Browns. White and the Sox lost 6-2 which handed the flag to the Philadelphia Athletics. The Browns scored five runs in the third inning. The Sox would finish the season two games off the pace. That year they had six games declared ties which factored in to the final standings.       

 

October 6, 1908 - The Sox lost the pennant on the last day of the season when Ty Cobb and Detroit won the decisive game 7-0. Guy "Doc" White again was the pitcher of record, only this time he may have had an excuse. He was working on two day’s rest having beaten the Tigers 3-1 on October 4.

 

October 6, 1909 - Architect Zachary Taylor Davis submitted his design for a new ballpark on the South Side to owner Charles Comiskey. The concrete and steel structure was considered revolutionary for its time yet only took three and a half months to complete the following year, opening in July 1910.

 

October 6, 1923 – It was his first year on the team and turned out to be his last appearances of the season but future Hall of Famer Ted Lyons had himself an afternoon in Cleveland. The right hander from Texas came in to pitch in the first game of a double header, threw three innings in relief and got the win as the Sox won 6-3 by scoring four times in the ninth inning. Later in the afternoon Lyons came in to pitch again in relief in the second game, tossing a little over four innings and yes, he got the win again as the Sox took the contest 7-6. Lyons threw almost eight innings total.

When his career ended in 1946, he’d win 260 games, the most ever for a White Sox pitcher.

 

October 6, 1959 - At the mammoth L.A. Coliseum, which was the temporary home of the Dodgers, the White Sox played small ball in game #5 of the World Series. They beat Sandy Koufax 1-0 to stay alive, cutting L.A.’s lead to three games to two.

The only Sox run scored on a double play ground ball but it turned out to be enough. The Sox became the first team in World Series history to have three pitchers combine for the shut out (Bob Shaw, Billy Pierce and Dick Donovan).

The game also featured one of the greatest catches in World Series history as “Jungle” Jim Rivera ran a long way and made an over the shoulder catch in the seventh inning with two men on base to save the game robbing Charlie Neal of a potential game winner. Also it was a day game and Rivera somehow located the ball against a murderous background filled with white shirts and white dresses worn by the fans.   

Alas the Dodgers beat the Sox in game #6 9-3, to win the series four games to two. 

 

October 6, 2000 - Another dramatic and fantastic season was ruined as the Sox fell apart and lost the divisional series in three straight games to the Mariners. The M’s clinched the series despite a heroic effort from pitcher James Baldwin.

“JB,” pitching with a bad arm, held the Mariners to one run on three hits in six innings of game #3.

Seattle scored the series clinching run in the 2-1 win on a suicide squeeze from Carlos Guillen in the ninth inning. Replays showed him clearly out of the batter’s box on the bunt attempt, stepping over home plate, but Sox manager Jerry Manuel never protested the play.

 

 

[South Side Fireworks Man]

I liked James Baldwin.  2000 was a fun season, despite how the playoffs turned out.

[The Mighty Mite]

29 minutes ago, South Side Fireworks Man said:

I liked James Baldwin.  2000 was a fun season, despite how the playoffs turned out.

Probably the best hitting Sox team in my lifetime.

[South Side Hit Men]

4 hours ago, The Mighty Mite said:

Probably the best hitting Sox team in my lifetime.

According to Fangraphs metrics, it was the fourth best hitting team in White Sox history, and I believe the third in your lifetime.

The greatest and most enjoyable offense, team and owner in my lifetime has the top spot.

Was surprised of the fifth spot. Also somewhat surprised all but 29 White Sox teams finished below average offensively.

White Sox All Time Best Offensive Seasons

(Sorted by offense, 3rd column from the right)

1. 86.8 1977
2. 77.7 1994
3. 58.6 1901
4. 58.5 2000
5. 56.7 2021
6. 55.3 1995
7. 55.1 1996
8. 44.4 1981
9. 40.1 2002
10. 37.7 1919

[South Side Fireworks Man]

3 minutes ago, South Side Hit Men said:

According to Fangraphs metrics, it was the fourth best hitting team in White Sox history, and I believe the third in your lifetime.

The greatest and most enjoyable offense, team and owner in my lifetime has the top spot.

Was surprised of the fifth spot. Also somewhat surprised all but 29 White Sox teams finished below average offensively.

White Sox All Time Best Offensive Seasons

(Sorted by offense, 3rd column from the right)

1. 86.8 1977
2. 77.7 1994
3. 58.6 1901
4. 58.5 2000
5. 56.7 2021
6. 55.3 1995
7. 55.1 1996
8. 44.4 1981
9. 40.1 2002
10. 37.7 1919

Yeah, the South Side Hitmen of '77 were definitely the best hitting Sox team.  That was another fun season to be a White Sox fan.

[The Mighty Mite]

1 hour ago, South Side Hit Men said:

According to Fangraphs metrics, it was the fourth best hitting team in White Sox history, and I believe the third in your lifetime.

The greatest and most enjoyable offense, team and owner in my lifetime has the top spot.

Was surprised of the fifth spot. Also somewhat surprised all but 29 White Sox teams finished below average offensively.

White Sox All Time Best Offensive Seasons

(Sorted by offense, 3rd column from the right)

1. 86.8 1977
2. 77.7 1994
3. 58.6 1901
4. 58.5 2000
5. 56.7 2021
6. 55.3 1995
7. 55.1 1996
8. 44.4 1981
9. 40.1 2002
10. 37.7 1919

I don’t know how they came to those conclusions but just comparing the 1977 and 2000 team the 2000 team led 978 runs to 844 runs, had 216 home runs to 192 and team batting average was .286 to .278. Despite those stats I will agree that the first 4 months of 1977 was the most fun I’ve ever witnessed by a Sox team, old Comiskey was really rocking that summer but unfortunately that team had only fair pitching and the defense wasn’t great either. 
I wonder how the 2006 isn’t on that list either. 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 7, 2023 by The Mighty Mite

[South Side Fireworks Man]

7 minutes ago, The Mighty Mite said:

I don’t know how they came to those conclusions but just comparing the 1977 and 2000 team the 2000 team led 978 run to 844 runs, had 216 home runs to 192 and team batting average was .286 to .278. Despite those stats I will agree that the first 4 months of 1977 was the most fun I’ve ever witnessed by a Sox team, old Comiskey was really rocking that summer but unfortunately that team had only fair pitching and the defense wasn’t great either.

 

 

 

That '77 team played 81 games at Old Comiskey while the 2000 team played 81 at the Cell which was a launching pad in those days.

In '77 no matter what the score I never felt like the Sox were out of the game .  But both of those teams had a great offense, for sure.  2000 had Thomas, Ordonez, Konerko, Lee, Durham ... Mercy!

[The Mighty Mite]

1 minute ago, South Side Fireworks Man said:

That '77 team played 81 games at Old Comiskey while the 2000 team played 81 at the Cell which was a launching pad in those days.

In '77 no matter what the score I never felt like the Sox were out of the game .  But both of those teams had a great offense, for sure.  2000 had Thomas, Ordonez, Konerko, Lee, Durham ... Mercy!

The difference in ballparks has to be the reason they rated 1977 first, I didn’t know they used that in the calculation but based on just plain numbers I’ll still go with the 2000 team as the best hitting Sox team I have ever seen.

[South Side Hit Men]

2 hours ago, The Mighty Mite said:

The difference in ballparks has to be the reason they rated 1977 first, I didn’t know they used that in the calculation but based on just plain numbers I’ll still go with the 2000 team as the best hitting Sox team I have ever seen.

Would say the difference between the two league averages is the primary factor, with the difference between the two home ballparks also significant.

The primary home ballpark difference beyond wind direction is the distance to CF (400 vs. 445), with a secondary difference would be more foul balls lost to outs behind home plate at the old park (60 vs. 86).

Home Ballpark Factors:

2000: 110 Runs 125 Home Runs

1977: 99 Runs 80 Home Runs

Home Ballpark Dimensions:

2000: 347 LF (Wall Height 8); 375 LF/CF; 400 CF (WH 8); 375 RF/CF; 347 RF (WH 8). 1000s Sqr Feet in Fair Territory 110; Foul Territory Sqr Feet behind Home Plate 60

1977: 349 LF (Wall Height 10); 382 LF/CF; 445 CF (WH 9); 382 RF/CF; 349 RF (WH 10). 1000s Sqr Feet in Fair Territory 110; Foul Territory Sqr Feet behind Home Plate 86

 

American League Season Factors (Runs 17.0% and Home Runs 33.3% Higher 2000 vs. 1977 Leaguewide):

2000: 5.30 Average Runs per Team/Game (White Sox 6.04 or 14.0% higher); 192 Home Runs per Team/Season (White Sox 216 or 12.5% higher)

1977: 4.53 Average Runs per Team/Game (White Sox 5.21 or 15.0% Higher); 144 Home Runs per Team/Season (White Sox 192 or 33.3% higher)

Edited October 7, 2023 by South Side Hit Men