This Day In Sox History...December 15

[Lip Man 1]

December 15, 1960 - Sox owner Bill Veeck made up for some of his deals after the 1959 season by getting pitchers Juan Pizarro and Cal McLish from the Reds for infielder Gene Freese.

Manager Al Lopez and pitching coach Ray Berres had their eyes on Pizarro for a few years but Milwaukee refused to deal him to the Sox. Veeck therefore got his friend Bill DeWitt of Cincinnati to swing a deal and then to ship Pizarro to the South Side.

Pizarro was an enigmatic, moody pitcher but when he got on the mound, he was all business. Possessor of a blazing fastball, the left hander had four seasons of double figure wins, among them 16 in 1963 and 19 in 1964. He totaled 75 White Sox wins between 1961 and 1966 and was a two-time All-Star selection pitching a scoreless inning in the 1963 contest.

 

December 15, 1961 - It was the end of 61 years of Comiskey family ownership of the White Sox, as Chuck Comiskey sold his 46 per cent interest in the team to a group of 11 investors, headed by insurance executive William Bartholomay and entertainer Danny Thomas.

Chuck had made two major miscalculations in his quest to regain his ‘birthright’ ownership of the White Sox. The first came in the later 1950s, when he lowballed his sister Dorothy; Dorothy had decided to sell her 46 per cent of the club to Chuck, but instead sold to Bill Veeck once Chuck’s insulting offer came across her desk. (Veeck, in declining health, would own the White Sox for only two years, selling out to Arthur and John Allyn.)

The second was Chuck compromising his own 46 per cent share of the White Sox — he remained the biggest single shareholder in the team through 1961 — by selling out. Chuck was confident that he could broker a purchase of the near-half of the White Sox that the Allyn’s had purchased from Veeck. Allyn’s near-half of the White Sox would make the Bartholomay/Thomas investors nearly 100 per cent owners of the club, with Chuck back in charge as team president/GM. But the Allyn’s rebuffed Chuck’s overtures, forever ending Comiskey ownership of the White Sox.

 

December 15, 1967 – It was one of the worst deals ever made by then G.M. Ed Short.

The Sox sent infielder and base stealer Al Weis along with outfielder, base stealer and home run hitter Tommie Agee to the Mets in exchange for former N.L. batting champ Tommy Davis, pitcher Jack Fisher and catcher Richard “Buddy” Booker. Two years later the Mets would win the World Series thanks in large part to the play of Agee and Weis. None the players the Sox got in return did much for them. It was deals along those lines that sent the franchise into a tailspin and by September 1970 got Short fired from his position.

    

December 15, 1993 - Sox G.M. Ron Schueler’s luck with taking chances on hurt or limited free agents continued when he signed Julio Franco to a contract. Franco would have a tremendous 1994 season hitting behind Frank Thomas.

Julio would have 20 home runs, 98 RBI’s, eight stolen bases and a .319 batting average in his one year in Chicago. He went to Japan the next year because the Sox refused to meet his asking price on a new deal and with labor unrest on the horizon wanted some stability.

 

Edited December 16, 2023 by Lip Man 1

[South Side Fireworks Man]

1 hour ago, Lip Man 1 said:

December 15, 1961 - It was the end of 61 years of Comiskey family ownership of the White Sox, as Chuck Comiskey sold his 46 per cent interest in the team to a group of 11 investors, headed by insurance executive William Bartholomay and entertainer Danny Thomas.

Chuck had made two major miscalculations in his quest to regain his ‘birthright’ ownership of the White Sox. The first came in the later 1950s, when he lowballed his sister Dorothy; Dorothy had decided to sell her 46 per cent of the club to Chuck, but instead sold to Bill Veeck once Chuck’s insulting offer came across her desk. (Veeck, in declining health, would own the White Sox for only two years, selling out to Arthur and John Allyn.)

The second was Chuck compromising his own 46 per cent share of the White Sox — he remained the biggest shareholder in the team through 1961 — by selling out. Chuck was confident that he could broker a purchase of the near-half of the White Sox that the Allyn’s had purchased from Veeck. Allyn’s near-half of the White Sox would make the Bartholomay/Thomas investors nearly 100 per cent owners of the club, with Chuck back in charge as team president/GM. But the Allyn’s rebuffed Chuck’s overtures, forever ending Comiskey ownership of the White Sox.

Interesting stuff.  I don't understand how Chuck could have remained the biggest shareholder through 1961.  I always thought Bill Veeck was the biggest shareholder at that time.  How did Veeck manage to control the team for two years if Chuck Comiskey was still the majority shareholder?

[Lip Man 1]

5 hours ago, South Side Fireworks Man said:

Interesting stuff.  I don't understand how Chuck could have remained the biggest shareholder through 1961.  I always thought Bill Veeck was the biggest shareholder at that time.  How did Veeck manage to control the team for two years if Chuck Comiskey was still the majority shareholder?

I'll have to check on this but I think you are correct!

[Lip Man 1]

7 hours ago, South Side Fireworks Man said:

Interesting stuff.  I don't understand how Chuck could have remained the biggest shareholder through 1961.  I always thought Bill Veeck was the biggest shareholder at that time.  How did Veeck manage to control the team for two years if Chuck Comiskey was still the majority shareholder?

Chuck Comiskey was the biggest single shareholder. It was Veeck's group that owned 54% of the team after the sale. I made the correction.