THIS DATE IN WHITE SOX HISTORY: DEC 7th/James, Gallagher, Eldred

[StatManDu]

1984: The White Sox pulled off separate trades with the Montreal Expos on this date. In one transaction, the Sox sent pitcher Bert Roberge to Canada for second baseman (and bunter extraordinaire) Bryan Little. In the other deal, the Sox sent jack-of-all-trades Vance Law to Montreal for reliever Bob James. The Roberge-Little swap didn’t amount to much but the Sox did get some solid production out of the fireballing James until he ate his way out of the league. In 1985, James set a Sox record with 32 saves.

 

1987: The White Sox and new general manager Larry Himes made a shrewd pickup in signing outfielder Dave Gallagher as a free agent. The scrappy Gallagher hit .303 with five home runs in 101 games for the 1988 White Sox in earning Chicago Rookie of the Year honors.

 

1992: The White Sox lost pitcher John Hudek to the Detroit Tigers in the Rule V Major League Draft. The right-hander was the Sox 10th round pick in the 1988 draft and made a relief appearance for the Sox in the 1990 exhibition game against the Cubs. Hudek was 8-1 with a 3.16 ERA at Triple-A Vancouver in 1992 and must have caught the eye of somebody. Hudek eventually made it to the bigs with Houston in 1994. His career peaked in 1994 when he was named to the National League All-Star team as part of his 16-save season.

 

2000: Despite coming off a season cut short by an injury, the White Sox re-signed free pitcher Cal Eldred. Before being plagued by arm problems, Eldred was arguably the best pitcher on the 2000 A.L. Central Division staff. In 20 starts, “Cornfed” was 10-2 with a 4.58 ERA. One has to wonder how far that team would have gone if Eldred had been healthy the entire season instead of having his season derailed (save for one late season stint) on July 14. Sadly, the Sox didn’t get much out of the affable Eldred after bringing him back. Eldred’s 2001 consisted of just two starts before injury got him again. … Also on this date, the Sox sent sidewinding reliever Chad Bradford to Oakland for a player to be a named later. Six days later, the deal was completed when the Sox received catcher Miguel Olivo from the A’s.

 

 

[southsider2k5]

Bryan Little was a part of one the most memorable games in my childhood.

 

The Sox were getting no-hit by Dave Steib until the 9th inning. In the bottom of the 9th, trailing 6-0, Rudy Law, Bryan Little, and Harold Baines hit back to back to back homers, followed up by a doubles from Ron Kittle and Carlton Fisk. They did end up losing 6-4, but it was a hell of a way to end a no hitter.

[StatManDu]

I was at that game, too. Here is my blog entry from that tilt:

 

AUGUST 24, 1985: The White Sox ended Dave Stieb’s no-hit bid with authority in a 6-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays before 26,113 at Comiskey Park. Stieb carried a no-hitter into the ninth but Rudy Law and Bryan Little hit back-to-back homers to start the ninth thus sending Stieb to the showers. Harold Baines greeted reliever Gary Lavelle with a homer marking just the second time in franchise history the Sox hit three straight homers. The Sox did get the tying run to the plate thanks to singles by Carlton Fisk and Ron Kittle but Ozzie Guillen popped out to George Bell to end the game. Bell landed a home run (off Tom Seaver) on the Comiskey Park roof earlier in the game.