THIS DATE IN WHITE SOX HISTORY: DEC 9 & 10

[StatManDu]

THIS DATE IN WHITE SOX HISTORY: DECEMBER 10TH

 

For the rest of the day, see www.whitesoxalmanac.com

 

1935: The White Sox sold All-Star outfielder Al Simmons to the Detroit Tigers for $75,000. “Bucketfoot Al,” a future Hall of Famer, served the Sox well, hitting .331 in 1933 and .344 in 1934 before tailing off to .267 in 1935. In retrospect, the Sox dumped Simmons at the right time. The Milwaukee native had just one season as a regular left in his career, which lasted until 1944.

 

1963: The White Sox bid farewell to one of their all-time greats when they dealt perennial All-Star second baseman Nellie Fox to Houston. In return, the Sox received pitcher Jim Golden, who never played for the team, and Danny Murphy, who wouldn’t make it to Chicago until 1969 as a pitcher. Fox, the 1959 A.L. MVP, was sent to Houston after a 14-year career with the Sox that ended with him ranking in the top in franchise history in games, doubles, extra-base hits, triples, at bats, runs, walks, hits, RBIs, singles and total bases. The scrappy performer still ranks as one of the most popular players in team history. Fox played two seasons with the Astros. His No. 2 was retired by the White Sox in 1976 about a year after his death. Fox was finally inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997.

 

1975: The American League approved the sale of the White Sox to Bill Veeck putting the iconoclast in position to own the franchise for a second time. A.L. owners gave Veeck a week to raise an additional $1.2 million to cement the deal because they were wary of his method of financing. Veeck, who previously owned the Sox from 1959 to 1961, raised the funds and A.L. owners approved the deal by a 10-2 margin. Veeck’s purchase kept the Sox in Chicago and from moving to Seattle. A plan was being floated around this time to move the Sox to Seattle and transfer Charlie O. Finley’s A’s to Chicago. John Allyn “gamely held on while Bill Veeck assembled his syndicate and raised the financing to purchase the struggling franchise,” according to Rich Lindberg’s White Sox Encyclopedia. … Also on this date, the White Sox sent pitcher Jim Kaat and infielder Mike Buskey to Philadelphia for pitchers Roy Thomas and infielder Alan Bannister.

 

1976: The White Sox set the stage for one of the most exciting seasons in franchise history by acquiring slugging outfielder Richie Zisk from the Pittsburgh Pirates. The price was steep, though. Owner Bill Veeck and general manager Roland Hemond had to surrender pitchers Rich Gossage and lefty Terry Forster, both established stars, to get the “Polish Prince” and prospect pitcher Silvio Martinez. Zisk hit .290 with 30 homers and 101 RBIs in leading the White Sox, who would become known as the “Southside Hitmen,” to a surprising 90 wins. Similar to Forster and Gossage, Zisk opted for free agency following the season and changed teams (Gossage went to the Yankees, Forster headed for the Dodgers and Zisk signed with Texas).

 

1985: The White Sox plucked outfielder Bobby Bonilla from the Pittsburgh organization in the Major League Draft. Under the rules of the draft, Bonilla had to make the big league roster or be returned to the Pirates. The Sox put the 23-year-old switch-hitter on their Opening Day roster despite the fact he had missed most of 1985 with a broken leg at the Pirates’ Class-A Prince William affiliate. Despite his inexperience, Bonilla held his own, hitting .269 with two homers and 26 RBIs for the Sox before being dealt to the Pirates for pitcher Jose DeLeon on July 23, 1986. Bonilla then went to become one of the game’s most potent sluggers for the next 15 seasons leaving Sox fans to wonder what things would have been like if Bonilla had stayed with the team.

 

THIS DATE IN WHITE SOX HISTORY: DECEMBER 9TH

 

For the rest of the day, see www.whitesoxalmanac.com

 

2000: The White Sox traded outfielder Jeff Abbott to the Florida Marlins for outfielder Julio Ramirez. Abbott was a solid bench player for the 2000 A.L. Central champion White Sox, hitting .274 with three homers and 29 RBIs but he was deemed expendable because the Sox seemed set in the outfield with Carlos Lee, Chris Singleton and Magglio Ordonez. The Sox brought in Ramirez as a defensive specialist but he was an unmitigated disaster, hitting .081 in 22 games with an error before being demoted.

 

2004: The White Sox made what turned out to be one of the great acquisitions in their history when they signed free agent outfielder Jermaine Dye. The right fielder emerged as the Sox top clutch hitter late in the 2005 season and that was never more evident than in the clinching Game 4 of the World Series when he drove in the game’s only run.