THIS DATE IN WHITE SOX HISTORY: FEBRUARY 24/25TH

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THIS DATE IN WHITE SOX HISTORY: FEBRUARY 25TH

 

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FUTURE TROUBLE ARRIVES

1917: The White Sox purchased first baseman Chick Gandil from the Cleveland Indians for $3,500. Gandil was a slick-fielder who swung a pretty good bat. He hit .273, .271 and .290 while leading A.L. first basemen in fielding in 1917 and 1919. Gandil, though, is best known for his role in the “Black Sox” scandal. Labeled as an angry malcontent by Sox historian Rich Lindeberg in Total White Sox, Gandil was the won who sought out the gamblers for the 1919 World Series fix. At the urging of his wife, Gandil did not sign a contract with the Sox in 1920 and played semi-pro ball instead. Any hopes he had of returning to the bigs were shattered when Commissioner Landis banished those involved in the fix from baseball for life. Note—Lindberg and Total White Sox have the Sox acquiring Gandil from Cleveland on Feb. 15, 1917.

 

BYE BROSNAN

1964: The White Sox released pitcher Jim Brosnan. Five days earlier, the Sox requested waivers on the veteran reliever who went 3-9 with four saves and a respectable 2.84 ERA for the 1963 Sox. After his release, Brosnan, an accomplished author during and after his career, never played in the bigs again.

 

TRADING WITH TEXAS

1975: The Sox traded East Chicago, Ind., native Stan Perzanowski to the Texas Rangers for Steve Dunning. The swap of pitchers didn’t amount to much. Perzanowski pitched in just 30 big league games after appearing in just seven for the Sox in 1971 and 1974. Dunning, who had a modicum of success with Cleveland in the early 1970s after being the second overall pick in the 1970 draft, never pitched for the Sox. He was dealt to the Angels with Bill Melton for outfielder Morris Nettles for first baseman Jim Spencer after the 1975 season.

 

FEBRUARY 24TH

 

A BUM DEAL

1948: In what would become one of the worst deals in franchise history, the White Sox traded pitcher Eddie Lopat to the New York Yankees for catcher Aaron Robinson and pitchers Bill Wight and Fred Bradley. White Sox Historian Richard C. Lindberg rated this swap as the third-worst in club annals in “Total White Sox.” Lopat, a left-hander, went 50-49 for the White Sox between 1944 and 1947. According to Lopat’s Society for American Baseball Research biography, the Yankees were watching Lopat. “Any pitcher who can get the ball aver the plate can win for us,” Yankee general manager George Weiss said of the precise Lopat upon making the deal. Using a slow curve and a variety of deliveries shown to him by Ted Lyons during his days with the Sox, Lopat went on to star on the powerhouse Yankee teams of the 1940s and mid-1950s. The New York native won 113 games between 1948 and 1955 for the Yankees. He led the A.L. with a 2.42 ERA in 1953 and went 4-1 with a 2.60 ERA in seven World Series starts for the Yankees. Wight lost 20 games in his first year with the Sox but then recovered to have two decent years on the Southside (15-13, 10-16, 3.58 ERA). Bradley was barely a blip for the Sox while the best thing that can be said about Robinson’s tenure with the team was that he was used to acquire Billy Pierce after the 1948 season.