THIS DATE IN WHITE SOX HISTORY: APRIL 17th

[StatManDu]

THIS DATE IN WHITE SOX HISTORY: APRIL 17TH

 

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THE START OF SOMETHING BIG … AND HITLESS!

1906: The White Sox opened their 1906 World Series champion season with a 5-3 win at Detroit. In an uncharacteristic offensive outburst, the “Hitless Wonders” supported starter Frank Owen with five runs. It was the first of 93 wins for the 1906 champs.

 

SUCCESSFUL HOME OPENER

1913: The White Sox opened their home season by defeating the Cleveland Indians 2-1. The victory was the Sox third in a row and improved them to 5-2.

 

A FIRST: A 4-0 START

1914: The White Sox improved to 4-0 for the first time in franchise history with a 6-5 win over Cleveland at Comiskey Park.

 

FUTURE CHAMPS MAKE IT FIVE OF SIX

1917: The future World Champion White Sox improved to 5-1 with a 4-2 win at Detroit. The victory allowed the Sox to hold their half game atop the American League standings.

 

DEFENDING CHAMPS STAY PERFECT

1920: The defending American League champion White Sox made it 2-for-2 in 1920 with a 4-0 win over the Tigers at Comiskey Park. Ed Cicotte got the victory three days after Lefty Williams won the home and season opener.

 

CYCLE CAN’T TOP SOX

1924: The White Sox survived a cycle by St. Louis’ Baby Doll Jacobson in pulling off a 6-3 victory at Comiskey Park. Sarge Connally got the win as the Sox improved to 2-1 making this their best start since 1920. Jacobson became the first player to hit for the cycle at Comiskey Park and just the second Sox foe to accomplish the feat. New York’s Bert Daniels was the first opponent to victimize the Sox with a cycle on July 25, 1912 in the Big Apple.

 

HENRY HAUNTS HIS HOMETOWN TEAM

1930: The White Sox opened the 1930 season by nipping Cleveland 8-7 in 10 innings at Comiskey Park. Cleveland native Dutch Henry got the win in relief. It was just one of two victories the left-hander would post against 17 losses in 1930.

 

RALLY MAKES MAKES SAD SAM HAPPY

1935: The White Sox started the 1935 season with a 7-6 win at Detroit. The Sox broke a 4-4 tie with three in the eighth to make a winner out of starter Sad Sam Jones.

 

THE FIRST OF 20 STRAIGHT COMPLETE GAMES

1942: Future Hall of Famer Ted Lyons became his remarkable 1942 campaign by blanking the Indians in the White Sox 1-0 in Cleveland. The start was the first of 20 Lyons would make in 1942 and he went the distance in each of his assignments. Lyons, who was 14-6 with a 2.10 ERA in 1942, allowed just seven hits in getting the Sox their first win of the season against three setbacks.

 

LEE’S ONLY OPENING DAY START A GOODIE

1945: The White Sox opened the 1945 campaign with a 5-2 win over the Indians in Cleveland. Thornton Lee got the win in his only Opening Day start of his 11-year Sox career. The win was the first of five straight the Sox would post to start the season, marking the first time since 1920 the team accomplished that feat.

 

GO GO ERA GETS GOING

1951: The White Sox ushered in the “Go Go” era with a 17-3 lambasting of the Browns in St. Louis on Opening Day. The Sox made manager Paul Richards’ debut a successful one as the franchise began a run of 17 consecutive winning seasons. On this day in Sportsman’s Park, the Sox scored six in the second, two in the seventh, seven in the eighth and two in the ninth in posting their first Opening Day win since 1947. The 17 runs and 14-run margin of victory were both club Opening Day records and still stand.

 

FINALLY, AN OPENING DAY WIN

1956: The White Sox halted a four-game Opening Day losing streak by trimming the Indians 2-1 before 16,773 at Comiskey Park. The Sox broke a 1-1 tie with a run in the seventh on Jim Landis’ bases loaded walk to make a winner out of Billy Pierce, who bested future Hall of Famer Bob Lemon.

 

EARLY’S FIRST WYNN WITH SOX

1958: Future Hall of Famer Early Wynn earned his first White Sox win in his first White Sox start in a 4-3 triumph of the Tigers before 4,426 at Comiskey Park. Wynn pitched into the seventh and gave up three runs before getting relief help from Gerry Staley.

 

A CRAZY EIGHTH DOES IT

1959: The White Sox scored two runs in a frenetic eighth inning in beating the Tigers 6-5 before 2,656 at Comiskey Park. Jim Rivera’s bases loaded double scored Jim Landis and Norm Cash to break the tie. Landis double came after Al Smith struck out on a controversial play. Sox manager Al Lopez protested the game because he claimed Tiger pitcher Ray Narleski quick-pitched the third strike to Smith.

 

SEVEN RIBBIES FOR FLOYD

1962: Floyd Robinson fell one shy of the franchise record with seven RBIs in the White Sox 8-0 win at Minnesota. Robinson drove in two in the first with a home run, two in the fifth with a double and three in the ninth with a double. His seven RBIs were the most by a Sox player since Roy Sievers’ seven on June 21, 1961 and just missed Carl Reynolds’ club mark set on July 2, 1930. Robinson’s outburst allowed Joel Horlen to post the first shutout of his career. Horlen, making his seventh big league appearance and sixth start, gave up just six hits while walking two and striking out two. The whitewashing was the first of 18 Horlen would log in a Sox uniform.

 

A BERRY GOOD TRIUMPH

1965: Two days after starting the Comiskey Park season with a 3-1 loss, the Sox exacted some revenge with a 2-1 win in 10 innings over the Washington Senators before 4,926 on the Southside. Ken Berry was the key to the Sox offense. He tied the game in the fourth with a sacrifice fly and ended the game with an RBI single in the 10th. Joel Horlen was brilliant even though he did not get a decision. The veteran right-hander gave up one run on seven hits with 10 strikeouts in nine innings. Eddie Fisher got the win with a scoreless 10th.

 

PROSPERITY FOR BUZHARDT

1966: John Buzhardt was sterling in his 1966 debut. The right-hander from Prosperity, South Carolina fired a three-hitter in the Sox 5-0 win over the Kansas City Athletics before 15,807 at Comiskey Park. Buzhardt gave up hits in the third, eighth and ninth inning in logging the first of his four shutouts of 1966. It was a tough campaign for Buzhardt despite the shutouts. Buzhardt would log only six wins that year (against 11 losses) with a more than respectable 3.83 ERA.

 

BRADLEY FINGERS A’S

1971: The White Sox gave Tom Bradley three runs in the second inning and that was more than enough in a 4-0 win over the Oakland Athletics before 5,357 at Comiskey Park. Bradley helped his own cause in the second with an RBI after Ed Herrmann had plated two runs with a double. Bradley limited an Oakland lineup that included Bert Campaneris, Joe Rudi, Reggie Jackson and Sal Bando to four hits while striking out 10. Bradley bested Rollie Fingers, who was making the 28th start of his career. Fingers would make just nine more starts in his Hall of Fame career.

 

10-SPOT WORKS FINE

1973: The White Sox jumped to a 10-0 lead and hung on for a 10-5 win over the Texas Rangers before 2,718 at Comiskey Park. Bill Melton helped build the lead with a two-run home run in the fifth. Eddie Fisher went the distance and got the victory over future White Sox pitching coach Dick Bosman.

 

DOWNING GOES DEEP

1974: Brian Downing’s first home run of the season and third in a career which would feature 275 roundtrippers powered the Sox to a 5-3 win over the Athletics in Oakland. Trailing 3-2, the Sox tied the game in the eighth on a Ken Henderson sacrifice fly before Downing’s dinger put the Southsiders in front to stay. Stan Bahnsen was the beneficiary of Downing’s power. Bahnsen went the distance and gave up two earned runs for his first victory of the season.

 

BRETT, STILLMAN STRETCH STREAK TO FIVE

1977: Ken Brett turned in six scoreless innings and gave up just hits with six strikeouts in the White Sox 4-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays before 14,583 at Comiskey Park. Royle Stillman drove in two runs as the Sox stretched their winning streak to five.

 

OH WHAT A RELIEF HE WAS

1979: Mike Proly was brilliant in relief in the White Sox 6-1 win over Toronto at Exhibition Stadium. Proly took over for starter Francisco Barrios in the seventh and tossed three shutout innings, allowing only a walk for his second save of the year. The Sox took the lead in the third behind a Greg Pryor RBI triple and RBIs by Claudell Washington and Wayne Nordhagen.

 

SQUIRES DELIVERS

1980: Leadoff hitter Mike Squires keyed a five-run fifth with a two-run double in the White Sox 8-6 win over the Yankees in New York. The rally, which started with two outs, also featured a two-run single by Chet Lemon and an RBI by Alan Bannister.

 

7-0 TO START 1982

1982: The White Sox swept a doubleheader from the Baltimore Orioles at Comiskey Park to improve to 7-0. The victories enabled the Sox to break a 62-year-old club record for consecutive wins at the start of a season. Rain the day before forced the Sox to play their first home Opening Day doubleheader since 1972. The double win meant the Sox had swept all four of their Opening Day doubleheaders (1917, 1972 and earlier in 1982).

The White Sox took the first game 3-1 and then captured the nightcap 10-6 as 28,977 took in the festivities on the Southside. In the first game, Greg Luzinski’s two-run homer in the first fronted the Sox for good and made a winner of Britt Burns, who tossed seven shutout innings. In the second game, Jim Morrison untied a 6-6 game in the eighth with a home run that touched off a four-run inning.

 

LAMP BUCKLES DOWN

1983: Dennis Lamp pitched a complete game and rookie Ron Kittle’s two-run homer in the first carried the White Sox 6-1 win over the Detroit Tigers before a matinee crowd of 14,729 at Comiskey Park. Lamp gave up just two hits and didn’t surrender any hits after Larry Herndon led off the fifth with a homer. The Sox had taken a 1-0 lead in the first on Tony Bernazard’s RBI double before Kittle’s homer, his fourth of the season, gave the team some breathing room.

 

TENSIONS RUN HIGH IN OAKLAND

1988: The White Sox scored five runs in the fourth in prevailing 7-6 in a tense battle in Oakland. In the midst of Oakland’s three-run first, rookie Jack McDowell hit Mark McGwire in the hip, prompting the benches to clear. The Sox overtook the A’s in the fourth when Lance Johnson’s bases-loaded double brought home Carlton Fisk and Dan Pasqua. Bobby Thigpen squelched an Oakland rally in the ninth by retiring Dave Parker, Ron Hassey and Don Baylor with they tying run in scoring position to earn his third save.

 

UP ON THE ROOF ONE LAST TIME

1990: Ron Kittle launched what would be the final roof-shot home run at Old Comiskey Park history in the White Sox 2-1 win over the Boston Red Sox before a frigid crowd of 8,479. Kittle’s “roofer,” the record seventh of his career, came off Rob Murphy and tied the game at one in the sixth. Ozzie Guillen singled in Sammy Sosa in the ninth to make a winner out of Barry Jones and loser of Lee Smith.

 

FRANK, D.J. TOUCH ’EM ALL

1994: Frank Thomas’ leadoff homer in the fourth off Frank Viola put the Sox on top for good in a 7-4 win over Boston at Fenway Park. Darrin Jackson later homered in helping Scott Sanderson win his first game in a White Sox uniform.

 

DURHAM UNTIES IT

1996: Ray Durham’s RBI in the sixth untied a 1-1 game in the White Sox 3-1 win at Kansas City. The Sox took the lead in the second on Harold Baines’ homer. KC tied it in the third before Durham brought in the go-ahead run. Dave Martinez provided some insurance with a homer in the seventh. Alex Fernandez pitched seven strong innings to improve to 2-1 while Roberto Hernandez worked a scoreless ninth for his third save.

 

THANKS, K.C.

1999: The Sox took advantage of a Kansas City error in rallying past the Royals 6-5 in Missouri. The Sox entered the ninth trailing 5-3 and pulled even on Magglio Ordonez’s two-run single. Frank Thomas came home with the go-ahead and winning run when Carlos Beltran misplayed Ordonez’s single. Sean Lowe tossed three innings of relief and gave up one run for his first big league victory.

 

BUEHRLE 4-0

2002: Mark Buehrle improved to 4-0 with eight sterling innings in the White Sox 7-2 win over the Cleveland Indians before 15,561 at Comiskey Park. Buehrle gave up two runs on seven hits in becoming the third Sox pitcher since 1994 to win his first four starts of the season. The Sox trailed 2-0 early but in the third Ray Durham’s two-run single tied the game and Frank Thomas’ RBI single put the team on top to stay.

 

LOAIZA BENEFITS FROM SOX POWER

2003: The White Sox dropped four home runs on the Royals in posting an easy 8-2 win before 10,716 at U.S. Cellular Field. Miguel Olivo, Tony Graffanino, Paul Konerko and Carlos Lee homered in support of the surprising Esteban Loaiza, who improved to 3-0. Loaiza fanned 11 in just six innings while giving up one run on four hits. Lee’s homer was a grand slam and put the Sox ahead 8-0 in the fifth.

 

SCHOENWEIS GETS HIS FIRST

2004: Scott Schoeneweis picked up his first win with the Sox in a 4-1 triumph in Tampa Bay. The left-hander from Duke did not allow an earned run in 6.2 innings while giving up five hits. Juan Urbie paced the Sox offense, which totaled 10 hits, with a triple and two RBIs.

 

PAULIE, CREDE, JOSE LEAD THE WAY

2006: A five-run first – highlighted by a three-run home run from Paul Konerko and a two-run blast from Joe Crede – powered the defending World Series champion White Sox stomped the Royals 9-0 before 27,889 at US Cellular Field. Jose Contreras gave up one hit over seven innings for his 10th consecutive win.