THIS DATE IN WHITE SOX HISTORY: APRIL 20th (with 19th below)

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THIS DATE IN WHITE SOX HISTORY: APRIL 20TH

 

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GOOD START AT HOME FOR FUTURE CHAMPS

1906: The future World Series champion White Sox (aka “The Hitless Wonders”) won their home Opener by dumping Detroit 6-1 at South Side Park. Nick Altrock was the winning pitcher.

 

NOT THIS TIME, RUBE

1908: The White Sox KO’d future Hall of Famer Rube Waddell with a five-run sixth and a two-run seventh en route to a 7-1 win over the St. Louis Browns at South Side Park.

 

A SCORELESS K-FEST IN ST. LOUIS

1912: Jim “Death Valley” Scott fanned 13 batters in a 15-inning scoreless tie with the Browns in St. Louis. At the time, the 13 strikeouts were tied for sixth place on the White Sox single-season list.

 

BREWERS STREAK AT SOX EXPENSE

1987: The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the White Sox 5-4 at Comiskey Parkto run their season-opening winning streak to 13 games, tying a Major League record. Chuck Crim got the win while Jose DeLeon absorbed the loss. Many of the 24,019on hand were Brewer fans who made the trek down I-94 from Wisconsin.

 

FRANCO COMES THROUGH

1994: Julio Franco broke a 6-6 tie with an RBI single in the 12th in helping the Sox to an 8-6 win over Milwaukee at County Stadium. Roberto Hernandez pitched three innings for his first win of the season. Also in the game, Tim Raines became just the sixth player in American League history to reach base safely in seven consecutive plate appearances. Raines had three singles and four walks in becoming the first A.L. player to accomplish the feat since George Brett did it on June 27, 1985.

 

DOMINANCE IN DETROIT

2005: The future World Series champion White Sox got four RBIs from Jermaine Dye and three more from Joe Crede in smashing the Tigers 9-1 in Detroit. Jon Garland fashioned eight sparkling innings for the win as the surprising Sox improved to 11-4 with their third straight win.

 

RELIEF IN MOTOWN

2007: Five relievers fired 4.1 shutout innings in helping the White Sox top the Tigers 5-4 in Detroit. After John Danks failed to get out through the fifth, Nick Masset, David Aardsma, Matt Thornton, Mike MacDougal and Bobby Jenks held the Tigers at bay while the offense mustered up enough to squeeze out a win. Darin Erstad’s RBI in the seventh put the Sox on top to stay and handed Masset his first big league win. Bobby Jenks got Gary Sheffield looking to end it for his fifth save and the Sox third straight win.

 

THIS DATE IN WHITE SOX HISTORY: APRIL 19TH

 

MINNIE RETURNS WITH A BANG

1960: Minnie Minoso turned in one of the great Opening Day performances in big league history as the White Sox began defense of their American League crown with a thrilling 10-9 win over the Kansas City Athletics before 41,660 at Comiskey Park. Minoso celebrated his return to the White Sox with a fourth inning grand slam and a roundtripper in the ninth that won the game.

 

SOX PLAY HOMEWRECKER TO ANGELS

1966: A couple of Tommys -- Tommie Agee and Tommy John -- played spoiler as the White Sox christened Anaheim Stadium with a 3-1 win over the Angels. Agee tied the game in the sixth with a solo home run and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth on a Don Buford single. John gave up one run on three hits with three walks and four strikeouts in seven innings to get the victory. For the record, Agee was the first batter in the history of the stadium.

 

SOX ABSORB WHITEY FORD’S LAST WHITEWASHING

1967: Future Hall of Famer Whitey Ford and the Yankees defeated the White Sox 3-0 in New York. The victory was the second to last of Ford’s career and the last of his 45 career shutouts. Six days later at Comiskey Park, Ford would go the distance for the 236th and final victory of his career.

 

FORSTER FINISHES WITH A FLURRY

1974: Terry Forster finished off the Kansas City Royals with a flurry in the White Sox 5-4 win before 9,317 at Comiskey Park. With the Sox clinging to a one-run lead and a runner on first with one out in the ninth, manager Chuck Tanner summoned Forster from the bullpen to take over for Jim Kaat. Forster responded by whiffing the Royals best hitters -- John Mayberry and Hal McRae -- to end the game. The Sox tied the game in the fourth when Jorge Orta scored on Jerry Hairston’s fielder’s choice. The Sox took the lead for good in the fifth on Orta’s RBI.

 

BAINES’ FIRST BLAST

1980: Harold Baines hit the first home run of his career in the White Sox 5-4 win in 12 innings over the Orioles in Baltimore. Baines touched future Hall of Famer Jim Palmer for the first of his 221 White Sox home runs immediately after Jim Morrison led off the seventh with a roundtripper. The outburst sent Palmer to the showers and pulled the Sox to within one at 4-3. The Sox forced extra innings in the ninth when Mike Squires’ single scored Baines. The game remained tied until the 12th when Marv Foley drilled a two-out home run which provided the difference. Ed Farmer got the win with 1.2 scoreless innings. The real pitching hero, however, was Tex Wortham, who turned four shutout innings of one-hit relief while striking out three.

 

WARM DAY, WARM FEELINGS

1985: The White Sox opened the 1985 home season with a comfortable 8-1 win over the Boston Red Sox before 40,807 on an unseasonably mild and sunny spring day. The Sox took control early when Rudy Law, their second batter, homered. The Sox also got roundtrippers from Carlton Fisk, Luis Salazar and Harold Baines in supporting the complete-game effort of Britt Burns. The left-hander gave up six hits and one walk and struck out seven in improving to 2-0. The only blemish on Burns’ day was a fifth inning home run by Bill Buckner. The complete game was the first by a Sox pitcher in the home opener since Wilbur Wood blanked the Royals in 1976. This game marked the Comiskey Park debut of Ozzie Guillen. Batting leadoff, Guillen was 0-for-4.

 

 

GRAND THEFT FRAZIER

1998: Lou Frazier tied the 93-year-old club record with four steals in the White Sox 5-4 loss to the Blue Jays in Toronto. Frazier equaled the mark of George Davis and Jimmy Callahan despite going 0-for-3. Frazier walked twice and reached once on an error en route to the record, which would be tied by Scott Podsednik in twice in 2005 and once in 2006.

 

EPIC SHOWDOWN LEADS TO WIN

2000: The White Sox moved into first place for good in the American League Central with a 5-2 win over the Seattle Mariners before 8,425 at Comiskey Park. The Sox held first place until the end of the season. They were outright holders of the top spot for all but three of the season’s remaining days. Sean Lowe got the win and Bobby Howry earned the save but Keith Foulke may have gotten the biggest out of the game when he outdueled Alex Rodriguez in the pivotal seventh inning which also included a rare 3-6-1 double play. With the Sox leading 4-2 and the tying run at the plate, Foulke and Rodriguez battled for 12 pitches before Foulke got A-Rod to ground out to third base. The at bat included nine foul balls with the last five coming in succession. After Foulke retired Rodriguez, he walked Edgar Martinez but got John Olerud to ground into a 3-6-1 DP to end the inning.

 

WELLS ON HIS GAME

2001: In his best outing with the White Sox, David Wells vexed the Tigers in a 3-1 win in Detroit. The portly southpaw carried a shutout into the eighth inning before yielding an RBI double but did finish off the Tigers for his 46th career complete game and 25th since 1998. Wells gave up eight hits while fanning six and walking none in improving to 2-2. At one point, Wells retired 11 in a row and he threw 81 of his 100 pitches for strikes, which was the highest percentage by a starter since the start of the 2000 season. This was the first complete game victory by a White Sox lefty in Detroit since Floyd Bannister accomplished the feat with a 4-0 shutout July 29, 1987 at Tiger Stadium. Magglio Ordonez drove in two runs and Josh Paul drove in the other to make Jerry Manuel’s 500th game as Sox manager a joyous one.

 

SOX START PULLING AWAY

2005: The White Sox, who would never relinquish first place, opened a two game lead in the American League Central with a 3-1 win over the Twins before 18,310 at US Cellular Field. Orlando Hernandez gave up 10 hits but managed to keep the Twins off the board for six innings. The Sox took the lead in the fifth on RBIs by Joe Crede, who extended his hitting streak to 10 games, and Scott Podsednik. Paul Konerko added an insurance run with his seventh homer of the year in the fifth.

 

JAVVY, SOX FINISH OFF KC

2006: Javier Vazquez fired eight scoreless innings as the White Sox finished off a sweep of the Royals with a 4-0 win before 26,327 at US Cellular Field. Vazquez gave up two hits and struck out seven to complete a series in which Sox starters limited the Royals to one run in 21.1 innings.

 

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

2007: Still basking in the glow of Mark Buehrle’s no-hitter the previous day, the White Sox scored three in the eighth – one on a Joe Crede tie-breaking single – en route to a 6-4 win over Texas before 25,459 at US Cellular Field. Rob Mackowiak added some insurance later in the frame with a two-run home run. Matt Thornton got the win with a scoreless inning of relief while Bobby Jenks earned his fourth save despite yielding a run in the ninth.