THIS DATE IN WHITE SOX HISTORY: MAY 31

[StatManDu]

THIS DATE IN WHITE SOX HISTORY: MAY 31

 

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1914: Joe Benz fired the second no-hitter in Comiskey Park history by besting the Cleveland Indians 6-1. The gem marked the only time a losing team scored a run in a no-hitter at Comiskey Park. Three fourth-inning White Sox errors prevented the shutout. Benz walked two and fanned three in a game that took only one hour and 45 minutes to play.

 

1950: The White Sox picked up two future All-Stars in a six-player exchange with the Washington Senators. The Sox sent pitcher Bob Kuzava, second baseman Cass Michaels and outfielder Johnny Ostrowski to the Senators for first baseman Eddie Robinson, infielder Al Kozar and pitcher Rae Scarborough. Robinson represented the Sox at the 1951 and 1952 All-Star Games while Scarborough was tabbed for the 1950 game at Comiskey Park.

 

1963: John Buzhardt fired a three-hitter as the third-place White Sox closed to within two games of first with a 6-0 win at Fenway Park. Buzhardt walked four and struck out four and did not allow a runner past second base in improving to 5-2.

 

1965: Don Buford led off the 10th with a tiebreaking home run in the White Sox 4-3 win at Cleveland in the first game of a doubleheader. Buford’s blast made a winner out of Eddie Fisher, who improved to 4-0 with two shutout innings of relief. The real hero of this game was Bruce Howard, who fired five scoreless innings in relief of starter John Buzhardt. The Sox fell behind 3-0 but tied the game in the sixth on RBIs double by Moose Skowron and JC Martin and a sacrifice fly by Ron Hansen. Cleveland took the nightcap 4-3 as the second-place Sox stayed a half game out of first place.

 

1967: Ron Hansen’s walkoff single in the 11th propelled the White Sox to a 3-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles in front of 13,782 at Comiskey Park. The Sox grabbed a 2-0 lead thanks to a game-starting homer by Tommie Agee and an RBI from Ken Berry. The Orioles pulled even with runs in the seventh and ninth. In the 11th, Berry singled and took second on a sacrifice bunt by Walt “No Neck” Williams. After an intentional walk, Hansen came through in making a winner out of future Hoyt Wilhelm, who retired all seven batters he faced with three strikeouts. The win pulled the second-place Sox to within a half game of league-leading Detroit.

 

1968: Dick Kentworthy proved himself worthy in the White Sox 2-1 win over the Minnesota Twins in 14 innings before 9,667 at Comiskey Park. Kentworthy, a third baseman, was 4-for-6 with a double and a run as the Sox pulled out the 3 hour and 53 minute affair. Duane Josephson gave the Sox the lead in the sixth with an RBI single. The Twins tied the game in the seventh and the contest remained deadlocked until Kentworthy led off the 14th with a double and advanced to third after a hit-by-pitch and a sacrifice bunt. Following an intentional walk, Luis Aparicio’s single plated Kentworthy with the game-winner. Sox relievers Bob Locker, Wilbur Wood, Hoyt Wilhelm, Bob Priddy and Don McMahon combined to throw eight shutout innings with McMahon getting the win.

 

1970: The White Sox had their best offensive game in 15 years and their second best overall in hammering the Boston Red Sox 22-13 at Fenway Park. The 22 runs were the most by a Sox team since they scored a club record 29 in a win at Kansas City April 23, 1955. The 35 runs by both teams tied the club mark set on Sept. 9, 1921 and April 23, 1955. The Sox banged out 24 hits but their only home run came from Bill Melton, who hit a solo shot in the sixth. Melton finished with four RBIs. Leadoff man Walt Williams went 5-for-7 with five runs, a double and two RBIs while Luis Aparicio was 5-for-5 with three runs, a triple and three RBIs. Duane Josephson was 3-for-6 with two doubles and three RBIs and Ossie Blanco, who started at first base and batted third, was 2-for-5 with three RBIs. The Sox scored six in the first off Boston starter Gary Peters, who lasted just two-thirds of an inning. The Sox scored one in the third, three in the fourth, one in the fifth, seven in the sixth and four in the eighth.

 

1971: Tommy John outdueled Jim Palmer in the White Sox 1-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles in Game 1 of a doubleheader before 19,588 at Comiskey Park. Ed Herrmann’s sixth inning single scored Rich McKinney with the game’s only run. John gave up five hits and one walk with strikeouts in upping his record to 3-5 in logging the first of three shutouts he would have that season. John faced the minimum through five and got out of a bases loaded jam in the sixth by striking out Merv Rettemund with the bases loaded. John stranded Brooks Robinson on third in the seventh and finished by retiring the final seven batters he faced. The Orioles won the nightcap 11-3.

 

1973: Dick Allen and Bill Melton combined to drive in seven runs in the White Sox 10-2 win over Detroit before 12,800 at Comiskey Park. Ed Herrmann homered in the third off future Sox Lerrin LaGrow as the first-place Sox built a 7-0 lead. Allen capped the Sox scoring with a three-run homer in the sixth.

 

1974: Back-to-back home runs by leadoff batter Dick Allen and Bill Melton in the third inning accounted for all of the White Sox runs in a 3-2 win at Boston. Allen’s home run was two-run shot off Bill Lee and erased a 1-0 deficit which was created by a Carlton Fisk home run. Melton followed Allen with a roundtripper of his own. From there, Wilbur Wood and Terry Forster blanked the Red Sox on four hits. Allen went 2-for-3 in his only appearance in the leadoff spot in his White Sox career.

 

1976: Chet Lemon’s bases-clearing triple in the first inning erased a 2-0 deficit and helped the White Sox top the Texas Rangers 9-4 before 16,065 at Comiskey Park. Jim Spencer went 4-for-5 and Jorge Orta cranked a home run in the third inning in support of Pete Vuckovich, who gave up three runs on six hits in 6.2 innings to improve to 3-1.

 

1978: The White Sox scored 11 runs in the fifth inning in a 17-2 romp of the California Angels before 12,828 at Comiskey Park. The game was tied 1-1 before the Sox broke the game open by sending 15 batters to the plate in the fifth of their fifth straight win. The inning, which was tied for the second-highest scoring frame in club annals, began harmlessly enough with a one-out single by Greg Pryor. From there, the Sox took advantage of three Angel errors (which directly led to three runs) one walk and banged out seven more hits in scoring the 11 runs. Pryor scored the tiebreaking run on an error. Bill Nahorodny had a three-run double while Chet Lemon had a two-run double in the inning. Pryor and Ralph Garr also had RBIs in the inning. The Sox, who got a 5-for-5 performance from Jorge Orta, totaled 22 hits, which made things easy for starting pitcher Steve Stone. The right-hander went the distance for his fourth win.

 

1981: The White Sox salvaged a split of a doubleheader by trimming the California Angels 2-1 in Game 2 before 40,248 at Comiskey Park. After losing Game 1 7-4, the Sox tied the game and eventually forced overtime on Harold Baines’ RBI triple in the sixth. In the 10th, Mike Squires walked and crossed with the game-winner on Carlton Fisk’s double. LaMarr Hoyt got the victory with two perfect innings of relief.

 

1985: Home runs accounted for all but two of the White Sox runs in an 8-3 win over the Kansas City Royals 8-3 before 25,493 at Comiskey Park. Luis Salazar and Carlton Fisk each hit two-run home runs while Ron Kittle and Tim Hulett added solo shots as the White Sox extended their winning streak to three. Floyd Bannister got the victory with seven strikeouts in 6.1 innings and Gene Nelson fashioned 2.2 shutout frames for his first save.

 

1987: Ivan Calderon had the game of his life in the White Sox 10-9 loss to the Boston Red Sox before 21,138 at Comiskey Park. Calderon hit two home runs, doubled and drove in a Sox season-high six runs but the team couldn’t hold a 9-2 lead it built after two innings.

 

1988: The White Sox used three home runs to do all of their scoring in the first three innings in pasting the Tigers and long-time Sox killer Frank Tanana 10-1 in Detroit. The Sox got a three-run homer in the first from Ivan Calderon, a grand slam from Gary Redus in the second and a three-run blast from Ron Karkovice in the third. Calderon and Redus lit up Tanana while Karkovice’s ding-dong came off Paul Gibson. Jerry Reuss cruised with the lead, pitching seven shutout innings for his third win.

 

1991: Scott Fletcher’s bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth lifted the White Sox to a 5-4 win over Oakland before an energized crowd of 41,870 at Comiskey Park. Oakland’s Mike Gallego hit the first grand slam at New Comiskey Park in the second inning off Ramon Garcia, who was making his big league debut. Garcia was the first pitcher to make his Major League debut at New Comiskey Park. Two days earlier, teammate Warren Newsom became the first player to make his big league debut in the new park. After giving up the slam, Garcia settled down and gave up just one other hit while lasting to the seventh. The Sox tied the game in the fifth on Matt Merullo’s sacrifice fly. In the ninth, the Sox loaded the bases on a Frank Thomas single and two walks, setting the stage for Fletcher’s heroics.

 

1996: Robin Ventura went 4-for-4 with a double and two runs as the White Sox ripped the Detroit Tigers 9-0 before 16,983 at Comiskey Park. Kevin Tapani and Brian Keyser combined on a eight-hit shutout as the White Sox moved 12 games over .500. Tapani went eight innings with six strikeouts to improve to 6-3. Darren Lewis extended his hitting streak to 12 games and Danny Tartabull and Dave Martinez each homered for the White Sox.

 

1997: Albert Belle extended his hitting streak to 26 games – tied for the second longest in club history -- in the White Sox 4-3 loss to the Brewers in Milwaukee. Belle’s streak would reach 27, tying Luke Appling’s 1936 franchise record.

 

1998: Jim Parque earned his first big league victory in the White Sox 8-2 win over Detroit in Tiger Stadium. Parque yielded four hits and three walks while fanning two in 6.1 shutout innings in his second big league start. Parque was supported by Mike Caruso, who went 4-for-5 with a homer, and Wil Cordero, who doubled and homered. Frank Thomas also homered as the Sox pounded out 14 hits.

 

2000: Herbert Perry’s ground rule double in the ninth plated Carlos Lee with the eventual winning run in the White Sox 4-3 victory in Seattle. The first-place White Sox prevailed despite committing two errors and issuing 11 walks. Lee got the White Sox on the board with a home run in the third.

 

2005: Jermaine Dye led off the ninth with a home run to send the White Sox to a 6-5 win over the Angels before 19,864 at U.S. Cellular Field. The win improved the first place White Sox to 35-17 and gave reliever Cliff Politte a win for the second consecutive day.