Here’s a look at what transpired today (Dec. 3) in White Sox history:
*1931, J. LOU GETS INTO THE ACT: In his first trade as an owner, J. Lou Comiskey (the son of the Charles Comiskey) sent outfielder Carl Reynolds and infielder John Kerr to the Washington Senators for infielder Jackie Hayes and pitchers Bump Hadley and Sad Sam Jones.
The centerpieces of this swap were Reynolds and Hayes. Reynolds had a monster season in 1930, hitting .359 with 22 homers and 104 RBIs, but then dropped off substantially in 1931 (.290, 6, 77). Hayes was the Sox regular second baseman for most of the 1930s until his career was tragically ended by blindness in 1940.
Also on this date, the Sox acquired pitcher Milt Gaston from the Red Sox for Chicagoan Bob Weiland. Gaston wetn 21-47 over the next three season while eating up a lot of innings.
*1957, BIG DEAL, LITTLE RESULTS: The White Sox acquired outfielder Tito Francona, pitcher Ray Moore and infielder Billy Goodman from the Baltimore Orioles for future Hall of Fame outfielder Larry Doby, future Cub manager Jim Marshall (a first baseman-outfielder), pitchers Russ Heman and Jack Harshman.
The best thing the Sox got out of this trade was Goodman, who hit .299 in 1958 and .250 for the 1959 A.L. champs.
*1970, HE WAS WITH THE SOX: The White Sox acquired Bill Robinson, who would become a stalwart with Pittsburgh during their “We Are Family” days, from the New York Yankees for left-handed pitcher Barry Moore. Robinson never played for the Sox.
After the 1971 season, Robinson was dealt to Philadelphia for Jerry Rodriguez, who never played in the bigs.
Robinson, a fiery competitor, hit his stride with the Bucs in the mid-1970s. His best season was 1977 when he hit .304 with 26 homers and 104 RBIs.
*1974, ALLEN DEPARTS: The White Sox finally cut ties with Dick Allen when they dealt him to the Atlanta Braves for a reported $5,000 and a player to be named later.
The following May 15th, the Sox acquired catcher Jim Essian to complete the deal.
*1990, NOT OUR BUDDY ANYMORE: The White Sox lost left-handed pitcher Buddy Groom in the minor league draft to the Detroit Tigers.
A little-known performer at Double-A at the time, Groom would become an effective “one-batter” reliever for Detroit, Florida, Oakland, Baltimore, the Yankees and Diamondbacks between 1992 and 2005.
Groom was the Sox 12th round pick in the June 1987 draft. Wedsel Gary “Buddy” Groom logged a 4,64 ERA in 786 big league appearances but only pitched 734.2 innings.
*2002, DELAYED GRATIFICATION: In what turned out to be a dud of a deal, the White Sox acquired stopper Billy Koch and two minor leaguers for pitcher Keith Foulke, catcher Mark Johnson and minor league pitcher Joe Valentine.
Thirteen days later, the Sox received minor leaguers Neal Cotts and Daylon Holt to complete the deal.
While Koch turned out to be a bust, Cotts was a big part of the bullpen that helped the White Sox win the 2005 World Series.
*2010, LINEBRINK GOES: The White Sox traded reliever Scott Linebrink to Atlanta for minor league pitcher Kyle Cofield.
Linebrink was 8-11 with three saves and a 4.28 ERA in 159 outings (all in relief) for the Sox from 2008 to 2010. His best season with the Sox was for the 2008 Central Division champions when he went 2-2 with a 3.69 ERA and one save in 50 appearances. He threw a scoreless inning in his only appearance in the ‘08 Division Series.