The South Siders sweep into first place
1937
Zeke Bonura Day at Comiskey Park saw the slugger drive in five runs with a homer, two doubles and a single in a 14-8 win over Washington. Pregame, Bonura received a car.
Bonura made his mark in just four seasons with the White Sox, logging 15.7 WAR and putting up a .914 OPS and 128 OPS+. Twice he finished in the Top 20 of MVP voting.
Right before the 1938 season, Bonura was traded to the Senators to get Joe Kuhel, in a swap of first basemen. Kuhel’s White Sox career was good, though not to Bonura’s standard; however, Bonura suffered outside of Comiskey Park, playing just three more seasons and tallying a mere 5.8 WAR before dropping into the minors for a year, then entering military service.
1939
White Sox pitcher Ted Lyons began his streak of 41 consecutive innings pitched without issuing a walk. The streak would last through his game on June 23, when he walked New York’s Frank Crosetti to lead off the game. In 172 innings pitched in 1939, Lyons would only walk 27 hitters — one intentionally.
1959
It was the fourth and last one-hitter in Billy Pierce’s White Sox career. On this date he beat the Senators, 3-1. Shortstop Ron Samford’s double to left leading off the third inning was Washington’s only safety. Billy struck out six in the contest, but wasn’t guaranteed a win until the Sox scored a pair of runs in the top of the ninth inning.
1961
The White Sox, at 19-33, just eight days removed from escaping a brief stay in the basement of the American League (on June 3) and still mired in eighth, 15 1⁄2 games out, started a run of 19 wins in 20 games. The first victory came in the nightcap of a doubleheader split, a 7-1 at Baltimore. The White Sox would not suffer a losing streak again until June 29.
Chicago’s only loss in the run came on June 16, hosting Minnesota. The streak included wins against Baltimore (two), the Angels (five), the Twins (three), Cleveland (three), Washington (four) and Detroit (two). The streak record was 4-0 on the road, 15-1 at home, thus making the 15 wins in 16 games the best homestand of 10+ games in White Sox history.
The streak saw the White Sox shave eight games off of their pennant deficit and shoot up to fourth place in the league, at 38-34. The club would never improve on that standing, however, finishing the season at 86-76 and in fourth.
1965
In Washington, in the first game of a doubleheader, the Sox beat the Senators, 5-2, to collect the franchise’s 5,000th win. Juan Pizarro got the victory, with Eddie Fisher picking up the save. Pete Ward knocked in two runs to lead the Sox offense.
Then the South Siders won the second game, 5-4 in 10 innings, on a home run by Don Buford.
The Sox went 95-67 in 1965 to finish in second place, seven games behind the Twins.
1967
In front of 62,582 fans at Yankee Stadium, the White Sox swept a doubleheader and into first place, where they would remain until August 13. The White Sox had spent 19 days in first place during the first two months of the season, but this sweep began a stretch of more than two straight months on top of the American League.
True to the nature of Chicago’s light-hitting ways, the South Siders won the opener, 2-1, and the nightcap, 3-2. In the opener, Wayne Causey’s fourth inning RBI single held up as the game-winner. In the nightcap, Jerry McNertney’s three-run homer in the fourth inning held up was the game-winner, as Wilbur Wood (hold) and Bob Locker (save) held off a Yankees rally in the ninth. Wood pitched in both games (recording three outs total), and both saves in the doubleheader were of the one-out variety (Wood in the opener, Locker in the nightcap). That’s some novel closer usage, Eddie Stanky.
Think the White Sox boasted strong pitching in 1967? None of the five pitchers who threw in the doubleheader had an ERA worse than 2.88, and in fact four had sub-2.00 ERAs.