The South Siders’ win streak hits 10, and first place is their reward
1908
Not to upstage the next Ed Walsh item on this day, but in a 5-1 win over the New York Highlanders (Yankees) the hurler not only tossed a complete game six-hitter, but stole home! The run was part of a double steal with Jake Atz in the seventh inning, providing the game’s fifth and final run.
The win was the 10th straight for the White Sox, who pushed into first place for the first time all season. The club would finish the run with 13 straight wins 17 of 18.
Walsh collected 14 SBs over his 14 seasons. While no hitting asset, he did manage 2.1 WAR at the plate in his career.
1946
He set records that will never be broken, including winning an incredible 40 games in 1908, and on this day White Sox star pitcher Ed Walsh was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Walsh played all but four games of his 14-year career with the Sox, leading the AL in numerous categories between 1904 and 1912 including games played, games started, complete games, shutouts, games finished, saves, innings pitched, strikeouts and wins.
In addition to the 40 wins in his miraculous 1908 season, Walsh threw 464 innings, with an ERA of 1.41. He had a great fastball — as well as a mean spitball (a legal pitch at the time.)
Finally, in a mere coincidence, on this exact day in 1908, Walsh stole home while pitching the White Sox to a complete-game, 5-1 win over the New York Highlanders.
1947
The White Sox lost the first night game ever played at Fenway Park, 5-3, falling to 25-28 and into sixth place on the year. Ted Williams broke the ice in the fifth with a two-run single, and Boston would score all it needed (five runs) in the frame. Dave Philley had four singles in five at-bats for the White Sox.
1953
The White Sox acquired pitcher Virgil Trucks in a five-player deal with the Browns. Trucks would throw a pair of one-hitters, and was a 20-game winner, during his time on the South Side.
1957
The White Sox and Yankees hooked up in perhaps the greatest “base-brawl” in history.
In the first inning at Comiskey Park, New York’s Art Ditmar threw a pitch at the head of Larry Doby. As the pitch rolled to the wall behind home plate, Ditmar ran to cover home. Doby warned Ditmar about the pitch, and then threw a left hook that flattened Ditmar. The fight appeared to have racial overtones, and lasted a full 30 minutes.
Chicago native and future Sox player Bill ”Moose” Skowron jumped on Doby, which brought Walt Dropo into the fray (Dropo was 6´5´´, 220 pounds — a monster for his time). At various times Whitey Ford, Casey Stengel, Jim Rivera and Enos Slaughter were in the middle of it. Slaughter’s jersey and undershirt were ripped to pieces, and his hat was wrenched backwards in one of the most famous photographs of the 1950s.
After things settled down, Billy Martin rushed into things and started in on Doby.
Five players were ejected and fined for the melee. New York won the game, 4-3.
1966
The White Sox traded relief pitcher Eddie Fisher to the Orioles for infielder Jerry Adair. Fisher was an All-Star in 1965 and the Fireman of the Year, but the Sox had incredible bullpen depth thanks to the anchor, Hoyt Wilhelm and up-and-coming pitcher Bob Locker, along with Dennis Higgins.
1978
It was one of the greatest comebacks in White Sox history: After trailing Cleveland 9-0 going into the bottom of the third inning, the Sox wound up winning the game, 10-9!
Chicago scored six runs in the third, four runs in the fourth, and hung on to win. And the White Sox scored all 10 runs without benefit of a home run. Wayne Nordhagen led the way with three RBIs. Rich Hinton went more than six innings in relief, allowing only a run on five hits to get the win.
1997
Interleague play began with the White Sox in Cincinnati. Ray Durham inaugurated it with a leadoff home run. The Sox beat the Reds, 3-1, behind the pitching of Wilson Alvarez and Roberto Hernandez. All three Sox runs scored on home runs, by Durham and Albert Belle.
larry wrote about it this game in greater detail for South Side Sox back in 2012.
2010
The White Sox came out on the wrong end of a 1-0 pitchers’ duel.
It was an epic Crosstown battle at Wrigley Field between Gavin Floyd and Ted Lilly, with both pursuing no-hitters.
Floyd got within seven outs, until an Alfonso Soriano double with two gone in the seventh inning, and Chad Tracy singling him in for the game’s only run.
Lilly suffered heartbreak as well, as Juan Pierre singled to lead off the ninth inning to break up the no-hit bid.
Per Baseball-Reference, it had been almost 30 years (July 13, 1980) since no hits had been recorded in the first six innings of a game, and the first time since 1965 that 41 outs were recorded in a game before a first hit (Sandy Koufax no-hitter).
Lilly was yanked after Pierre’s hit, with Carlos Marmol almost blowing the lead in the top of the ninth with a walk-balk-strikeout-intentional walk to load the bases with one down, but Paul Konerko tapped a weak grounder for a force out at home, and Carlos Quentin flew out to end the game.
It would be the only loss for the White Sox from June 9-26, a stretch where the South Siders made up eight games in the standings with a 16-1 run that brought them to within 1 1⁄2 games of first place.