The Winning Ugly club gets Juiced
1916
Paced by three singles from Joe Jackson, the White Sox stymie Babe Ruth and the Red Sox at Comiskey Park, 5-0. The Pale Hose slapped out 12 hits in Ruth’s eight innings, saddling the Baby Bambino with five earned runs and swelling his ERA from 2.13 to 2.36.
Joe Benz pitched five innings for the win, and Dave Danforth came on in relief with four innings for his first save of the season.
The win pulled the White Sox even at 25-25 for the year, tied with the Red Sox for fifth in the American League. The South Siders had been as bad as 12-18 and in the AL cellar as recently as May 19, but had started a steady march upward in the standings. Between May 19 and August 4, Chicago reeled off 47 wins in 71 games to surge into first place outright.
The club would ultimately settle for second place in the AL, 2 1⁄2 games behind the Red Sox, but the surge set up what would become the greatest season in franchise history, 1917’s 100 wins, .649 winning percentage and World Series victory.
1968
A 2-1 win over Cleveland would stand as the first and only win for the White Sox during their schedule of “home” games up at County Stadium in Milwaukee. A pinch-hit, two-run triple in the seventh inning by Bill Voss would prove the decider.
The White Sox, who ended up 67-95 and in eighth place in the American League, would go 1-8 in Milwaukee in 1968.
1983
Newly-acquired second baseman Julio Cruz had a minimal impact in his first start with the moribund, 28-32 White Sox (0-for-3 with a sac fly), but the club was about to rocket to a historic second half with him installed at No. 9 in the order. Counting this 6-3 win over Oakland, the White Sox went 71-31 the rest of the way (69-30 with Cruz active in the lineup) to finish with 99 wins.
2023
White Sox rookie Zach Remillard had a debut he’ll never forget — nor will Major League Baseball.
Thrust into the lineup after an injury to starting shortstop Tim Anderson, Remillard reached base all four times he came to the plate in Chicago’s 4-3, 11-inning win in Seattle. The 29-year-old rookie walked in his first MLB plate appearance, then bunted for a single for his first major-league hit, and had RBI singles to first tie the game (ninth inning) and give the White Sox the lead and eventual win (11th inning).
Remillard became the first White Sox player to reach base four times in his debut in 65 years (Johnny Callison, Sept. 9, 1958). He also became the first player in major league history with both a game-tying and go-ahead hit in the ninth inning or later.
Not bad for a game in which he wasn’t even supposed to play!