Jake Burger’s clutch hitting enters the record books
1923
While long road trips were not uncommon in the days of train travel and fewer teams, the White Sox set a franchise mark that remains today in embarking on a monthlong road trip. The Pale Hose visited all seven American League clubs on the journey, which lasted 27 games and a full month — not returning home until a July 7 doubleheader. Strangely enough, the long trip did wonders for the club, as the White Sox went 18-9 and improved from last in the league (eighth) at 15-24, 13 games out to third place, at 33-33.
Ultimately the club faltered and fell back to seventh place at a 69-85-2 record by season’s end. The culprit? That awful home cooking! (For the season, the White Sox were 39-40 on the road and 30-45 at home!)
1935
White Sox rookie pitcher John Whitehead sees his eight-game winning streak to start his MLB career snapped, losing to the St. Louis Browns, 2-0. Whitehead would finish 13-13 in his rookie campaign, with 18 complete games and 4.9 WAR, finishing 19th in AL MVP voting.
“Silent John” amassed in impressive 11.6 WAR in 127 games over four-plus seasons on the South Side. Ironically enough, he was dealt to the Browns during the 1939 season.
1960
White Sox pitchers Russ Kemmerer and Frank Baumann both fired shutouts in beating the Kansas City Athletics in a doubleheader. The Sox won both games by the same score: 2-0. The A’s combined for only 10 hits on the Sunday afternoon.
1967
Eddie Stanky did it again. The White Sox manager let loose a verbal assault on Red Sox All-Star Carl Yastrzemski. Before a three-game set in Comiskey Park, Stanky was quoted as saying, “He may be an All-Star from the neck down, but in my book he’s a moody ballplayer … and I don’t like moody ballplayers.”
Red Sox fans were incensed, and let Stanky and the Sox have an earful, as well as throwing tomatoes at him whenever he went to the mound when the Sox went to Boston the following week.
2022
With a ground-rule double to drive in the first two runs of a 6-5 win over Tampa Bay in a game the White Sox would never trail, Jake Burger recorded the game-winning RBI in a fourth straight White Sox win — a record that dates back to at least 1974.
Burger’s streak started with a three-run homer on May 25 vs. Boston, the only runs needed for a 3-1 win. Next was a 12th-inning single that won it against the Cubs on May 29. Then came a two-run shot in the eighth inning of a 2-1 game vs. the Rays on June 4, which the White Sox held on to win, 3-2.
You might note the wide range of dates, indeed during this 10-game stretch that Burger established his clutch mark the White Sox went 4-6. This win brought the club to 25-27, in its seemingly endless quest to get past the .500 mark. It would end up exactly there, at 81-81 in the disappointing spin into another rebuild — one that seems like it will last the rest of the 2020s.