Inside-the-park home run kismet
1947
In a game at Comiskey Park against the Yankees, a fan held up the contest for nearly an hour while he argued a call with one of the umpires. That’s right … a fan!
The Sox would eventually win the game, 9-8, in 10 innings, scoring seven unanswered runs to pull it off. Jake Jones’ single scored Floyd “the Blotter” Baker to win it.
1974
In at 10-6 loss at Comiskey Park, Ron Santo hit two home runs, including an inside-the-park homer to left field, as part of a 3-for-4 day. His nine total bases were by far the most the future Hall-of-Famer had in a single game during his disappointing single season on the South Side.
Why does this fact merit inclusion among the top moments in White Sox history? Well …
1981
… EXACTLY seven years later, the White Sox recorded their next inside-the-park home run, and it was even a weirder play than sluggish runner Santo circling the bases for a homer.
After Chet Lemon reached on an error to start the White Sox half of the fourth, already up, 1-0, vs. the Blue Jays, Wayne Nordhagen drove a fly ball down the right-field line. It looked foul, so Nordhagen stood in the box and watched — until the ball landed fair. Future White Sox left fielder George Bell, then a rookie known as Jorge and playing in just his 30th MLB game, re-injured his right ankle against the short, right-field foul wall chasing after the fly (the game started an hour late due to rain, so the slick grass/warning track contributed to the re-injury).
With Bell crumpled on the ground, the ball rolled to the wall and left center fielder Barry Bonnell to sprint over to make the play. That gave Nordhagen enough of a start to circle the bases, to his surprise:
I didn’t know what was happening. My helmet fell down over my eyes after I swung, and I didn’t even know where the ball went. I couldn’t believe it when Winks [White Sox third-base coach Bobby Winkles] was down there waving [me home].
The homer put the White Sox up by the eventual final, 3-0. Richard Dotson threw a five-hit shutout — his fourth already in a breakout campaign. It would also be Dotson’s last start until August, as three days from now the players’ strike would hollow out the middle of the 1981 season.
1987
White Sox outfielder (and future GM) Ken Williams hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning, breaking up a no-hit bid by the A’s Curt Young.
It would be the only hit on the day for the Sox, who lost, 8-3.
2021
The injury bug again impacted the White Sox, as second baseman Nick Madrigal, hitting better than .300 at the time and playing a solid second base, tore his right hamstring trying to run out a ground ball in the seventh inning of a game against the Blue Jays in Chicago. Madrigal became the third Sox starter to suffer a major injury and miss significant time, the others being outfielders Eloy Jiménez and Luis Robert Jr.
The Sox were leading 2-1 at the time, but after Madrigal’s season-ending injury melted down and lost, 6-2. The second baseman remained on the field for several minutes before being helped off, not putting any weight on his right leg. Surgery was performed the next week, and his season was over. On top of that, his White Sox career ended in July, with Madrigal being traded to the Cubs as part of the Craig Kimbrel deal at the deadline.
2022
It was a decision that left the baseball world shaking its head.
White Sox manager Tony La Russa, already under the microscope by fans and the media for his seemingly strange baseball decisions, made one that will be talked about for years. With the Sox losing, 7-5, to the Dodgers at Guaranteed Rate Field, he ordered an intentional walk to Trea Turner in the sixth inning. The count on Turner at the time was 1-2, leaving everyone from fans at the game to White Sox TV broadcasters stunned and wondering what the rationale for the move was.
The decision then blew up in La Russa’s face when five pitches later Max Muncy blasted a three-run home run to left-center field. Upon reaching home plate Muncy then looked towards the White Sox dugout and let loose with an expletive-filled comment. The runs would prove important as the Sox lost, 11-9.