A brilliant midseason pickup helps deliver the South Siders their best season record in 31 years
1929
White Sox outfielder Art “The Great” Shires (Shires, by the way, gave himself that nickname) and manager Lena Blackburne got into a fistfight in the clubhouse over Shires choosing to wear a red felt hat during pregame warmups.
Blackburne knocked Shires out cold.
1941
In a game in New York, White Sox pitcher Edgar Smith allowed a hit to Yankee great Joe DiMaggio. It would be the first hit in DiMaggio’s record-setting, 56-game hitting streak.
Chicago won the game, 13-1.
1951
As a testament to the managerial genius of Sox skipper Paul Richards, it had been 30 years since the league saw a move like this.
In the ninth inning of a game in Boston with the White Sox winning, 7-6, relief pitcher Harry Dorish was removed in favor of Billy Pierce to face the left-handed hitting Ted Williams — only Dorish wasn’t removed from the game, he was moved to third base! Pierce retired Williams on a pop-up, then was taken out of the game to return Dorish back to the mound. Boston eventually tied the game, but the White Sox would have the last laugh, winning 9-7 in 11 innings.
The victory marked the start of a 14-game win streak, with 11 of the wins on the road. By May 30, after sweeping the St. Louis Browns, the Sox record stood at 26-9.
Also on this day, pitcher Saul Rogovin came to the White Sox in a brilliant trade that helped the White Sox to their first first-division finish (fourth) in eight seasons and best record (81-73-1) in 31 years. Chicago sent Bob Cain to Detroit for Rogovin, who started 26 games, finished 17, had three shutouts and finished one, for an MLB-best 2.78 ERA and 5.0 WAR.
1954
With a 7-6, come-from-behind win over the Philadelphia Athletics at Comiskey Park, the White Sox secured the franchise’s 4,000th win. It was catcher Carl Sawatski’s single with two outs in the ninth inning that won the game. That year, the Sox went 94-60-1 … and still finished 17 games back of pennant-winning Cleveland!
1988
It is an obscure record, and one that probably will never be broken.
Outfielder Dave Gallagher was picked up over the winter by the White Sox after being released by the Mariners, and was called up to the club the day before. Playing in only his second game in a White Sox uniform, Gallagher hit a walk-off home run in the 11th inning to beat the Blue Jays, 6-5, at Comiskey Park. The blast came off of Toronto’s sidewinder, Mark Eichhorn. It wasn’t just Gallagher’s first MLB home run, it remains the White Sox record for fewest games played before hitting a walk-off home run.
1996
The White Sox easily handled the Brewers in Milwaukee, 20-8. The Sox scored 20 — which remains in a tie for the fifth-most runs in a single game in franchise history — yet only hit two home runs. Frank Thomas had one of them, and knocked in six runs on the night. Harold Baines and Robin Ventura both had three RBIs as well.