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1890 Harry Grabiner, first and longest general manager of the White Sox, was born in Chicago. He was a 40-year employee of the team, rising literally from peanut vendor to vice president. Grabiner served under three Comiskey owners: Charles, J. Louis, and Grace. At the time, “general manager” wasn’t really a stand-alone position, so Grabiner […]
This round was more of the customary tight battle, given the smaller pool of votes. Emerging victorious from a late, dead tie was outfielder Christian Gonzalez, earning 13 of 60 (22%) votes: Gonzalez has completed just two short seasons in the White Sox system, thus this is his first taste of our Prospect Vote. It […]
1927 Nellie Fox — the second-best second baseman, fourth-best hitter, and 11th-best player in White Sox history by WAR (47.4) — was born in St. Thomas, Pa. Although certainly more in line with players of his time, Fox was an undersized 5´9´´, achieving his stardom with the grit that came to personify the Go-Go White […]
With apologies to Clement Moore — or to whoever actually wrote A Visit from St. Nicholas back before baseball was invented; like another famous poet named Shake- something, there are claims Moore’s work was actually penned by someone else. ’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through The RateNot a creature was stirring, just awaiting […]
1913 Future White Sox owner Arthur Allyn was born in Chicago. By purchasing Bill Veeck’s stake in the team in 1961, combined with buying out founder Charles Comiskey’s grandson, Chuck, Allyn was the end point of all Comiskey involvement with the White Sox franchise. Allyn didn’t care much for baseball, buying the club as much […]
Smiles were still abundant around Rate Field from the Munetaka Murakami signing when the White Sox hung another, much smaller ornament on the tree. While the majority of front offices slipped into idle mode heading into the holidays, Chris Getz remained wired up. On Tuesday morning, all that energy coalesced into more activity: the club […]
Let’s take a moment and remember the Colson Montgomery of just nine months ago. His year started with a prospect report from FanGraphs in which the very first sentence was, “Montgomery is in a free fall.” It was more scathing than a Pitchfork review of Raffi’s “Bananaphone.” Things got worse when the season started. Montgomery […]
1940 The original home of the White Sox before Comiskey Park, South Side Park III, was damaged by a late-night fire set by intruders to the property. The ballpark, then being used by the Chicago American Giants of the Negro Leagues, did $2,000 worth of damage (about $45,000 today) to the wooden grandstands. The club […]
After a winter filled with pedestrian free agent signings and anticlimactic trades, the White Sox finally jumped in the free agent pool with a cannonball into the deep end. Signing Murakami is no safe move, as there are wildly-varying outcomes, from high-boom to high-bust. On one hand, Murakami’s stats since 2021 have been stacked. He […]
The White Sox strengthened their lineup by signing Japanese star Munetaka Murakami. The 25-year-old’s market fell behind where many expected it to land, allowing the White Sox to snag him with a two-year, $34 million deal. Murakami is an incredibly feared hitter, as he slashed .273/.394/.550 across eight seasons in Japan. In addition, the NPB […]
The possibility of the White Sox signing Japanese superstar Munetaka Murakami is picking up momentum. When Murakami was posted, the White Sox were not among the teams mentioned as a possible landing spot for the “Japanese Babe Ruth.” The belief was that he would prefer to sign with a contender, and he would command a […]
1921 The future of the best-of-nine World Series is decided at the major league meetings: The AL votes to return to the best-of-seven, while the NL prefers the status quo. Commission Landis casts the deciding vote to return the World Series to a best-of-seven, and the World Series has remained so ever since. 1958 Bill […]
We had an old-fashioned blowout this round, calling the race at a season-low 51 votes in order to move on to the next ballot. The decisive winner was Jedixson Paez, earning 23 of 51 (26%) votes: That 45% margin is the fifth-biggest win so far in our polling, with almost all of those big wins […]
When Chris Getz gets a hunch, brother does he run it into the ground. In the last calendar year, the White Sox have made 21 trades, purchases or sales with other teams, starting with the Garrett Crochet blockbuster with Boston, and 10 of those deals have been with the Rays and Red Sox. Since the […]
1914 Charles Comiskey paid to keep a star opposing pitcher in the American League? Indeed, the White Sox owner, in fear of Walter Johnson jumping from the AL’s Washington Senators to the Chifeds (Chicago Whales) of the new Federal League and creating a second legitimate rival for Chicago fan dollars beyond the Cubs, did just […]
As voting winnows, it is likely that smaller margins will determine winners, which in turn will extend voting times longer. With roughly six weeks left in our voting period we still aim to get to at least 40 ballots, but that is hard to guarantee at the moment. After a good sampling of voters, Jake […]
1914Clarence “Pants” Rowland was named White Sox manager, replacing Jimmy Callahan after a 70-84-3, sixth-place season in 1914. Rowland, who got his nickname from wearing oversized pants during his minor-league playing days, had been a minor league skipper for about a decade, without any particular distinction. It was somewhat of a surprise that owner Charles Comiskey […]
For the first time since 1977, the White Sox have the first overall draft pick in the summer draft, and the timing couldn’t be more favorable. In a top-heavy draft, Chicago doesn’t have to guess who may fall to them. After wisely picking future Hall-of-Famer Harold Baines in 1977, the Sox are hoping to make […]
1940 In a minor trade, the White Sox shipped Jack Knott to Philadelphia for third baseman Dario Lodigiani. Knott was approaching his later 30s but was coming off of two strong, two-plus WAR seasons, while Lodigiani, about a decade younger, was just getting his career started. No one ended up very pleased with how the […]
The Chicago White Sox keep combing the waiver wire and picking through the free agent scrap heap to fill out next season’s roster — and there’s no end in sight. The biggest free agent signing so far has been starting pitcher Anthony Kay. He had to go to Japan any hope of reviving a big-league […]
1960 White Sox owner Bill Veeck made up for some of his bad deals after the 1959 season by pilfering pitchers Juan Pizarro and Cal McLish from the Reds for infielder Gene Freese. Manager Al Lopez and pitching coach Ray Berres had their eyes on Pizarro for a few years, but Milwaukee refused to deal him to the Sox. Veeck craftily got his friend Bill DeWitt of Cincinnati to […]
It was another close race, necessitating appeals to both SSS readership and staff to break a deadlock between Ky and Jake Palisch. It was in fact the debut lefty, Eder, who prevailed, earning 15 of 63 (24%) votes: Poll Note: We’re getting a consistent 60ish votes each round these days, which is fine to carry […]
1969 The White Sox dealt their star lefthander Gary Peters and catcher Don Pavletich to the Red Sox for Syd O’Brien and Billy Farmer. (Farmer retired instead of reporting, so as compensation Chicago received Gerry “Wheat Germ Kid” Janeski in early March 1970.) Peters would win 33 games over the next three seasons. Janeski won 10 games in 1970, then was shipped to […]
The Chicago White Sox have claimed 28-year-old lefthander Ryan Rolison, a day after the Atlanta Braves DFA’d him to make room for Robert Suarez. Rolison was selected in the first round of the 2018 draft by the Colorado Rockies, which just has to be the most extreme sort of “good news/bad news” call a pitcher […]
1925 The first championship ever secured on the grounds of Comiskey Park came with a 13-0 Chicago Cardinals win over the Hammond Pros. It was sweet revenge for the Cardinals, who had given Hammond its only win of 1925 with a season-opening upset in Indiana, 10-6. But this “title” was not without controversy. Six days […]