THE TOP 18 WHITE SOX GAMES OF SEPT. 6

There are no off days for the @soxnerd!

Taking into account a reward for found glasses, big hits from pitchers, roof shots and walkoffs galore, here’s a look at the top 18 White Sox games of Sept. 6:

18. 1930, KEEP SWINGING: The White Sox split a doubleheader with Cleveland at Comiskey Park with the teams tying an 18-year old record by drawing just two walks in the twinbill. The Sox won the first game 2-1 behind Ted Lyons but dropped the nightcap 4-2. The Indians had both of the walks in the double-dip.

17. 2008, WELL WORTH THE WAIT: Jim Thome’s homer in the 15th walked the White Sox off with a 7-6 win over the Angels before 31,046 at U.S. Cellular Field. Thome’s homer enabled the first-place White Sox to boost their lead to 2.5-games in the A.L. Central.

16. 2006, NO. 40 FOR DYE: Jermaine Dye became just the fourth Sox player to reach the 40-homer plateau in an 8-1 win at Boston. Dye’s homer came in the fourth as he joined Paul Konerko, Albert Belle and Frank Thomas (who had 5 40-HR seasons for the Sox) in the Sox 40-home run club. Thome, who was 4-for-4 led off a four-run second with his 39th blast of the season as the Sox stopped a three-game skid.

15. 1919: RUNNING BUCK: Buck Weaver tied a big league record by stealing second, third and home in the White Sox 11-2 loss to Cleveland at Comiskey Park.

14. 1985, 7 RIBS FOR PUDGE: Carlton Fisk, starting at the DH spot, drove in career-high tying seven runs as the White Sox ran away from the Rangers 12-1 in Arlington. Fisk hit a three-run homer in the first, a three-run homer in the fourth and finished his day with a run-scoring single in the ninth. Fisk’s other seven RBI game came on Sept. 6, 1977 for the Red Sox at Toronto.

13. 2005, EARLY LEAD HOLDS: Paul Konerko had an RBI in each frame as the first-place White Sox scored five times in the first two innings and held off the Royals for a 6-5 win before 14,571 at U.S. Cellular Field. Orlando Hernandez tossed 6.1 innings for the victory as the Sox extended their winning streak to six. The game wasn’t settled until Dustin Hermanson threw a perfect ninth for his 33rd save.

12. 1951, FOUR HITS … FOR THE PITCHER! Randy Gumpert was 4-for-5 with three RBI and went the distance in the White Sox 9-4 win at St. Louis. Gumpert fanned three in earning his ninth win while being backed by a 17-hit attack.

11. 1967, CLUTCH WIN: The White Sox pulled out a dramatic 3-2 win in 13 on Ken Berry’s RBI double before 12,103 at Comiskey Park to create a four-way tie atop the American League. The game was scoreless until the 11th when the Angels scored twice. The Sox retaliated with two in their 11th on a pinch-RBI double by Smoky Burgess and a passed ball. The Sox ended it in a hurry in the 13th when Duane Josephson singled with one out and scored when Berry, the next batter, doubled.

10. 1975, NO. 20 FOR KAAT: Jim Kaat notched his 20th victory in the White Sox 5-2 win over the Twins before 7,078 at Comiskey Park. Kaat gave up two runs on six hits with four strikeouts in reaching the coveted 20-win plateau for the second consecutive year. Deron Johnson (3) and Jorge Orta (2) accounted for all of the Sox RBIs.

9. 1965, WALKOFF SWEEP: Ken Berry scored on a wild pitch with one out in the ninth to give the White Sox a 4-3 win over the Angels in Game 2 of a doubleheader at Comiskey Park where the Sox won both games on walkoffs. In the opener, pinch-hitter extraordinaire Smoky Burgess singled home Danny Cater with the winning run in the 10th for a 2-1 win.

8. 1920, NICE START FOR SHOVEL: Shovel Hodge fired a two-hitter in his big league debut as the White Sox capped a doubleheader sweep of the Tigers with a 6-2 win at Comiskey Park. Red Faber started and won the first game, a 6-2 Sox triumph.

7. 1903, DR. ONE-HITTER: Doc White came within two outs of a no-hitter in firing the first of his six one-hitters as the White Sox bested Cleveland 1-0 in 10 innings at the 39th Street Grounds. Bill Bradley ruined the no-no with a one-out double in the ninth. Billy Sullivan, who had two of the Sox three hits, reached on an error in the 10th and eventually scored the winning run.

6. 2000, SHELDON PLAYS ‘EM ALL: The White Sox exploded for 10 runs in their first two at bats in trashing the Texas Rangers, who had Scott Sheldon play every position, 13-1 before 15,622 at Comiskey Park. Frank Thomas got things going in the first by clouting his 41st home run of the season, which tied his 1993 career-high. The blast was also the 79th of Thomas’ career in the first inning. Magglio Ordonez followed Thomas’ shot with a homer of his own, marking the 15th time the Sox slugging duo had hit back-to-back dingers in 2000. Greg Norton and Charles Johnson later homered as the White Sox reached double figures in runs for the 25th time and raised their Comiskey Park home run total to a club-record 109. Sheldon became just the third player in the Major League history to play all nine positions in one game.

Ron Kittle hit his first roofshot homer on this date in 1983.

5, 1983: UP ON THE ROOF FOR KITTY: Ron Kittle blasted his first of his record seven career roof shot home runs at Comiskey Park in the White Sox 7-6 win over Oakland before 18,742 fans. Kittle victimized Chris Codiroli in the third inning. Rudy Law went 4-for-5 with a homer and LaMarr Hoyt earned his 19th win as the first-place Sox increased their lead atop the A.L. West to 14 games.

4. 1905 FIRST FRANK NO-HITTER: Frank Smith tossed the first of his two club-record no-hitters in the White Sox 15-0 win at Detroit. The White Sox made things easy on Smith by scoring eight in the first inning. Smith fanned eight and walked three. The “no-no” was the second in White Sox history and part of the first doubleheader sweep in franchise history (the White Sox won the opener 2-0 behind Doc White). Smith’s other no-hitter would come Sept. 20, 1908 at the 39th Street Grounds.

3. 1971, KEALEY GOES DEEP: Steve Kealey became the last White Sox pitcher to homer in the pre-DH era in the White Sox 6-3 win over Minnesota in the first game of a doubleheader before 16,197 at Comiskey Park. Kealey’s blast was a three-run shot off Ray Corbin in the eighth inning and came after Rich Morales was issued an intentional walk. The next homer by a Sox pitcher wouldn’t be hit until Jon Garland went deep at Cincinnati in an interleague game on June 18, 2006.

2. 1936; ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL: Moose Haas paid off a reward of a new glove to a boy for the return of his lost mitt and glasses before the White Sox 6-3 sweep-completing win over Cleveland in the second game a doubleheader at Comiskey Park. Haas left his glove and glasses on the field after being ejected the previous day. Before the first game, an announcement was made offering a reward of a new glove for the old one’s safe return to Haaas. On the field, Rip Radcliff was 4-for-6 with a double and five RBI and Tony Piet scored four times in the White Sox 15-1 win in the first game.

Reliever Dixie Howell was a White Sox walkoff hero on this date in 1957.

1. 1957, WALKOFF HOMER … BY A PITCHER: Pitcher Dixie Howell made himself the winner when he launched a game-ending homer in the White Sox 4-3 win over Kansas City before 11,216 at Comiskey Park. Howell entered the game in the eighth and tossed two shutout innings before coming to bat with one out in the ninth. Howell’s third homer of the season and fifth of his career got the second place White Sox to within 4.5-games of first place.

I’M 18 AND I LIKE IT! THE SOX AND 18 HITS

I met Alice Cooper at the park in 1996. The Sox paid tribute to “The Coop” with 18 hits on Tuesday.

To paraphrase Alice Cooper: EIGHTEEN HITS AND I LIKE IT! LIKE IT! LOVE IT! LIKE IT! LOVE IT! EIGHTEEN, EIGHTEEN, EIGHTEEN HITS AND I LIKE IT!

The Sox pounded out 18 hits in downing the Blue Jays 5-2 on Tuesday night.

Here are a few nuggets … @soxnerd style … on games when the Sox tally EXACTLY 18 hits (I’m partial to Alice because I met him at the park in 1996 — the pic is proof — and it was glorious):

*Tuesday was the 117th time the Sox had 18 hits in a game.

The Sox are 105-12 in those games.

*The five runs the Sox registered were the fewest they scored in a victory where they had 18 hits.

The other five-run 18-hit output was a 6-5 loss to Detroit at Comiskey Park on May 24, 1929. Bill Hunnefield was 1-for-10 for the Sox in the game.

*The most runs the Sox scored in an 18-hit game was 20 on April 30, 1934 against Cleveland at Comiskey Park.

ZEKE BONURA got the Sox on the board in the 10-run victory with a two-run homer in the first.

*Tuesday marked the Sox first 18-hit effort since a 16-4 win at Minnesota on May 17. That was the infamous Yermin Mercedes 3-0 home run game.

This is the first season since 2017 that the Sox have had two 18-hit games in the same season.

The 2006, 2000, 1999 and 1933 teams each had a franchise-best four 18-hit games in a season.

*Jose Abreu is a monster in 18-hit games.

The Sox legend-in-the making played in his sixth 18-hit game on Tuesday and lifted his average to .548 (17-for-31) with five home runs and 18 RBI in those tilts.

The Sox are 6-0 in those games, by the way.

Tuesday was not Abreu’s biggest game in an 18-hit contest even though he was 3-for-5 with a homer and four important RBI.

Abreu hit for the cycle in the Sox 18-hit attack in a 13-1 home win over the Giants on Sept. 9, 2017.

*Liam Hendriks is the first Sox pitcher to earn a save in an 18-hit effort since Matt Thornton closed out a 10-8 home win over Cleveland on Sept. 9, 2006.

*No. 18 Brian Goodwin had one of the 18 hits on Tuesday night.

*The Sox are 3-0 in 18-hit games vs. Toronto.

They also prevailed 12-5 on April 18, 1979 and Aug. 30, 1996 in Toronto.

*Tony La Russa is 5-0 in 18-hit games.

In addition to the two games this season, La Russa’s Sox won 18-hit games on April 13, 1979; April 18, 1979; and July 21, 1982.

*The Sox have won 12 consecutive games when they have collected 18 hits.

The Sox last loss in a 18-hit effort was a 20-14 setback to Minnesota in the second game of a doubleheader on July 6, 2007 at U.S. Cellular Field.

The Sox longest 18-hit win streak was a 25-gamer from June 4, 1933 to June 28, 1953.

The 1932 Sox were 0-3 in games where they had 18 hits.

*The Sox first 18-hit game was a 15-4 win over Washington in the franchise’s 38th contest on June 7, 1901.

FIELD OF DREAMS PHOTOS FROM MY FRIENDS

Here’s a look at some photos sent to me by friends prepping for Thursday’s “Field of Dreams” game between the White Sox and Yankees in Dyersville, Iowa:

THE WHITE SOX AND FRIDAY THE 13TH

Ozzie Guillen had a big Friday the 13th in June of 1986 for the Sox.

It wasn’t a stroke of bad luck that the White Sox had Friday the 13th off.

In fact, a breather after the emotional win in the “Field Of Dreams” game could be considered a stroke of good luck.

No matter what it is, this season the Sox were not scheduled to play on Friday the 13th for the first time since June of 1952.

The Sox were also not scheduled to play on Friday the 13th in August of 1915 and 1926 and June of 1941.

Here are some more nuggets on the White Sox and the most superstitious day on the calendar:

*Overall: The White Sox are 48-38-2 on Friday the 13th. … The Sox have won two in a row and seven of their last 10 Friday the 13th games.

*Winning ways: The Sox have been at or above .500 on the date since July 13, 1973 when Eddie Leon’s RBI single capped a three-run ninth in a 3-2 win over Baltimore at Comiskey Park. That improved the Sox to 22-22-2 on Friday the 13th that day.

*Real bad luck: The Sox Friday the 13th game in 2016 proved to be a huge jinx.

On that day in New York, Chris Sale improved to 8-0 with a complete game as the Sox whipped the Yankees 7-1.

The win, which also included a homer from Jimmy Rollins, improved to the Sox to 24-12 and enabled them to keep their five-game lead in the Central.

That, though, was the high point of the season.
From Saturday the 14th of May until the end of that season, the Sox went 54-72 and plummeted into fourth place in the Central.

#JackHarshman, who set the #WhiteSox record with 16 strikeouts on July 25, 1954, was born on this day in 1927. 19 days later he went the distance in the Sox 1-0 win in 16 INNINGS vs the Tigers @ #ComiskeyPark 😳 pic.twitter.com/NpmRVw1GQ6

— SoxNerd (@SoxNerd) July 13, 2018

*16 innings! The Sox greatest win on Friday’ the 13th was one of the greatest games in their history.

On Aug. 13, 1954, Jack Harshman WENT THE DISTANCE in the Sox 1-0 win over Detroit in 16 INNINGS. Harshman fanned 12 and gave up nine hits and seven walks and got the win when Minnie Minoso’s triple drove in Nellie Fox with one out in the 16th.

*The first: The Sox first Friday the 13th game was a 5-3 home loss to Milwaukee in September of the franchise’s inaugural year of 1901.

*First win: The Sox first victory on Friday the 13th was a 9-0 home win over Boston in June of 1902.

*Even-Steven: The Sox Friday the 13th ties were in April of 1928 (1-1 with Cleveland) and in June of 1958 (5-5 with Baltimore)

*13 runs! Fittingly, 13 are the most runs the Sox have scored in a Friday the 13th game.

In September of 2002, Magglio Ordonez was 3-for-3 with three runs and three RBI in the Sox 13-2 win over the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

That really was a freaky Friday because Rocky Biddle got the win over Mike Mussina.

*Hello NL: The Sox played their inaugural interleague game on a Friday the 13th.

On June 13, 1997, Wilson Alvarez went the distance as the Sox won 3-1 at Cincinnati.

*The best No. 13: Ozzie Guillen, wearing No. 13, homered on Friday the 13th in June of 1986 in an 11-10 loss at Seattle. … Ozzie was 6-for-24 with that homer on Friday the 13th.

*Good luck vs. Cubs: In the only game between the Chicago teams on a Friday the 13th, the Sox beat the Cubs at Wrigley Field in July of 2001.

Paul Konerko and Jose Valentin homered as the Sox won for the fourth time in their last five Friday the 13th tilts.

*I can not tell a lie: George Washington hit a homer for the Sox in their Friday the 13th loss to Philadelphia in September of 1935.

*Joltin‘ …: Joe De Sa hit the second pinch-hit grand slam on a Friday the 13th. In September of 1985, De Sa victimized the Mariners in Seattle in the a 6-1 win.

*Go the distance: The White Sox last complete game shutout on Friday the 13th was in September of 1991 in Anaheim.

Outdueling Jim Abbott, Jack McDowell used a Bo Jackson RBI in fashioning a four-hitter in a 1-0 win.

*No uni: White Sox infielder Hal Chase experienced a bit of bad luck on Friday the 13th in March of 1914.

Chase, a veteran, did not play in the Sox 4-0 exhibition win over the host San Francisco Seals because he left his uniform at the hotel in Oakland.

That nugget came from the Tribune.

*See you soon! This won’t be the last you will hear from me on this subject.

I’ll be back on Friday, May 13, 2022 for the Sox home game against the Yankees.

I’ll see you then, that is … if I’m lucky!

TODAY (AUG. 10) IN SOX HISTORY: GREBECK & OZ GO BACK-TO-BACK

Craig Grebeck at the moment of impact.

On this date (Aug. 10) in 1990, Craig Grebeck and Ozzie Guillen teamed up to hit maybe the most improbable back-to-back home runs in White Sox, if not big league, history.

How does two guys who weighed a combined 340 pounds with a combined seven big league homers (all by Guillen) torching the great Nolan Ryan grab you?

It’s true!

Grebeck and Guillen took Ryan deep in consecutive at bats in the second inning of the Sox 5-1 win over Texas in the second game of a doubleheader sweep before 32,073 at Comiskey Park.

These were the final back-to-back home runs in the history of Comiskey Park, which was in the final days of its final season.

Both homers came as a shocker not only because they came off Ryan but because Grebeck had yet to show the muscle that promoted “Hawk” Harrelson to dub him, “The Little Hurt” and Ozzie was, well, Ozzie.

Grebeck’s blast was a three-run shot off a fat fastball that landed in the fourth row of the left field bleachers.

It also sent the crowd into a frenzy.

The old yard was still crackling when Ozzie scurried into the box.

Never one to take many pitches, Guillen jumped on Ryan’s first offering and lined it into the first row of the right field bleachers.

So taken aback was “Hawk,” he hastily identified the Texas right fielder as “Sammy Sosa,” who was actually playing the position for the Sox that night.

These raucous homers came as part of long night because of rain delays. These blasts probably didn’t happen until 11:45 p.m. and the game didn’t end until just before 1 a.m.

Whether it was the celebration, the fireworks, the long rain delays, the two losses or a combination of things, this all appeared to rankle Ryan and Rangers.

The agitation only got worse the next day when the Rangers and White Sox waited out an unofficial record eight-hour rain delay before the series finale was postponed.

The makeup game was in Texas as part of a doubleheader the following week and guess what? … Ryan started a fight!