No White Sox today … no worries!
A look back on this date in revealed that Carlton Fisk hit one of the most memorable home runs in White Sox history in 1981 … and it didn’t come in Boston or against Boston!
Also included is the White Sox Stumper I submitted for the last game at Guaranteed Rate Field (2012).
Here’s the Stumper (answer below):
Who led the White Sox with a .320 average in April of 2011?
1907, CHAMPS MAKE IT TWO OF THREE: The defending World Champion White Sox defeated the Browns 2-1 before an overflow crowd of 17,000 in St. Louis. Fielder Jones gave the White Sox the lead for good with a two-run single in the in the second in a game where thousands more fans were turned away.
1908, BIG BEGINNING: The Sox opened their eighth A.L. campaign by blasting Detroit 15-8 before a record and overflow crowd of 20,000 at South Side Park. Billy SullivanZ homered and Doc White got the win as the Sox set a club Opening Day scoring record which would stand until the 1951 team christened their season with a 17-3 triumph at St. Louis. This was one of those games where the overflow crowd was allowed on the field and balls hit into the throng were ruled doubles of which there were eight in this game.
1910, LAST OPENER AT SOUTH SIDE PARK: Frank Smith commemorated the final Opening Day at South Side Park with a one-hitter in the White Sox 3-0 win over St. Louis. 20,000 watched as Smith gave up a single in the third while walking two and fanning five. Less than three months later, the White Sox opened Comiskey Park – their home until Sept. 30, 1990.
1914: DEATH VALLEY FOR NAPS: In his second big league game and fourth at bat, Tom Daly delivered a go-ahead two-run double in the seventh in the White Sox 5-2 win over Cleveland before 23,000 in the opener at Comiskey Park. Jim “Death Valley” Scott was the winning pitcher as the Sox began a club-record five-game season-starting win streak, which stood as the best in team history until the 1920 Sox started 6-0.
1915, DEATH VALLEY DOES IT AGAIN: Jack Fournier’s two-run pinch triple highlighted a three-run 13th as the White Sox prevailed 7-6 in the season-opener at St. Louis. The big hit came two innings after Bunny Brief launched a home run. Ed Cicotte got the win in relief of starter Jim “Death Valley” Scott.
1917, A NO-NO FOR CICOTTE: Ed Cicotte no-hit St. Louis in an 11-0 Sox win at St. Louis. Cicotte gave up three walks, hit a batter and struck out five in the fifth no-hitter in club history. The Sox gave Cicotte a lead right away with one in the first and added seven more in the second inning.
1920, CHAMPS START WITH A WIN: Thanks to Eddie Collins’ walkoff single in the 11th, the White Sox opened defense of their A.L. pennant with a 3-2 win over Detroit before 25,000 fans at Comiskey Park. Buck Weaver scored the winning run and Lefty Williams went the distance for the win, which was the first in a six-game winning streak.
1936, HEY BABE!: Reliever Babe Phelps doubled in the go-ahead run in the eighth and got the win in the White Sox 7-6 Opening Day win over St. Louis before 12,000 at Comiskey Park. Phelps capped his four inning stint by fanning Jim Bottomley to end the game.
1955, WELCOME A’S: Bob Nieman homered with three RBIs as the White Sox topped the A’s 7-1 before 14,067 in the Comiskey Park opener. Sandy Consuegra got the win as the Sox played the A’s for the first time since their move from Philadelphia to Kansas City.
1959, 4-0 IN 1959: Billy Pierce fired a six-hitter for the win as the White Sox improved to 4-0 with a 2-0 win over Kansas City before 19,303 in the Comiskey Park where all in attendance received a free beer and a soda. Pierce struck out three with no walks in helping the Sox move to 4-0 in the 1 hour and 55 minute affair. The Sox scored both of their runs in the fifth when Luis Aparicio’s single scored Johnny Callison and Bubba Phillips.
1969, FIRST SAVE: Bob Locker earned the White Sox first official save in a 4-3 win over the Angels in Anaheim. Locker fashioned two shutout innings to preserve Tommy John’s victory. Pete Ward’s two-out, two-run double in the eighth gave the Sox the lead for good.
1970, NO. 1 FOR HORLEN: Joel Horlen pitched into the eighth for his first win in the White Sox 3-1 triumph in Anaheim. The Sox scored their first run when Ken Berry scored on a passed ball. The Sox padded their lead on a Bill Melton double and a Duane Josephson single. Wilbur Wood tossed 1.1 perfect frames for his second save as the Sox halted a three-game losing streak.
1981, FISK SLAMS BREWERS: Carlton Fisk’s grand slam in his home debut with the White Sox sparked a 9-3 win over Milwaukee before an Opening Day record crowd of 51,560 at Comiskey Park. Greg Luzinski logged two RBI in his Comiskey Park debut in support of Ross Baumgarten, who went eight innings for the win.
1982, GOOD WORK, WIMPY: Behind Tom Paciorek’s three-run homer in the seventh, the White Sox notched their first 4-0 start since 1959 with a 5-4 win at Boston. Steve Trout got the win while Salome Barojas fired three perfect innings with two strikeouts for his third save.
1983, THE BULL, KITTY LEAD THE WAY: Ron Kittle drove in six and Greg Luzinski’s sacrifice fly in the eighth gave the Sox the lead for good in a 12-11 win over the Orioles before 13,622 at Comiskey Park. Carlton Fisk doubled twice as the Sox improved to 3-4.
1985, FISK HAUNTS RED SOX: Carlton Fisk victimized his old team with four RBIs in the White Sox 11-6 win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Fisk’s hit a three-run home run in a seven-run fourth that gave the Sox the lead for good.
1989, MERULLO LEAVES HIS MARK: Matt Merullo hit the last Opening Day homer at Old Comiskey Park in the White Sox 7-4 loss to Oakland in the home opener before 37,950 fans. Merullo homered off Rick Honeycutt during an Old Comiskey Park power outage so there were no fireworks to celebrate the milestone. Merullo collected his first Major League hit off Dave Stewart earlier in the game.
1990, SOSA TRIPLES HIS PLEASURE: Sammy Sosa tied a team record by banging out two triples in the White Sox 9-4 win vs. Cleveland before 12,125 at Comiskey Park. The Sox took the lead for good with two in the first thanks to a sac fly by Ivan Calderon and a single by Carlton Fisk. The win improved the surprising Sox to 3-1.
2000, NEW MILLENIUM OPENER AT COMISKEY: Frank Thomas celebrated the White Sox first home game of the 21st Century with a lead-providing homer in the first in the White Sox 9-4 win over Anaheim before 38,912 at Comiskey Park. Ray Durham treated the sellout crowd to a spectacular catch in the first to keep the Angels off the board. Paul Konerko also homered to help Mike Sirotka improve to 2-1 in the fourth nocturnal home opener in franchise history.
2004, NINTH INNING HEROICS: Joe Crede’s ninth-inning single plated Willie Harris with the winning run in the White Sox 10-9 win over Kansas City before 11,765 at US Cellular Field. Paul Konerko’s single earlier in the frame scored Magglio Ordonez with the tying run. The big ninth allowed reliever Jon Adkins to earn his first big league victory.
2010, THANKS, DANKS: John Danks allowed two hits over seven innings for the victory in the White Sox 11-1 win at Toronto. Danks walked three and fanned six for his first win of the season. Carlos Quentin hit a grand slam and drove in a career-best six runs and Andruw Jones also homered as the Sox avoided losing a series in Toronto for the first time since 2006.
2017, THE TRES GARCIAS GAME: Starting an All-Garcia outfield, the White Sox tipped the Twins 2-1 at Target Field. With Willy in left, Leury in center and Avisail in right, the Sox became the first team in baseball to start an outfield of three players with the same surname, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Leury Garcia scored the Sox first run in the third but it was Matt Davidson’s homer in the seventh that was the difference.
2019, GRAND TIM: Tim Anderson’s grand slam powered the White Sox to a 5-2 win over the Yankees in New York. Anderson’s blast came in the fourth and gave the Sox the lead for good. https://twitter.com/soxnerd/status/1117495792561004545?s=21
STUMPER ANSWER: A) Brett Lillibridge
soxnerd 