PICTURE THIS: SOX VS. YANKS, DENT, SANTO MAY 27, 1974

Note: This is the first in an occasional series where I identify a random White Sox picture with no date based on what’s in the photo

The photo: White Sox shortstop Bucky Dent throws to first with the Yankees Graig Nettles bearing down on him with teammate Ron Santo in the background

The date: May 27, 1974

The place: Shea Stadium, New York

The play: Nettles is forced at second by Dent on a throw from first baseman Dick Allen on a grounder by Fernando Gonzalez for the second out in the second inning of the White Sox 4-1 win.

The discovery: The date of this photo was easy to pin down through retrosheet.org mainly because of Santo’s presence.

1974 was Santo’s only year with the Sox and the situation can be pinpointed because of the uniforms.

A quick check of retrosheet.org shows that the Sox played the Yankees at Shea (Yankee Stadium was being renovated) in May and August of 1974.

May 27 was the only the game where Santo played second base.

There were two possibilities for this picture: the second or the sixth inning on May 27.

The latter has Nettles out on a second-to-short-to-first double play. Santo’s position told me he was too far away from the bag to have made a throw with Dent in that position. I deducted and Santo was backing up the throw from Allen in the second.

As always, I am open to discussion and correction on this.