
The White Sox and Giants don’t play often but when they do, the Sox usually win.
The White Sox entered this weekend’s interleague series in San Francisco 9-4 against the Giants. The .692 winning percentage is the Sox second-highest against SF is their second-highest against any foe. The Sox own a .700 winning percentage against the Reds.
The Sox haven’t left many wins in San Francisco, that’s for sure. The Sox .800 winning percentage in San Francisco is their highest as a visitor at any venue.
Regular-season games aren’t the only affairs these charter members of their respective leagues have played.
There have been World Series games, international exhibitions, and domestic exhibitions such as Cactus League tilts.
If fact, my favorite Sox-Giants game is a 1931 spring training game. The fact that it was the first night game between Major League teams was interesting enough but my journey to discover the details of the contest cemented it as my favorite (see below).
With all that in mind, here are some memorable games between the Sox and Giants:
*Feb. 1, 1914, Taking on the world: The White Sox and Giants played to a 3-3 tie in Cairo, Egypt as part of their world tour. The Sox and Giants would also visit Japan, Australia, Ceylon, France, Italy and England as part of the tour. The Sox would return to the United States the following March 6 having won 24 of the 44 exhibitions.
*Oct. 6, 1917, World Series Game 1: The White Sox opened the World Series with a 2-1 victory over the New York Giants before 32,000 at Comiskey Park. Ed Cicotte was masterful with his “shine ball” in going the distance. Cicotte scattered seven hits, walked one and fanned two. Fred McMullin gave the White Sox a 1-0 lead in the third when his double scored Shano Collins. In the next inning, Happy Felsch hit the first World Series home run by a Sox player to make it 2-0. The Giants scored a run in the fifth but Cicotte retired 12 of the final 13 batters he faced in giving the Sox the upperhand in the Series.
*Oct. 7, 1917 World Series Game 2: The White Sox took a 2-0 lead in the World Series with a 7-2 win over the New York Giants before 32,000 at Comiskey Park. Clarence “Pants” Rowland’s team broke open a 2-2 game with five runs in the fourth inning. Nemo Leibold gave the Sox the lead for good when his single scored Buck Weaver. Joe Jackson drove in two runs while Fred McMullin and Eddie Collins each drove in one in the outburst. Future Hall of Famer Red Faber cruised with the lead. Faber went the distance and did not allow a run after the second inning.
*Oct. 10, 1917, World Series Game 3: The New York Giants made a two-run fourth stand up in Game 3 of the World Series in a 2-0 win over the White Sox before 33,616 at the Polo Grounds. The victory enabled the Giants to pull to within 2-1 in the best-of-seven series. Ed Cicotte was the tough-luck loser, giving up just eight hits in eight innings. Buck Weaver and Eddie Collins combined for four of the Sox five hits.
*Oct. 11, 1917, World Series Game 4: The White Sox offensive woes continued in a 5-0 loss to the New York Giants in Game 4 of the World Series at the Polo Grounds. Ferdie Schupp limited the White Sox seven hits as John J. McGraw’s Giants evened the series 2-2. The Giants scored three runs off losing pitcher Red Faber and two more off Dave Danforth. When Chick Gandil flew out to center to end the game, it ran the Sox scoreless streak in the Series to 22 innings.
*Oct. 13, 1917, World Series Game 5: A return to Comiskey Park marked the return of the White Sox offense in the World Series. The White Sox scored six runs in their final two at bats in beating the New York Giants 8-5 to take a 3-2 lead in the World Series. The Giants took a 2-0 lead in the first but the Sox halved the deficit in the third on Happy Felsch’s RBI double which scored Eddie Collins with the team’s first run in 24 innings. The Sox fell behind 5-2 heading into the last of the seventh when their offense finally kicked into high gear. Chick Gandil pulled the Sox to within one with a two-run double. After an out, Gandil scored the tying run on a bad throw on a steal. In the eighth, Collins’ single to center plated Shano Collins with the go-ahead run. Red Faber, the fourth Sox pitcher of the game, got the victory with two perfect innings of relief. The contest is marred by nine errors, six by the White Sox.
*Oct. 15, 1917, World Series Game 6: WORLD CHAMPIONS! The White Sox defeated the Giants 4-2 in New York to claim the World Series title in six games. It was the White Sox second World Series championship and their first since the 1906 “Hitless Wonders” turned the trick against the Cubs. The White Sox broke a scoreless tie in Game 6 in the fourth thanks to a defensive lapse by Heinie Zimmerman. During a rundown, Zimmerman chased Eddie Collins – who reached on Zimmerman’s error — across the plate with the game’s first run. As the rundown was taking place, Joe Jackson took third and Happy Felsch checked into second. Gandil gave the Sox a 3-0 lead when he followed with a single over first. The Giants scored two in the fifth but could not dent starter Red Faber any further. Faber went the distance in notching his third win of the series. Each White Sox player received a winner’s share of $3,669 while the Giants each received $2,442.

*Oct. 26, 1924, Mass disappointment: The White Sox defeated the New York Giants 8-4 at Dublin Ireland’s Croke Park as part of their world tour. Only 20 people watched the game because it conflicted with church services.
This was part of the Sox and Giants second world tour (the first was in 1914). junket London, Dublin, Glasgow, Berlin, Paris and Rome.

*March 21, 1931, Let there be lights!: The White Sox defeated the New York Giants 11-6 in the first night game between two Major League teams at Buffs Stadium in Houston.
The White Sox won the historic clash in 10 innings “under the glare of 245-kilowatt lamps and the gaze of 2,500 onlookers,” according to the New York Times report of the game.
The Sox took control of the clash with five runs in the 10th. Bill Cissell’s RBI single, which scored Willie Kamm, gave the Sox the lead for good. Luke Appling capped the outburst with a two-run double.

This game has been a research “white whale” of mine for at least a decade because of conflicting dates I stumbled upon in my research.
Here is my blog on the game and my quest to find out its details.
*March 8, 1998, Spring is the thing: Albert Belle hit a three-run homer and Greg Norton also went deep as the White Sox downed the Giants 6-1 in the first Cactus League game between the teams before 6,350 in Tucson, Ariz. Jim Parque started for the Sox and gave up one hit in four innings.
*March 31, 2002, Oracle debut: The White Sox closed out the exhibition season with a 5-2 win over the Giants in their Pac Bell Park (now Oracle) debut. Jon Garland allowed one run on three hits with five strikeouts and no walks in five innings while prospect Corwin Malone went the final three frames.
*June 10, 2003, Olivo, Jimenez power: Back-to-back home runs by Miguel Olivo and D’Angelo Jimenez in the seventh pushed the White Sox past San Francisco and Barry Bonds 5-2 before 23,837 at US Cellular Field in the first interleague clash between the franchises. Olivo’s homer, a two-run shot, gave the Sox the lead for good. In his US Cellular Field debut, Bonds homered in the fourth inning.
*May 16, 2008, Alexei … yes!: Alexei Ramirez’s two-run homer was all the White Sox needed in a 2-0 win in their interleague debut at San Francisco. Ramirez’s blast came in the seventh and made a winner out of Gavin Floyd, who got help from four relievers including Bobby Jenks, who notched his ninth save.
*May 17, 2008, Stellar relief: Octavio Dotel, Scott Linebrink and Bobby Jenks combined to hurl 2.1 innings of one-hit relief to nail down the White Sox 3-1 interleague win at San Francisco. Carlos Quentin, Paul Konerko and Orlando Cabrera each drove in a run in support of winning pitcher Mark Buehrle.
*May 18, 2008, The sweep in San Francisco: Orlando Cabrera homered twice and drove in three runs in the White Sox sweep-completing 13-8 interleague win at San Francisco. Nick Swisher’s three-run pinch-double in the eighth gave the Sox the lead for good.
*June 17, 2014, Good eye: Tyler Flowers bases loaded walk in the fourth fronted the White Sox for good in an 8-2 win over San Francisco in an interleague game before 25,278 at U.S. Cellular Field. Gordon Beckham’s homer off Matt Cain tied the game in the third as John Danks outpitched Cain for his sixth win.
*June 18, 2014, Sale-ing along: Chris Sale improved to 6-1 and Jose Abreu and Adam Dunn homered as the White Sox hung on for a 7-6 interleague win over the Giants before 20,059 at U.S. Cellular Field. Sale fanned seven in six innings as the Sox completed a two-game sweep of the future World Champion Giants.
*Aug. 12, 2014, Gordo!: Gordon Beckham’s two-out single scored Moises Sierra with the go-ahead run in the White Sox 3-2 win over the Giants in San Francisco. Chris Sale fanned 12 in eight shutout innings but the bullpen blew his lead in the ninth. It was Zach Putnam who wound up getting the win.
*Sept. 9, 2017, Start the cycle: Jose Abreu hit for the cycle as the White Sox and James Shields blitzed the Giants and Jeff Samardzija 13-1 before 17,688 at Guaranteed Rate Field. Abreu homered in the first, doubled in the third, singled in the seventh and tripled in the eighth in becoming the sixth Sox player to hit for the cycle (Ray Schalk, Jack Brohamer, Carlton Fisk, Chris Singleton, Jose Valentin).

The Sox launched four of their six homers off Samardzija (Abreu, Tim Anderson, Yolmer Sanchez and Avisail Garcia) in support of Shields, who gave up one run in seven innings for his third win. Yoan Moncada and Nicky Delmonico homered off Josh Osich for the Sox.
*Sept. 10, 2017, Abreu again!: A day after he hit for the cycle, Jose Abreu had three hits including two homers as the White Sox blasted the Giants 8-1 before 16,458 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Abreu’s homer in the second off Madison Bumgarner was part of a five-run second, which made things easy on starter and winner Carson Fulmer. Abreu also homered in the eighth as the Sox took the series.