COUNTDOWN TO WHITE SOX OPENING DAY: 62 DAYS

62 days to Opening Day, White Sox fans!

Sox Opener No. 62 was the last of the seven second baseman Nellie Fox and shortstop Luis Aparicio would play together.

After the ’62 campaign, Aparicio was dealt to Baltimore. By the time “Little Looie” returned in 1968, Fox was long gone.

The seven Opening Days Fox and Aparicio, the cornerstone of the “Go Go Era,” played together are the most ever by a Sox “keystone combination.” Fox and Chico Carrasquel are second with five while Gordon Beckham and Alexei Ramirez started four.

COUNTDOWN TO WHITE SOX OPENING DAY: 63 DAYS

63 days to Opening Day, White Sox fans!

Luis Aparicio ranks No. 63 in White Sox history with 43 home runs.

The Hall of Fame shortstop was never known for his power so that’s why a look inside his Sox home runs is a worthy dig.

Here goes …

*Aparicio’s first home run was a fifth-inning go-ahead shot off TOMMY LASORDA on May 28, 1956 in a 6-4 loss to the Athletics in Kansas City

*Aparico’s lone multi-homer game came in the Sox 8-2 win over the A’s on Sept. 7, 1957 at Comiskey Park. Aparicio led off the game with an in-the-park homer and then hit a three-run bomb in the fourth

*Four of Aparicio’s homers never left the yard. … All four of Aparicio’s Sox in-the-park homers came at Comiskey Park and three of them were described as being hit to deep center by baseballreference.com

*24 of his 43 Sox homers came at Comiskey Park

*The only Hall of Famers Aparicio homered off were Whitey Ford and Jim Palmer. Neither came with the White Sox.

*Aparicio’s last White Sox homer came Sept. 19, 1970 was a two-run shot off Tom Hall in the Sox 5-3 loss to the Twins at Comiskey Park.

TODAY IN 1970: LITTLE LOOIE CHANGES SOX

On this date in 1970, the White Sox said goodbye to legendary Luis Aparicio the second and last time.

The Sox sent “Little Looie” to Boston for second baseman Mike Andrews and utility infielder Luis Alvarado.

The first time the Sox dealt the future Hall of Famer was to Baltimore in a six-player swap on Jan. 14, 1963. The Sox re-acquired Aparicio on Nov. 29, 1967 in a deal with the Orioles.

The latest trade killed rumors that Aparicio would become the Sox manager, according to Rich Lindberg’s “White Sox Encyclopedia.”

Aparicio, who won a Gold Glove and hit a career-high .313 for the 1970 Sox, had three solid seasons with the Red Sox before retiring after the 1973 campaign.

Andrews played a key role in the Sox resurgent 1971 campaign but struggled in 1972 was eventually shipped to Oakland – where he encounter infamy as part of a World Series controversy – during the 1973 season.

COUNTDOWN TO WHITE SOX OPENING DAY: 48 DAYS

48 days to Opening Day, White Sox fans!

White Sox players have made 48 starts in the All-Star Game.

Some Sox star start notes, @SoxNerd style:

*Sox rep Harold Baines was the first DH starter in the All-Star Game in 1989. … He is the only Sox DH to start an All-Star Game

*Second baseman Nellie Fox (8) and shortstop Luis Aparicio (7) account for nearly a third of the Sox All-Star starts

*Right field is the only position at which the Sox have not had an All-Star starter

*Carlton Fisk’s three All-Star starts are the only ones made by a Sox catcher.

*The Sox haven’t had an All-Star starter at third base since Jimmy Dykes started the inaugural contest at Comiskey Park in 1933

*The Sox have started more games at shortstop (12) than any other position: Aparicio 7, Chico Carrasquel 3, Luke Appling 2

*A Sox-high five different pitchers have started All-Star Games: Billy Pierce, Early Wynn, Mark Buehrle, Esteban Loaiza and Chris Sale

*Frank Thomas at first base in 1995 was the last Sox position player to start an All-Star Game.

*Al Simmons (1933 at Comiskey Park), Dykes, Luis Aparicio (1962 at Wrigley Field) and Loaiza (2003 at U.S. Cellular Field) are the only Sox to start an All-Star Game in Chicago

COUNTDOWN TO WHITE SOX OPENING DAY: 61 DAYS

61 days until Opening Day, White Sox fans!

Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio is in 61st place in White Sox history with 43 homers. “Little Looie” is the only player in Sox history with that many homers.