Today in White Sox History: July 28
An offensive eruption, x 2!
1931
Two days after surrendering the most runs ever in a White Sox game (22 runs, which still holds today), the South Siders set their franchise record for the most runs ever scored in the eighth inning of a game by plating 11 runners to beat the Yankees, 14-12, at Yankee Stadium. They had 12 hits in the inning — an American League record — and four of the runs were unearned. Bob Fothergill packed the biggest punch in the frame, with a home run that drove in Lew Fonseca to trim the deficit to 12-6 and a triple to drive in Fonseca with what would stand as the game-winning RBI.
Only 58 players have ever had more than Fothergill’s seven total bases in one inning, and no White Sox player has ever topped it.
Before the offensive explosion in the eighth, the White Sox trailed, 12-3. The comeback win, down nine runs, remains the greatest in franchise history.
1936
On the heels of a four-game losing streak, the last three defeats giving up 10+ runs apiece, the White Sox offense erupted with a 19-6 trouncing of the Philadelphia Athletics at Comiskey Park. By the bottom of the fifth, the score was 15-2.
Chicago had 20 hits on the day, just two for extra bases (double and triple). All of the order’s top six batters had multiple-hit days, but the club was led overall by ... No. 9 hitter, pitcher Bill Dietrich, who had four singles in six at-bats in throwing the complete-game win! Dietrich also drove in three and scored once. Adding his offensive (6.7%) and pitching (15.6%) win probability added, Dietrich’s 22.3% WPA made him the clear game MVP.
The 19 runs scored remain tied for 12th all-time in White Sox history. The 20 hits for the White Sox is tied for 70th-most ever.
1963
Nellie Fox banged out his 2,500th career hit, a single to center off of Baltimore’s Dave McNally. The second baseman became the 40th member of the 2,500-hit club. The safety came in the sixth inning of Chicago’s 4-1 win in Baltimore. Fox would end his career with a total of 2,663 hits, and 2,470 of them came in a White Sox uniform.
1976
John “Blue Moon” Odom and Francisco Barrios combined to throw a no-hitter against the A’s in Oakland. The Sox won it, 2-1. It was one of the strangest no-hitters in history, as Odom and Barrios combined to walk 11 Oakland hitters!
Odom, who walked nine A’s and departed the game mid at-bat (1-0) on Sal Bando, told the Chicago Tribune after the game that he was “completely out of rhythm” for his start, his first-ever against his former Oakland teammates.
It would turn out to be the last win of Odom’s career.
1985
He was a record-setting pitcher who appeared in more than a thousand games in his 21-year career.
Hoyt Wilhelm mastered the most difficult pitch ever, the knuckleball, and in doing so wound up in the Baseball Hall of Fame, inducted on this date. Hoyt spent six years with the White Sox from 1963-68, becoming the dominant relief pitcher of the 1960s.
From 1964-68 with the White Sox, Wilhelm went 41-33 with 99 saves and a 1.92 ERA in 361 games — all coming after his 40th birthday.
His nickname was “Old Tilt” because of the way his head looked releasing his signature pitch, which was almost impossible to hit — and for that matter, catch! Just in his time with the White Sox Wilhelm was charged with 23 wild pitches that his catchers simply couldn’t handle because of the unusual break.
Wilhelm’s honor in Cooperstown came two days after his 63rd birthday.
2009
Mark Buehrle was perfect through 5 2⁄3 innings of a start at Minnesota, setting an MLB record for most consecutive batters retired, at 45. The streak started with the last batter of Buehrle’s July 18 win over Baltimore and was added to substantially by the southpaw’s perfect game over Tampa Bay on July 23. Alexi Casilla walked with two out in the sixth inning to snap Buehrle’s streak.
Buehrle surpassed the previous mark of 41, set by Jim Barr in 1972 and tied by Buerhle’s teammate, Bobby Jenks, in 2007!
The White Sox lost this record-setting game to the Twins, however, 5-3.
On the same day, the White Sox dealt Brian Anderson to Boston for Mark Kotsay.