Today in White Sox History: December 21
News breaks that “Kid Keuchy” is coming to town
1938
The White Sox dealt infielder Boze Berger to Boston for third baseman Eric McNair. The swap was a huge win for the White Sox, as in 1939 McNair slashed .324/.375/.426, logged 2.2 WAR and finished 29th in MVP voting.
Berger is notable in that he was just coming off the (at the time) worst season ever for a White Sox hitter (-2.0 WAR, tied with the 1934 effort of second baseman Bob Boken) — a season that remains tied for third-worst ever among White Sox hitters and tied for 10th-worst overall in South Side history.
Berger ended his career with -2.2 WAR, and as you might imagine did as little for the Red Sox as he did the White, playing in just 20 games in 1939 and never appearing in the majors again.
1976
Mary Shane was hired by the White Sox as one of the first women play-by-play announcers in baseball history, and arguably the first hired as a regular broadcaster. However, Shane ended up joining Lorn Brown, Harry Caray and Jimmy Piersall in the booth for just around 20 games in 1977, mostly at home, and was pulled out of any regular rotation before the season ended.
2010
Closer Bobby Jenks, battling injury for much of the season, bolted the White Sox for a two-year, $12 million deal with Red Sox. Jenks suffered his worst MLB campaign in 2010, with 27 saves in 55 games and an 4.44 ERA — the first time his ERA had ever been worse than league average (97 ERA+).
Things got much worse in Boston, as he would pitch just 19 more MLB games and record zero saves for the Red Sox. He didn’t pitch after July 7 and underwent back surgery five months later — surgery that turned out to be concurrent with another patient. Jenks developed complications and needed a spinal tap to drain excess fluid, a life-threatening situation. The closer, unable to play again, won a $5.1 million lawsuit against the hospital and surgeon.
In 2022, Jenks was named the Pioneer League Manager of the Year for his success with the Grand Junction Rockies.
2019
Although the signing wasn’t made official until December 30, news broke on this day that the White Sox had signed free agent pitcher Dallas Keuchel to a three-year, $55.5 million deal with a fourth-year option.
The move came as a quick pivot after losing out on free agent Zach Wheeler, the top arm on the market. The White Sox made the biggest offer to Wheeler, but the righty decided to stay on the East Coast, closer to family.
The Keuchel move worked well ... for a year. Keuchel was Chicago’s top pitcher during the pandemic season of 2020, the southpaw compiled a 1.99 ERA and 2.1 WAR in just 11 games (projecting to a 6+ WAR over a typical full season). However, things went south quickly for Keuchel after that, as his ERA ballooned to 5.28 in 2021 and his value shrunk to near-replacement level, at 0.1 WAR. Just eight games into Keuchel’s 2022 with him quickly bottoming out at -1.1 WAR, the White Sox ate the remaining $17 million on his deal and dumped him.