Today in White Sox History: March 19
A man with an imposing nickname and creative game is born
1962
A player who would represent GM Ken Harrelson’s cleverest trade and be a mainstay for some poor late-1980s White Sox teams, Iván Calderón, was born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. Signed by Seattle at age 17 and in the majors by 22, Calderón’s push for Rookie of the Year (STATS) was derailed by a broken hand. Benched (?) by the Mariners, Hawk swooped in and stole away Iván the Terrible for the low, low price of catcher Scott Bradley in the middle of the next season, 1986.
Calderón responded to the show of confidence by having what would stand as his finest season in the majors in 1987, when he put up 4.2 WAR along with 28 homers and 83 RBIs for the White Sox. He never again approached those numbers in Chicago, but over four-plus seasons (and not counting a career swan song of nine games in 1993), Calderón had 9.0 WAR and 70 homers, hitting .273.
After a bounce-back 1990 (2.6 WAR as a “veteran” on the upstart White Sox), Calderón was swapped to Montreal in a brilliant trade for Tim Raines.
In 2003, Calderón was murdered in a bar in Puerto Rico, in a crime that still has not been solved.
1970
Future White Sox broadcaster and raconteur Ken Harrelson broke his leg sliding into second base during a spring training game with Cleveland. The break was so bad he was unable to return until September and effectively ended his career.
It also gave us one of the most iconic photos of The Hawk, as crutches did not sully his sartorial splendor:
1979
White Sox shortstop prospect Harry Chappas appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the headline, “The Littlest Rookie.”
Chappas was all of 5´3´´, and his career was as short as his height. In three years, Chappas appeared in 72 games with 184 at-bats, one home run, two stolen bases and 15 walks. Despite a horrendous career slash of .245/.307/.283, Chappas was never a negative-WAR player and finished his career (all played with the White Sox) with 0.6 WAR.
Part of the reason for his struggles, from those who knew him, was because of his reluctance to take advice from coaches and teammates.
Chappas’ one career homer came in 1979 off of Milwaukee’s Bill Travers, who was otherwise enjoying a solid (2.4 WAR) season.
1981
Maverick White Sox GM Frank “Trader” Lane died in Dallas, at 86.
Lane, who took over the White Sox in 1948 at a time when the franchise was threadbare in both coffers and talent, built the Go-Go White Sox of the 1950s. It was under his oversight the South Siders started a record streak of winning seasons (1951-67). The GM brought in such talent as Nellie Fox, Minnie Miñoso, Chicago Carrasquel, Billy Pierce and Sherm Lollar, more often than not in transactions that were utter steals for the White Sox. Lane was also a metrics innovator.
His GM career extended beyond the White Sox, to more than 400 trades in his career. But he is best known for his White Sox tenure, during which he forged 241 total deals.
2010
Oney Guillén, White Sox minor league employee, commentary contributor to franchise radio flagship WSCR-AM, and son of manager Ozzie Guillén, was forced to leave the team after continued negative tweets levied against his own club. Oney had been a 36th round pick by the White Sox in 2007.
As for telling Oney he had to quit the team, Ozzie said, “I think that’s the hardest thing I ever did in my life.”
The Cheat had our South Side Sox coverage of the flap.