Today in White Sox History: March 31
Another spring attendance record shattered
1963
Almost a year to the day after setting a Payne Park attendance record of 5,712, the White Sox and Yankees drew two more fans for a game, setting the all-time mark for White Sox Spring Training at the venue.
1983
Four days before the start of the regular season, the left shoulder of Britt Burns was so sore he could not pick up a baseball. While the White Sox had a rotation that was looking as strong as any, four-deep with young arms, Burns was the longest-tenured White Sox starter and a key for the season.
The southpaw eventually rested up enough to take the ball on May 9 start vs. Toronto and make 26 starts. However, Burns and the White Sox were so frustrated with his pitching (first 16 starts: 5-6 record with a 1.484 WHIP, 4.29 ERA and 3.86 FIP) he went to the bullpen to sort himself out for the first two weeks of August.
Burns threw a shutout in his first start back, went 4-5 while averaging 7 1⁄3 innings per start, had six complete games and three shutouts and put up a 2.84 ERA, 3.04 FIP and 0.932 WHIP in 10 starts total over the final six weeks of the season. His last appearance of the year was in a heartbreaking loss to Baltimore (9 1⁄3 innings, six hits, one run, eight Ks) in the ALCS Game 4 that ended Chicago’s magic season.
1991
The White Sox swapped pitchers Adam Peterson and Steve Rosenberg to San Diego for Warren Newson, Joey Cora and minor-leaguer Kevin Garner. Cora played four seasons on the South Side, putting up 1.7 WAR in his one season as a regular, in 1993. Newson was a role player for four-plus seasons in Chicago, leading off with an impressive 0.8 WAR in just 160 PAs in 1991.
Peterson (-0.5 WAR) and Rosenberg (-0.4) did not impress with the Padres in 1991. For both, it would be their final year in the majors.
1994
Michael Jordan, after his first Spring Training, is assigned to the Double-A Birmingham Barons of the Southern League. He would hit .202/.290/.266 in 127 games with 30 steals, 51 RBIs and 17 doubles. After the regular season, Jordan played in the Arizona Fall League, where he was more impressive, hitting .252. Without the 1994-95 labor stalemate, Jordan would have reported to Charlotte in 1995, with an outside shot at seeing the majors that year.
1996
Because of a quirk in the calendar, the White Sox had a March Opening Day for the first time in franchise history, starting the season in Seattle on the final day of the month. Frank Thomas hit a home run off Randy Johnson, for the first March homer in MLB history. However, Seattle pitchers struck out 21 White Sox (Johnson getting 14 in seven innings of work), and Chicago lost the game, 3-2, in 12 innings.
The American League umpires also sported red polo shirts, marking the first time in 20 years they were allowed to wear some color on the field.