Today in White Sox History: April 24
Ed Walsh gets the call to the Hall
1901
It wasn’t planned this way, but three games in other cities were postponed by rain, putting the White Sox in position to host the first major league game in American League history. Some 9,000 fans at South Side Park — or maybe it was 14,000, reports conflict — saw the home club beat the Cleveland Blues, 8-2. The White Sox scored five times in the first inning, and ran the score to 7-0 in the first two frames. Still, the win took just an hour-and-a-half to complete.
Roy Patterson started, and got the complete-game win. Outfielder Billy Hoy took the first White Sox at-bat. Fred Hartman’s single scored the first two runs in (MLB) American League history.
Hoy was deaf and mute, and referred to himself by his nickname, Dummy — correcting people who called him William. In order for Hoy to understand what the umpires were calling, the arbitrators came up with a series of hand signals indicating safe/out and ball/strike.
The ceremonial first ball, by the way, was supposed to be thrown out by Robert Burke, special counsel to the mayor of Chicago. Burke declined, however, stating that he was afraid the ball might get hit back to him. (True story!)
1955
Ed Walsh, the second-best pitcher by WAR in White Sox history and author of a six-year run in the majors more dominant than anyone, ever, was elected to the Hall of Fame.
1955
In a game at Kansas City just one day after the White Sox set a major league record with 29 runs, White Sox starter Dick Donovan was hit early and often by the Athletics. When manager Marty Marion came out to take the ball from him, Donovan — making his starting debut with the White Sox and showing his competitive spirit by being concerned about a possible return trip to the minors — refused to give it up!
Marion had to reassure Dick that he’d remain in the rotation before Donovan would turn the ball over and leave the field. That season, he’d win 13 of 17 decisions before an emergency appendectomy felled him in late July.
That injury may have cost the White Sox the pennant, as Donovan wasn’t the same after the surgery and the Sox finished in third place, five games behind the Yankees at 91-63-1.
1994
Still mired in a somewhat slow start for a defending division champion, the White Sox lost to Detroit, 7-6. Chicago blew two leads, and then lost the game itself after rallying to tie in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Why is this loss notable? White Sox No. 4 and 5 hitters, Julio Franco and Robin Ventura, hit back-to-back homers — twice, and in consecutive plate appearances in the game.
In the top of the sixth, tied 3-3, Franco led off with a homer to deep right field, and Ventura repeated the act. In the eighth, down 6-4, Franco again led off with a solo shot, and Ventura tied the game with a homer.
The loss (on a Cecil Fielder single in the ninth) dropped the White Sox to 11-7, tied for first in the AL Central.
2010
With a 7-11 record, it was still far from a magical season. But the White Sox accomplished something that had never happened before in their history: walk-off home runs on back-to-back days. In this game, Alex Ríos clocked a two-out walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Mariners and David Aardsma, 5-4. The Seattle reliever completely melted down in the ninth, entering up 4-2 and giving up a one-out home run to Paul Konerko to move the White Sox closer. An A.J. Pierzynski fly out and Carlos Quentin walk later, the stage was set for Ríos’ record-setter.
On April 23, it was Andruw Jones who achieved the feat, clocking a full-count, two-out pitch out for a 7-6 White Sox win in front of 24,653 happy fans.
Now, this was NOT the first time the White Sox had won consecutive games on walk-off homers, but the previous time, the wins came on the same day. J.C. Martin and Ken Berry upended Cleveland with game-ending homers on July 25, 1967.