Today in White Sox History: May 21

For one more day, the 1980 White Sox were on top

1905

Frank Smith tossed a one-hitter, the first of his career and fifth in White Sox history.

The proceedings didn’t begin as a Smith masterpiece, as the righty actually trailed in the game after walking Senators leadoff man Charlie Jones, Jones sacrificed to second by Hunter Hill, then driven home on a Jake Stahl (with throngs ... OK, 117 fans ... from his hometown of Champaign, Ill. present) single. But that was the first and only Washington hit for the game, and later on Smith helped his own cause with a double (the only extra-base hit in the contest) in the fifth inning, sacrificed to third by Fielder Jones, and scoring on a bobbled ground ball at shortstop — the second and decisive Sox run of the game.

Smith would throw two more one-hitters in his White Sox career, and only Doc White, Ed Walsh and Billy Pierce have more all-time South Side one-hitters than him.

1915

Red Faber won his seventh straight game in a 17-inning win over the Red Sox at Comiskey Park, 3-2. Both Faber and Boston loser Carl Mays, rotation members, came on in relief and essentially pitched a second complete game on the day.

Faber went 10 scoreless innings on six hits, giving up one walk and whiffing eight to improve to 9-2. The White Sox as a team stood at 20-12, alone in first place in the American League.

The 17 innings were played in three hours, 25 minutes!

1980

Despite a 3-2 loss to Minnesota, the White Sox remained in first place in the AL West, at 22-16. Nearly 34,000 fans showed up at Comiskey Park on a 65° Wednesday night, excited over the prospect of fielding a competitive squad once again. Down 3-1 in the ninth, the White Sox put runners on the corners with one out but could only muster an RBI ground out and strikeout to end the game.

It was the start of a four-game losing streak that bounced the White Sox from first the next day. The White Sox would bid goodbye to a winning record a month later, but in a weak AL West stuck in and out of second place past the All-Star break, with a record as poor as 39-44.

The second half was a full free-fall, with a 32-49 record, as the White Sox finished the year in fifth place, at 70-90-2. Britt Burns, at 21, was brilliant for the club (15-13, 2.84 ERA, 11 complete games, and a 7.0 WAR that remains tied for 25th among all franchise seasons) and Chet Lemon had another solid year (4.2 WAR), but that was about it for a floundering franchise.

2009

The White Sox tied their team record for worst defeat when they were annihilated, 20-1, by the Twins at U.S. Cellular Field. The 19-run margin was first set on May 10, 2002 in Anaheim.

Bartolo Colón, Lance Broadway and Jimmy Gobble gave up all the runs. Colón at least had something of an excuse — of the eight runs he allowed, seven were unearned!