Today in White Sox History: June 4
Jake Burger goes BOOM!
1959
The 1959 season was filled with marathon games for the White Sox. This was the first one that went at least 17 innings, and every one of them took place against Baltimore.
In this game, Earl Torgeson’s solo home run off of Jerry Walker in the last of the 17th was the difference in Chicago’s 6-5 win at Comiskey Park. Bob Shaw pitched five relief innings to get the victory.
The Sox rallied from 4-2 and 5-4 deficits to get the win. The game lasted 4:37.
1972
It is forever known as the “Chili Dog Game,” one of the most electrifying games in team history.
In the second game of a doubleheader against the Yankees (Chicago already having won the opener, 6-1), White Sox manager Chuck Tanner wanted Dick Allen available to pinch-hit in the last of the ninth inning if needed. Allen at the time was wolfing down a chili dog because he had played in the first game, was sitting out the nightcap — and was hungry. When Tanner called on him, Allen quickly had to put on a uniform, getting the last of the chili dog all over the top of it — forcing the clubhouse boys to rush to find him a new, clean jersey.
With two men on and Chicago losing, 4-2, Allen stepped to the plate. On the third pitch from future Sox relief pitcher Sparky Lyle, Allen deposited the ball into the left-field lower deck for a 5-4 win and a sweep of the twin bill. A bat-day crowd of 51,904 (11th all-time in White Sox/Chicago attendance) exploded.
One of the greatest one-liners in Sox history took place as Lyle was walking in from the bullpen. Mike Andrews was on first base, and he and Lyle were roommates when both were with the Red Sox. As Lyle approached the mound Andrews called out, “Sparky, you’re in deep shit now!”
As a side note, future sportscaster Keith Olbermann, a Yankees fan, wrote about listening to this game in a book he co-authored with Dan Patrick (The Big Show): When Allen hit the home run, Olbermann threw his radio out of the second-floor window of his parents’ house.
1973
White Sox pitching ace Wilbur Wood appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated. At the time it looked like Wood was on his way to 30 wins, given he already had 13 before June 1. The headline read, “Wizard With a Knuckler.”
But because of a massive number of injuries to the team, Wood would “only” finish with 24 wins. He started 48 times, had an ERA of 3.46 and threw an incredible 359 innings. The 1973 White Sox wound up using the injured list 38 times.
1977
In the second inning of a game at Comiskey Park versus the Yankees, Richie Zisk, “The Polish Prince,” hit a rooftop home run near the left field line off of Don Gullett, a solo shot. He became the seventh Sox player to do this. Unfortunately the Sox would lose the game, 8-6, as the Yankees already had put a seven-spot up in the top of the second.
[This is the first game SSS editor Brett Ballantini ever attended, and he can still picture that ball rising up toward the roof and simply ... disappearing. Magical.]
2016
It is a trade that will live in infamy: GM Rick Hahn sent young hurler Erik Johnson and 17-year-old Fernando Tatís Jr. to San Diego for veteran starter James Shields.
Tatís, the son of a former major league slugger, had been signed less than one year earlier and had yet to play a single game in the White Sox system. Three years after the trade, Tatís was in the major leagues, immediately garnering MVP votes. Prior to the 2021 season, Tatís signed a 14-year, $330 million contract extension with the Padres, anointing him as perhaps the premier talent in all of baseball.
It is suspected that Tatís was inserted into the deal to help persuade San Diego to eat some of Shields’ onerous remaining salary; that short-sighted gambit succeeded, as the Padres sent $31 million along with Shields, lowering the White Sox obligation to Shields to $27 million over four years.
Shields’ 5.31 ERA ranks second only to Jaime Navarro for highest in team history among pitchers allowed to throw at least 400 innings for the club. The warning signs were evident … in his last start for San Diego, Shields allowed 10 runs against the Mariners and was publicly ripped by the Padres owner.
In his White Sox career of 77 games (76 starts), Shields logged a -0.3 WAR.
2023
One of the few bright spots in what would be a forgettable season came when Liam Hendriks earned his first win since his cancer diagnosis in the offseason.
The win came six days after his first appearance back with the White Sox, and marked a second straight scoreless effort.
How did Hendriks earn his first victory back? Oh, only with the ninth walk-off grand slam in White Sox history. With the sacks packed and one out, Jake Burger lined a 1-0 curveball out to left-center for a 6-2 win over Detroit.