EIGHT factoids today: October 3, 1906 - The White Sox clinched the pennant while in their hotel room in Cleveland on an off day after the New York Highlanders (Yankees) lost a game to the Philadelphia A’s. Frank “Yip” Owen shut out St. Louis the day before 4-0 putting the Sox on the cusp for the pennant. That year the Sox would go 93-58-3 beating the Highlanders by three games. Then then would upset the Cubs in the only all-Chicago World Series. October 3, 1965 - By pitching the eighth inning and giving up only one hit and earning his fourth hold, Eddie Fisher set an American League record for most games in one year, with 82. The White Sox beat Kansas City 3-2. Fisher would be named A.L. Relief Pitcher of the year in 1965 with 15 wins, 24 saves, an ERA of 2.40 and 60 games finished. The Sox would win 95 games that season. October 3, 1972 – Terry Forster was one of a trio of hard throwing, young White Sox fireballers coming out of the bullpen in the early 1970’s. He along with Bart Johnson and Rich “Goose” Gossage struck fear in the hearts of hitters because of how hard they threw a baseball. But Forster was also a terrific hitter. For the 1972 season the 20-year-old batted .526, 10 for 19, with three RBI’s and one run scored. The Sox trailed Minnesota 4-3 in the ninth inning with two out in the next to last game of the year. Tony Muser was on third and pinch runner Jim Geddes on first. Hank Allen was due up but manager Chuck Tanner called on Forster to pinch hit. He promptly ripped a single to center tying the score and sending Geddes to third. Then incredibly Forster was given the steal sign and took off for second. When Twins catcher George Mitterwald’s throw sailed into center field Geddes scored, Forster had the only stolen base of his career and the Sox led 5-4. That would turn out to be the final and the 87th win on the year for the “Outhouse to Penthouse” White Sox. October 3, 1993 - The Sox rung down the curtain at old Municipal Stadium in Cleveland by beating the Indians 4-0. Jason Bere got the last win in the cavernous stadium which was replaced in 1994 by Jacobs Field. October 3, 2005 - As baseball was wrapping up the regular season, the Sox Paul Konerko appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated sliding into second base in a game against Cleveland. The cover’s caption read, “Playoff Scramble. Who’s Out, Who’s In? White Sox vs. Indians. Yankees vs. Red Sox. 4 teams, 3 Spots” October 3, 2010 - She was beloved by Sox fans for generations as the organist at White Sox ballparks. Nancy Faust played her last White Sox game as the team beat Cleveland 6-5. Nancy took over as Sox organist in 1970 and in the ensuing 40 years rarely missed a game. Her lasting contribution was unearthing a little-known rock song in 1977 which turned into an anthem used by numerous pro and college teams. Nancy started playing Steam’s, “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” when an opposing pitcher was being removed from the game. It caught on like wildfire with Sox fans and became one of the things identified with the franchise. When she was hired by then vice-president Stu Holcomb her position was out in the center field bleachers near the scoreboard. After a few years though she was moved behind home plate in the upper deck to be surrounded by fans and closer to where the action was taking place. Eventually that positioning led to a professional relationship with broadcaster Harry Caray. Then Sox owner Bill Veeck heard Caray singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” one day, secretly positioned a microphone and had Caray’s voice piped through the stadium P.A. system so fans could sing along with him. It was Faust who supplied the organ music to the song and like with the “Na Na Hey Hey” song Harry’s ‘Seventh Inning Stretch’ became a part of Comiskey Park lore. October 3, 2012 – Sometimes even a journeyman player can have one of those games. For White Sox first baseman Dan Johnson it happened in Cleveland on the last day of the season. Johnson had just 17 at-bats in the year going into the game. He was in the starting lineup primarily because the White Sox didn’t want Adam Dunn to get two strikeouts and break Mark Reynolds’ single-season record of 223. So what did Johnson do? He only blasted three home runs, driving in five in the Sox 9-0 win. He was granted free agency that November. October 3, 2022 – It caught the baseball world by surprise, it elicited everything from derision to head-scratching and it was a risky move perpetrated by White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf as he convinced his friend Tony LaRussa to come out of retirement to try to lead the Sox to a World Series. LaRussa was in his late 70’s, had been out of a dugout for almost 10 years, had already been elected to the Hall of Fame, and had some personal issues but Reinsdorf, against his front office, got his way. The move seemed solid when LaRussa led a beat-up team to 93 wins, a Central Division title and a spot in the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time in franchise history. The 2022 season though was a different story. With talk of World Series by the front office and the players, the Sox stumbled out of the gate, seemed to show little emotion or urgency, lost a dozen games where they led in the seventh inning or later, had a pair of eight game losing streaks and were never able to put things together. For LaRussa, the situation was worse. His on-field decisions were bizarre; his press conferences saw him stumble and mumble seemingly forgetting things at times and he was caught looking like he was asleep in the dugout. It turned out he was having health issues which resulted in a pacemaker being implanted in February without common knowledge and then an issue with it which caused him to leave the club on August 28, never to return to the dugout because of doctor’s orders. It was also later revealed he had cancer. On this day, in a press conference at Guaranteed Rate Field, LaRussa retired with a year to go on his contract. He managed the Sox the first time from August 1979 through June 1986 and then from the 2021 season to the 2022 year. He won two divisional titles in that time in 1983 and 2021 but his post season White Sox mark was a dismal 2-6. Most baseball people felt the move in total, was counter-productive to the White Sox rebuild but Jerry Reinsdorf insisted and got what he wanted…it simply did not work out the way he was expecting it to.
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