NINE factoids today: July 4, 1939 - In the category of great feats by players you’ve never heard of, this one ranks near the top. White Sox infielder Eric McNair finished the best run of at least 10 plate appearances in club history: 12-of-13 (.923) with a home run and five RBIs. McNair started the run in an 8-3 win over the Browns on July 3, going 5-for-5 with five singles. The win kicked off a five-game winning streak and pushed the club back over .500, at 33-32. In the opener of the July 4 doubleheader, McNair led off the third inning with a solo homer (a blast to left that curved around the foul pole and caused St. Louis to protest the game, feeling the third-sacker’s blast was a foul ball) and then singled three more times. Not only did that run McNair’s streak to 9-for-9, he drove in three runs in Chicago’s 7-3 win. The nightcap dispensed with any tension over McNair’s streak, as he was retired in his first at-bat. From there, however, the righty slapped another three singles, including an RBI single as part of a five-run flurry in the top of the ninth that flipped the game from a 3-2 deficit to 7-3 margin. July 4, 1960 - Bill Veeck’s exploding scoreboard was featured in a night shot on the cover of Sports Illustrated. The caption read, “Fireworks at Comiskey Park.” July 4-5, 1964 - During the 1960's the White Sox were synonymous with outstanding pitching...pitching that was the envy of most of Major League baseball excluding only perhaps, the Dodgers. The best example of this were these two days in Chicago over the Fourth of July holiday in 1964. In a time span of roughly 28 hours, the White Sox threw three straight complete game shutouts against the Indians. On the Fourth of July itself, Gary Peters blanked the Tribe on three hits, winning 4-0. In the Sunday doubleheader it was Juan Pizarro in game one, tossing a seven hitter, winning 2-0. Then in the nightcap it was Joe Horlen with a 5-0 blanking on four hits. In 27 innings, Cleveland managed no runs on 14 hits with seven walks. Now that’s pitching!!! July 4, 1972 - Sox catcher Ed Herrmann was involved in three double plays which tied the record for most involving a catcher in a single game. He tied former teammate J.C. Martin for the honor. The three included Herrmann in the middle of a pitcher-catcher-first base one, a strike out-throw out stealing twin killing and a thrown out at home, thrown out at second base one. The Sox turned five double plays against Baltimore at Comiskey Park… but lost 2-1! July 4, 1978 - At the urging of then manager Larry Doby, the White Sox brought up Tony LaRussa to become the club’s new first base coach. LaRussa cut his teeth managing with success in the minor leagues at Knoxville and was deemed ready by Doby and others to take the next step. LaRussa would go on to lead the Sox to the 1983 Western Division title and then win numerous pennants and championships as a manager with the A’s and Cardinals. He’d be elected to the Hall of Fame in 2014 with 2,728 wins over 33 seasons. He’d come out of retirement in 2021 to lead the White Sox and move into second place all-time on the managerial wins list in addition to winning the division and making the playoffs. July 4, 2000 - Ray Durham and Jose Valentin led off the Sox half of the first inning in Kansas City with back-to-back home runs. It was the second time in team history a game started that way and the first time since 1937. The game also marked the Major League debut for Jon Garland who only lasted three innings in the 10-7 loss. It was the end of the Sox 12 game road winning streak. The last 10 of those 12 road wins came against teams with records of at least .500, making the Sox the only team since 1900 to accomplish that. July 4, 2022 – Fundamentals win (or lose) games and for years the White Sox have suffered because they don’t execute the things very well that often mean the difference between winning and losing. On this night though what they did made the record book. In the seventh inning of a tie game against the Twins A.J. Pollock hit a long drive to right center field that was caught on the warning track by Byron Buxton who immediately threw the ball back to the infield. What happened next had never happened before in the history of baseball. Pinch runner Adam Engel and Yoan Moncada both lost track of the ball and assumed it hit the wall and was in play. Engel was at third base but had never tagged up, Moncada was right behind him. As Buxton’s throw bounced in to the infield, Twins third baseman Gio Urshela was in perfect position to tag Moncada for the second out, then ran and touched second base which meant Engel was also out. It was an 8-5 scored triple-play the first in baseball history. The White Sox would lose a key game 6-2 in 10 innings with the triple-play caused by errant baserunning probably costing them an important win. July 4, 2025 – Colson Montgomery was one of the White Sox top prospects and his Major League debut in Colorado was one for the record books. In his first plate appearance, which came in the second inning, he was awarded first base because of catcher’s interference. That made him the first player in the Expansion Era (since 1961) to do so in his first MLB plate appearance, per the Elias Sports Bureau. Then in the last of the second, he made a full-out, with his back to home plate, diving catch of a flair off the bat of Ryan Ritter that saved a run. After making the incredible catch, Montgomery -- a 6-foot-3, 230-pound shortstop -- turned from his face-down position in the outfield grass and showed that he had the baseball. Quite a first game from the youngster. July 4, 2025 – He closed out the White Sox first World Series title in 88 years, then went on to save 173 games in a six-year South Side career. But on this day he became the first member of the 2005 club to pass away. Bobby Jenks, a larger-than-life figure with a triple-digit fastball died at the age of 44 from a form of stomach cancer. Jenks was called up from Double A in July of that 2005 season and stabilized the Sox bullpen down the stretch. He became an All-Star in both the 2006 and 2007 years and at one point retired 41 consecutive batters which tied the Major League record at that time. He posted a 3.40 ERA across 329 relief appearances and those 173 saves are the second-most in franchise history behind Bobby Thigpen (201).
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