This Day In Sox History...January 3

[Lip Man 1]

January 3, 2005 - As part of a plan to add more depth to the rotation, the Sox signed veteran hurler Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez. “The Duke” started strong in 2005, faded somewhat down the stretch but pitched perhaps the most historic inning in franchise history when he came in to a bases loaded, no out situation at Boston in game #3 of the A.L.D.S. with the Sox only leading 4-3 in the sixth inning.

He proceeded to get two pop outs and a strike out as the Sox held on to win 5-3 and advance to the A.L.C.S.

He was traded that off season as part of a deal bringing Javier Vasquez to the White Sox.

 

January 3, 2007 – The White Sox were looking for another solid hitter to join the lineup and G.M. Kenny Williams thought he had found him as he made a deal with Oakland and acquired outfielder/first baseman Nick “Dirty 30” Swisher for Ryan Sweeney, Fautino De Los Santos and Gio Gonzales.

Unfortunately the deal fell far short. In 2008 Swisher put up decent numbers 21 doubles, 24 home runs and 69 RBI’s but he turned into a distracting presence in the clubhouse, was benched by manager Ozzie Guillen towards the end of the year and was then traded to the Yankees…where he promptly regained his Oakland form in four solid seasons.

Sweeney hit higher than .286 in three of his four years with the A’s while Gonzales blossomed into a solid starting pitcher for the A’s and then later the Nationals where he won 21 games in 2012.  

The Sox signed him as a free agent for the 2020 season but he was injured and only started four games in the 60-game pandemic shortened year.

Edited January 4, 2023 by Lip Man 1

[Squirmin' for Yermin]

That inning was insane

[The Grinder]

I think that inning was the moment I knew we had a WS winning team