This Day In Sox History 3/21...

March 21, 1900 - After a meeting with the Chicago Cubs, the way was cleared for Charles Comiskey to bring his team from St. Paul, Minnesota to Chicago. They would set up shop on the South Side of the city.

In fact, though, Comiskey was bringing the team to town regardless of whether the Cubs approved it or not. The meeting was set up though to try to avoid any conflicts. They would have immediate success winning the 1900 pennant going 82-53 and beating Milwaukee by four and a half games. 

March 21, 1931 – The White Sox defeated the New York Giants, 11-6, in the first night game ever played between American or National League teams.

The contest took place in front of 2,500 fans at Buff Stadium in Houston, under 235-kilowatt bulbs held aloft by six steel towers, each 120 feet high. The game was arranged only 11 days before it was played.

There were 23 total hits in the game, but the score was deadlocked 6-6 after nine innings. In the top of the 10th, Bill Cissell scored Willie Kamm with a single for the game-winning RBI. Luke Appling also clubbed a two-run double in the rally.

March 21, 1997 - The Sox suffered a major blow to their hopes for a championship when star third baseman Robin Ventura destroyed his ankle and lower leg on a slide at home plate in a spring game against the Red Sox.

The injury was so horrific that a woman sitting in the stands passed out when she saw the result. It was caused because his spikes caught in the wet, muddy, ground. The result was that Ventura’s foot was pointed 180 degrees opposite of the way a foot is supposed to be. The injury took place only 10 days before the season opener and the Sox were left in a state of shock.

G. M. Ron Schueler announced to the media the team would be looking for a replacement, and then did nothing to fill the void staying in-house with Greg Norton and Chris Snopek. They combined for five home runs and 36 RBI’s in 105 games.

Thankfully after a rigorous rehabilitation process, Robin would be back to play in 54 games that season and continue to have an outstanding Major League career after he left the Sox as a free agent.

March 21, 2017 - Coming off of a terrific half-season in the majors the White Sox signed ascendant star Tim Anderson to a six-year, 25-million-dollar extension that could have extended to eight years and 51.5 million with club options.

At the time, it was the biggest contract extension ever given a player with less than one year of MLB service.

Despite that, most observers immediately regarded this extension as a steal for the White Sox, and it certainly turned out to be so at first, as he’d go on to win a batting championship, make a pair of All-Star games and hit a dramatic game-winning home run in the “Field of Dreams” game against the Yankees in Iowa in his White Sox tenure.

The Sox even made him the centerpiece of the rebuild using him in an advertising campaign called “Change the Game!”

But off the field issues and controversies on it, as well as seemingly always being injured turned a lot of the fan base against Anderson and his performance on the field slipped drastically.

In 2023, Anderson had a horrific season, both in the batter’s box and in the field and because of that the White Sox did not pick up his option for 2024, and he signed with Miami. After he was released there, he signed a minor league deal with the Angels for 2025 but was again released after only playing in 31 games.