This Day In Sox History 7/13...

NINE factoids today:

July 13, 1919 - You don’t see this every day. In a 14-9 win over Boston, three Sox players scored on a routine single off the bat of George “Buck” Weaver to center field.  The play happened in the fifth inning.

July 13, 1951 - The White Sox had just played a double header the day before with the second game going 17 innings in a 5-4 loss to the Red Sox at Comiskey Park.

So what did they do for an encore?

They came back and played a 19-inning game against the same Red Sox team, only this time they won it 5-4 scoring three runs in the last inning to pull it out after Boston scored a pair in the top half of the frame.

45 innings played in a span of roughly 36 hours!

Pinch hitter Ed “Bud” Stewart’s two run single tied the game then Don Lenhardt’s sacrifice fly scored Nellie Fox to win it. 

July 13, 1954 - The White Sox had a total of nine representatives for the American League in the annual All-Star Game. It was played in Cleveland and the A.L. won a slugfest 11-9 thanks to Nellie Fox who drove in the winning runs on a single in the eighth inning off the Dodgers Carl Erskine. The nine players are the franchise record.

In addition to Fox (2B) the Sox had “Minnie” Minoso (OF), “Chico” Carrasquel (SS), Sandy Consuegra (P), Bob Keegan (P), Sherm Lollar (C), Virgil “Fire” Trucks (P), George Kell (3B) and Ferris “Burrhead” Fain (1B) on the team. Kell and Fain weren’t able to play because of injuries.

In addition to Fox’s performance Minoso had two hits and Trucks got the save pitching the ninth inning. That year the White Sox would go 94-60-1 and finish in third place.

July 13, 1961 - The Sox catcher/pitcher duo of Sherm Lollar and Frank Baumann became only the third set of battery mates to hit back-to-back home runs in a game.

They connected off the Yankees Bill Stafford in the fifth inning of a 6-2 loss at Comiskey Park.

July 13, 1964 - In an effort to stay in the pennant race, Sox G.M. Ed Short acquired Chicago native Bill “Moose” Skowron from the Senators for Joe Cunningham and Frank Kreutzer. “Moose” would play well for the Sox in the next few seasons and make the All-Star Team in 1965. In 73 games in 1964 he’d hit .293.

July 13, 1993 - Sox ace “Black” Jack McDowell was the winning pitcher as the American League beat the National League 9-3 in the All-Star Game at Camden Yards, Baltimore. McDowell pitched a scoreless fifth inning. He’d go on to become the league’s Cy Young Award winner later that year with 22 wins and over 256 innings pitched. Frank Thomas (1B) joined him on the A.L. team.

July 13, 2017 – The rebuilding of the White Sox continued as they shipped left hander Jose Quintana to the cross-town Cubs in return for four prospects, one of whom, Eloy Jimenez, was considered one of the top minor league players in the game. Quintana was a solid, stable pitcher for the Sox, one of the most reliable in baseball who made the All-Star Team in 2016. He never had a lot of luck however as he garnered 65 non-decisions in his five plus seasons on the team.

In addition to Jimenez the Sox received one of the Cubs top pitching prospects, Dylan Cease who turned into one of the best strikeout pitchers in baseball before being traded to the Padres. 

July 13, 2021 – At the All-Star Game in Denver won by the A.L. 5-2, the White Sox Liam Hendriks came in to pitch the ninth inning and collect the save. It marked the second time a Sox pitcher saved the All-Star Game, the first time coming by Virgil “Fire” Trucks at the 1954 game in Cleveland.

Hendriks didn’t allow a run and was wired for sound by Fox Sports. His ‘commentary’ proved to be very entertaining! He was joined on the team by pitchers Lance Lynn and Carlos Rodon and shortstop Tim Anderson.

Lynn pitched a scoreless second inning and Anderson played the final few innings but did not get an at-bat.  

July 13, 2024 – When the Pirates beat the White Sox 6-2 at Guaranteed Rate Field it set a dubious record for the home team. It marked the 70^th loss of the year for the White Sox, the most ever in MLB history for a team before the All-Star break. The first All-Star game was played at Comiskey Park in 1933.

The 70^th loss broke the tie the Sox had with the 2018 Orioles and the 1979 Athletics.

The Sox would also lose again the next day meaning they had 71 losses in the books at the time the league took the break. Fortunately this record would only last one year as the 2025 Rockies would actually surpass the dubious mark with 74 losses!