THIS DATE IN WHITE SOX HISTORY: APRIL 5

[StatManDu]

THIS DATE IN WHITE SOX HISTORY: APRIL 5

NOT A GOOD DEAL

1960: In one of the worst trades in team history, the White Sox acquired slugging first baseman Roy Sievers from the Washington Senators in exchange for catcher Earl Battey, infielder Don Mincher and $150,000. Sievers, who led the American League with 42 homers and 114 RBIs for the 1957 Senators, hit .295 with a team-high 28 homers and 93 RBIs for the 1960 White Sox. The 29 homers were the most by a Sox player in nine years and tied for the third-highest output in franchise history. Battey and Mincher were considered prospects at the time and blossomed into productive Major Leaguers in the 1960s. This swap did not turn out so well for the good guys. In the first printing of “The White Sox Encyclopedia,” Rich Lindberg labeled this the sixth-worst trade in franchise history.

 

A WEIRD BEGINNING

1974:

Nolan Ryan bested Wilbur Wood before 30,041 on Opening Day at Comiskey Park. Ryan got the win in the Angels’ 8-2 victory. Ryan, coming of his record-setting 383-strikeout campaign of 1973, fanned just four and walked 10. The Angels broke the game open with a five-run eighth off Terry Forster. The Opener’s sideshows may have been more interesting than the game. In the stands, there was a strolling stripper, many streakers and a bevy of fights. “Did all that really happen?” Sox manager Chuck Tanner asked afterwards. “I didn’t see any of it. ... What causes people to act like that?”

 

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