THIS DATE IN WHITE SOX HISTORY: OCT 4/POSTSEASON BITS

[StatManDu]

THIS DATE IN WHITE SOX HISTORY: OCTOBER 4TH

 

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1908: The charging White Sox tallied three runs in the first without a hit and only managed one hit but still pulled out a 3-1 victory over the first-place Tigers before 22,000 at South Side Park. Frank Smith got the win as the White Sox pulled to within 1.5-games of first-place Detroit with two games to play.

 

1913: Reb Russell joined some elite company in twirling a shutout in the White Sox 1-0 win at Detroit inthe first game of a doubleheader. Russell tied Walter Johnson’s record by winning his fifth 1-0 complete game of the season. The win was Russell’s 22nd of the yearwhich is a White Sox rookie record which still stands.

 

1919: The White Sox dropped Game 4 of the ill-fated 1919 World Series, 2-0, to the Cincinnati Reds before 34,363 at Comiskey Park. The win gave the Reds a 3-1 lead in the best-of-nine Series. Ed Cicotte, one of eight Sox players in on the fix, absorbed his second loss of the Series. His two errors in the sixth inning led to the game’s only runs. The Series was expanded to a best-of-nine from 1919 to 1921 because of heightened interest in the event. The eight Sox players in on the fix were eventually banned from baseball for life by Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis during the 1920 season.

 

1959: In the first World Series game in California, the Dodgers trimmed the White Sox 3-1 before a Series record crowd of 92,394 at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The victory enabled the Dodgers to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven affair. White Sox starter Dick Donovan and Dodger starter Don Drysdale matched zeroes for six frames before Los Angeles scored twice in the seventh on a two-run single by Carl Furillo. The Sox cut the deficit in half in the eighth when Ted Kluszewski scored on a double play ball. However, the Dodgers added an insurance run in their eighth to keep the Sox at bay.

 

1980: The White Sox with 57-year old Minnie Minoso making a pinch-hitting appearance and Ed Farmer making club history defeated the California Angels 4-2 before 6,788 at Comiskey Park. Minoso, activated the day before, popped out to the catcher pinch-hitting for Greg Pryor to lead off the seventh in becoming the first player since Nick Altrock to play in five decades. Ed Farmer recorded his Sox-record 30th save by working a scoreless ninth.

 

2000: The White Sox dropped an American League Division playoff game to Seattle 5-2 before 45,383 at Comiskey Park. The loss gave the Seattle Mariners a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series and dropped the Sox to 0-5 in home playoff games at Comiskey Park and ran their overall home post-season losing streak to nine games. The White Sox took a 1-0 lead in the first on a single by Ray Durham and a double by Jose Valentin but Seattle went ahead in the second on RBIs by David Bell and Dan Wilson. The Sox tied it in the third when Valentin reached on a bunt single, stole second, took third on an error and scored on Carlos Lee’s sacrifice fly. It didn’t take Seattle long to regain command. Jay Buhner homered in the next inning to give the Mariners the lead for good. Seattle added one more in the fifth and one more in the ninth to push the Sox to the brink of elimination. Mike Sirotka, who couldn’t answer the bell in Game 1 because of a sore shoulder, started and gave up two earned runs in 5.2 innings.

 

2005: The White Sox began their historic postseason run and ended their maddening home playoff losing streak with a bang in a 14-2 win over the Boston Red Sox in Game 1 of the American League Division Series before 40,717 at US Cellular Field. This matinee affair was over in a hurry as the Sox pinned a five-spot on the defending World Series champions in the first inning thanks to a three-run home run by AJ Pierzynski -– the first of an ALDS record five long balls -- and RBIs from Paul Konerko and Aaron Rowand. Pierzynski homered again in joining Ted Kluszewski (Game 1, 1959 World Series) as the only Sox players to go deep twice in a postseason game. Paul Konerko, Juan Uribe and Scott Podsednik, who did not homer in the regular season, hit roundtrippers later in the game as the Sox won a postseason game for the first time in US Celluar Field ending a five-game skid which dated to Game 6 of the 1993 American League Championship Series. The win also halted a nine-game overall home postseason losing streak, which started with Game 2 of the 1959 World Series at the original Comiskey Park. Jose Contreras pitched into the eighth inning, giving up eight hits while striking out six for the victory.