December 22, 200718 yr THIS DATE IN SOX HISTORY: DEC 22ND For more, visit www.whitesoxalmanac.com THE SWAP OF ST. LOUIS 1986: The White Sox acquired utilityman Fred Manrique from the St. Louis Cardinals for reliever Bill Dawley. Manrique patrolled the Sox infield until midway through the 1989 season when he was dealt with DH-outfielder Harold Baines to Texas for Sammy Sosa, Scott Fletcher and Wilson Alvarez. Manrique was the Sox regular second baseman in 1988, hitting just .235. Dawley was winless in seven decisions but logged a more-than-respectable 3.32 ERA. ALL’S WELLS THAT ENDS WELLS 1998: First round pick Kip Wells finally agreed to terms with the White Sox. Wells, a right-hander pitcher, was the 16th overall pick of the previous June draft after going 21-14 with a 5.17 ERA at Baylor. The 21-year-old Texan capped his collegiate career with a 13-4 record, a 3.71 ERA and a Baylor record 135 strikeouts as a junior. It was a quick ascension to the bigs for Wells. He made his big league debut the following Aug. 2 at Detroit. EL DUQUE ARRIVES 2004: The White Sox signed pitcher Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez to a two-year contract. The right-hander was tabbed as a “back of the rotation” guy but wound up giving his most memorable performance in relief. In the clinching Game 3 of the 2005 AL Division Series, Hernandez escaped a bases-loaded no out jam in the seventh inning with the Sox clinging to a 4-3 lead. Hernandez would make one more appearance for the Sox – in the marathon Game 3 of World Series – before being dealt to Arizona in the Javier Vazquez deal the following December.
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