February 28, 200818 yr THIS DATE IN WHITE SOX HISTORY: FEBRUARY 28TH For more, see www.whitesoxalmanac.com TAKING OFF THE BIBB 1929: The White Sox traded one of their stalwarts of the 1920s in outfielder Bibb Falk to the Cleveland Indians for catcher Chick Autry. Falk came up with the Sox briefly in 1920 and became a regular the next year -- taking over for the banned “Shoeless” Joe Jackson in left field -- when he hit .285 with five homers and 82 RBIs. The native of Austin, Texas hit at least .285 – including a career-high .352 in 1924 -- in each of his nine seasons with the Sox. The trade of Falk to Cleveland didn’t work out. Falk hit over .300 for the Tribe from 1929 to 1931 while Autry put in two non-descript seasons with the Sox. THE BEGINNING OF THE END IN FLORIDA 1997: The White Sox began their final season in the Grapefruit League with a 15-9 win over the Minnesota Twins in Fort Myers, Fla. In his White Sox debut, left fielder Albert Belle, who had signed a $55 million contract in the offseason, was 0-for-2 with a walk and a run-scoring groundout. TURN ON THE LIGHTS 1998: There wasn’t any Sox power in the franchise’s first home game at Tucson Electric Park in Arizona. The White Sox managed just three hits in a 3-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks before 6,642 fans on an unseasonably cold night in Tucson. The loss dropped the Sox to 0-3 in their first season in the Cactus League. This wasn’t the Sox first game in Tucson Electric Park. The day before the Sox lost as the visiting team to Arizona, their co-tenant. Editor's Note: Information for these entries is gleaned from the author's files, retrosheet.org, various Internet sources, press reports of the day, White Sox media guides and the many White Sox books written by the great Rich Lindberg.
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