THIS DATE IN SOX HISTORY: MARCH 26-28

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THIS DATE IN SOX HISTORY: MARCH 26-28

 

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A ROCKY MOVE: COLAVITO SOLD

1974: The White Sox sold the contract of outfielder Rocky Colavito to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Colavito played in 60 games for the 1967 Sox after being acquired from Cleveland but he was not able to give the team the pop he had become famous for earlier in his career. Colavito hit just three homers for the anemic 1967 White Sox, a team that could have used the kind of power he had when he hit at least 21 homers in each season between 1956 and 1966.

 

NEXT STOP, THE HALL OF FAME

1974: The Red Sox released White Sox legend Luis Aparicio, thus ending the career of the greatest shortstop to play the game to that point.

 

JOE ON THE GO

1987: In search of some outfield help and with a surplus of starting pitchers, the Sox dealt Joe Cowley to the Philadelphia Phillies for Gary Redus. Cowley was effecive -- and sometimes brilliant -- but erratic during his one-year stint with the White Sox. That was never more evident than in his no-hitter of Sept. 19, 1986. In the White Sox 7-1 victory at California, Cowley walked seven and struck out eight in tossing the 14th no-hitter in franchise hitter and the first since John "Blue Moon" Odom and Francisco Barrios accomplished the feat together at Oakland. Another Cowley paradox: On May 28, 1986, the right-hander began his start at Texas with seven consecutive strikeouts, an A.L. record, but wound up losing the game. Cowley was 11-11 with a 3.88 ERA for the 1986 Sox but the presence of veterans Richard Dotson, Floyd Bannister and Jose DeLeon and the emergence of Bill Long and Neil Allen made Cowley expendable. Cowley flamed out in a hurry in Philadelphia after suffering severe control problems. In five games(four starts) with the Phils, Cowley was 0-4 with a 15.43ERA. Redus became the Sox regular left fielder and swiped 52 bases.

 

MARCH 27TH

 

OLD ACHES AND PAINS, THAT’S FOR SURE

1938: White Sox shortstop Luke Appling, a future Hall of Famer, broke his ankle in a 10-9 exhibition win over the Cubs. Original reports had Appling out for five weeks but he did not return to the lineup until July 8th.

 

SQUEEZING THE GRAPEFRUIT FOR THE LAST TIME

1997: The White Sox defeated the Boston Red Sox 6-1 in Fort Myers, Fla., in their final Grapefruit League game. The Sox called Sarasota, Florida their spring training home since 1960 but were bound for Tucson, Arizona and the Cactus League beginning in 1998. Awaiting the Sox was a $35 million sports complex, which included Tucson Electric Park.

 

SOX NO LONGER LIKE MIKE

2000: Just two years removed from a sensational rookie season, the White Sox optioned shortstop Mike Caruso to Triple-A Charlotte. After hitting .306 as a 21-year old rookie in 1998, Caruso dropped off substantially in 1999, batting just .250. The acquisition of Jose Valentin, also a shortstop, in the offseason also paved Caruso’s way out of Chicago. The enigmatic Caruso spent the year in the minors before being granted free agency in October.

 

HELLO, DAMASO

2002: The White Sox acquired reliever Damaso Marte from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for minor league pitcher Matt Guerrier. The Sox got a lot of use out of the left-handed Marte, pitching him 279 times between 2002 and 2005. Marte’s time with the Sox peaked in 2003 when he was 4-2 with 11 saves and a 1.58 ERA. How dominant was he that year? Marte surrendered just 50 hits in 79.2 innings and struck out 87 batters.

 

A TIE WITH ARCH ENEMY

2006: The White Sox and Cubs played to a 6-6 tie in a Cactus League game before 12,894 in Mesa, Ariz. This marked the first time in the rivals’ 25-game Cactus League series that a game ended in a tie. The White Sox held a 6-4 lead going into the last of the ninth but Neal Cotts gave up two in the frame to force the tie. Jim Thome had a huge day, with four hits, two homers (one off Greg Maddux and one off Bob Howry) and three RBIs.

 

MARCH 28TH

 

THE START OF A TRAGEDY

1940: According to baseballlibrary.com, White Sox second baseman Jackie Hayes caught a cinder in his eye during a 10-1 exhibition loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles. An infection ensued and Hayes, a top fielder in his day, eventually lost sight in the eye. By 1943, he was totally blind. According to White Sox historian Rich Lindberg, Hayes complained of vision problems early in spring training and was told by team doctors it was an infection and would clear itself up quickly. In late July, Lindberg wrote in The White Sox Encyclopedia, Hayes was diagnosed with a cataract. Hayes, who spent seven years with the Sox, played his final game on Aug. 29, 1940.

 

ACQUIRING A LAMP

1981: In one of the most underrated deals of his tenure, White Sox general manager Roland Hemond acquired Dennis Lamp from the Cubs for Ken Kravec. Lamp spent three years with the White Sox and was a versatile contributor to three consecutive winning teams. The right-hander logged a 2.41 ERA in 1981, won a career-high 11 games in 1982 and led the A.L. West Division champions with 15 saves in 1983. His best outing came on Aug. 25, 1981 when he no-hit the Brewers at Milwaukee until Robin Yount led off the ninth with a double. Lamp settled for a one-hitter, the second of his career. Even in departure, Lamp was good to the Sox. When he signed as a free agent with Toronto following the 1983 season, the Sox were awarded a selection in the now-defunct compensation pool draft, which was part of the settlement of the 1981 strike. The Sox chose Tom Seaver, whom the Mets had left unprotected figuring that no team would select a high-priced veteran pitcher. Seaver went on to have twof solid seasons with the Sox. The left-handed Kravec, meanwhile, won two games in two seasons for the Cubs.

 

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