Happy birthday, Nancy!
Bonnie Trafelet/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
1947
White Sox organist and baseball legend Nancy Faust was born in Chicago.
Nancy is a White Sox icon, deserving of better franchise acknowledgement, as well as Baseball Hall of Fame recognition.
Among her many contributions to the game, Nancy invented walk-up music for players. Her 1970s popularization for the Steam single “Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)” not only revolutionized the fan experience at Comiskey Park, but is an iconic experience of victory celebration that continues — throughout the world — to this day.
She is a dear friend to South Side Sox, and we will forever adore her.
(One of Nancy’s beloved animals, Mandy, is pictured above. Mandy passed away just a week ago. We’ve opted to use this photo again, to celebrate both a wonderful animal and a heroic animal lover.)
1968
White Sox rookie pitcher Cisco Carlos was part of the cover shot for Sports Illustrated under the headline “The Best Rookies of 1968.”
Unfortunately, Carlos didn’t turn out to be one of them, either in the short term or the long one. In fact, of the five players on the cover only Johnny Bench and Mike Torrez made a name for themselves in the sport.
His only full season as a starter came in 1968, and was notable for his 14 losses (eighth in the AL) and 10 batters hit (sixth).
In two-and-a-half seasons and 62 games with the White Sox, Carlos went 10-17 with a 0.7 WAR. Carlos’ best pitching performance came on Sept. 14, 1967 at Comiskey Park, when in the middle of a pennant race, he shut out Cleveland on five hits over 10 innings and won, 4-0.
He played his last major league game with the Washington Senators in 1970, and be out of pro baseball completely by 1973.
1990
Second baseman Roy Schalk, unrelated to Hall-of-Famer Ray, died in Gainesville, Texas, at age 81. Born in Chicago, Roy made his debut at age 23 with the Yankees in 1932 but played in just three games. He spent the next TEN seasons (11 years total, sitting out 1943) in the minors before signing with the White Sox and playing two full seasons on the South Side. While his overall performance was poor (-1.7 WAR), Roy finished 19th in MVP voting in his final MLB season (1945) despite a -0.4 WAR. Roy then played another five seasons, until age 41, in the minors.
Roy and Ray are the only two Schalks in major league history. And Roy is the only player in MLB history to miss at least 10 full seasons and come back to play at least 100 games.
2003
Sixteen White Sox players, led by pitcher Tom Gordon, refused to allow themselves to be tested for performance enhancing drugs when testers approved by both Major League Baseball and the MLBPA showed up in Tucson before a game versus the Mariners.
The reasoning is that by not taking the test, the players hope it will be counted as a positive result, thus greatly increasing the chances of tougher testing in 2004.
After discussing the objections with Gene Orza of the MLBPA, White Sox player representative Kelly Wunsch and veteran catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. convinced the objectors that because this was an agreed deal, they have a responsibility to follow through on the commitment. All 16 players eventually decide to take the test, although some privately tell media members afterwards they felt they were being pressured by the union to do so.