Woah — 1962 Spring Training attendance that might outdraw some MLB games in Chicago in 2025!
1962
White Sox third baseman Andy Carey, traded to Philadelphia on December 15, is instead dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers after refusing to report to the Phillies.
Carey, just 30 but a veteran having played for nearly all of the 1950s with the New York Yankees, didn’t want to be shuttled (with no say) to his fourth team in four years. As he was a California native, the White Sox obliged him with the Dodgers deal.
Carey, who was a -0.1 WAR part-timer for the South Siders in 1961, played a single season with L.A. before retiring.
ALSO ON THIS DAY … the White Sox saw their biggest attendance ever at Payne Park in Sarasota, 5,712, for a Spring Training game against the New York Yankees. (One year later, again against the Yankees, the White Sox would break that mark.)
1971
Defensive whiz Bobby Knoop was traded to Kansas City for cash and a player to be named later, who on March 30 turned out to be infielder Luis Alcaraz.
Knoop came over from California in a midseason 1969 deal and played relatively well (0.9 WAR) for the godawful, 68-95 White Sox. The next year, Knoop contributed to a record 106 losses with a -0.5 WAR over 130 games. The 31-year-old surely was on the wrong side of the calendar for any youth movement the White Sox were creating into the 1970s.
The infielder returned to Chicago to begin his coaching career in 1977 and worked for two years with the White Sox. He then returned to California and was a base coach for an amazing 23 three seasons, all told. Knoop was inducted into the Angels Hall of Fame before his coaching career was even finished!
Alcaraz never saw the majors with the White Sox, but had a strong season at Triple-A Tucson (.290/.370/.498 in 102 games) before getting snatched away by Atlanta in the November 1971 Rule 5 draft.
2001
Longtime hurler Tim Belcher announced his retirement, after 146 wins compiled over 14 seasons with seven teams.
One-half of those seasons and three of the wins came with the White Sox, as Belcher was the key 1993 deadline acquisition for the playoff-bound South Siders. Belcher went 3-5 with a 4.40 ERA (0.5 WAR) down the stretch and was not in the ALCS rotation, but did bail out a shelled Jason Bere in Game 4.
With the bases loaded and one out in the third inning, Belcher coaxed a strikeout and ground out to keep the Blue Jays’ lead at 3-2; Belcher threw 3 2⁄3 innings of one-run ball, himself aided on his final out by Tim Raines throwing out Roberto Alomar at home to end the sixth inning. The White Sox went on to win, 7-4, evening the series at two games apiece.