A World Series win, plenty of victories over the Cubs, a “Go Go” manager, a future ERA champ dealt, a Ron Coomer sighting and another ALCS complete game … it all happened on this date (Oct. 15) in White Sox history.
Here are the details:
*1911, SOX TOP CUBS: Winning pitcher Doc White did not allow an earned run and sparked a rally with a single in the White Sox 4-2 win over the Cubs in Game 3 of their City Series sweep before 36,308 at Comiskey Park.
White started the Sox two-run uprising in third, which fronted them for good, with a one-out single and he later scored on Harry Lord’s base hit. White went the distance walked four and fanned five three days before clinching the series.
*1912, OT WIN VS. CUBS: Morrie Rath’s two-out single in the 11th plated Babe Borton with the go-ahead run in the White Sox 5-4 win over the host Cubs before 10,297 in Game 6 of the City Series at West Side Grounds
Ed Walsh fired a complete game as the Sox evened the showdown at 2 after the series opened with consecutive ties.
*1914, SOX WIN CITY SERIES! Ed Cicotte threw 8.2 shutout innings OF RELIEF as the White Sox took the decisive game of the City Series with a 3-2 win over the Cubs before 14,879 at Comiskey Park.
Cicotte came on after starter Jim “Death Valley” Scott gave up two runs while retiring just one of the four batters he faced. Cicotte entered and gave up five hits and no walks with seven strikeouts after ending the treacherous first.
The Sox took the lead in the fourth on Ray Schalk’s RBI single which came after Braggo Roth’s two-run double tied the game.
*1917, WORLD CHAMPIONS! The White Sox defeated the New York Giants 4-2 in New York to claim the World Series title in six games.
It was the White Sox second World Series championship and their first since the 1906 “Hitless Wonders” turned the trick against the Cubs.
The White Sox broke a scoreless tie in Game 6 in the fourth thanks to a defensive lapse by Heinie Zimmerman, one of the top players of the era.
During a rundown, Zimmerman chased Eddie Collins – who reached on Zimmerman’s error — across the plate with the game’s first run. As the rundown was taking place, Joe Jackson took third and Happy Felsch checked into second. Gandil gave the Sox a 3-0 lead when he followed with a single over first.
The Giants scored two in the fifth but could not dent starter Red Faber any further. Faber went the distance in notching his third win of the series. Each White Sox player received a winner’s share of $3,669 while the Giants each received $2,442.
*1923, SOX OVERPOWER CUBS: Willie Kamm homered twice and drove in five and Eddie Collins went deep once as the White Sox handled the Cubs 7-4 in Game 5 of the City Series before 15,562 at Wrigley Field.
Collins hit a two-run homer and Kamm clubbed a three-run homer in the fifth as the Sox won their third straight to take the lead in the best-of-7 series.
*1950, HELLO PAUL: General manager “Frantic” Frankie Lane hired Paul Richards to manage the White Sox, thereby setting in motion the franchise’s “Go Go” era.
Lane got to know Richards in the mid-1940s and vowed to hire him as a manager if he ever got the chance. Lane made good on his promise despite Richards’ rather mundane record as a minor league skipper.
Richards managed the Sox until late in the 1954 season when he bolted for Baltimore for an upgrade in title. During his first stint on the Sox bench (the second would come in 1976), Richards used pitching, defense and speed to make the Sox a factor again in the American League.
*1964, RUDY MAY TRADED AWAY: The White Sox traded left-handed pitcher Rudy May to the Philadelphia Phillies for Bill Heath and a player to be named later. The Sox would receive Joel Gibson Nov. 23 to complete the deal.
May went 17-8 as a teenager for Sox farm teams at Tidewater and Indianapolis in 1964. After being dealt by the Phils to the Angels, May spent 1965 in the big leagues as a 20-year old.
Following three years in the minors, May hooked on with the Angels in 1969 and spent all but a handful of days in the Majors until retiring after the 1983 season. He won a career-high 18 games for the 1977 Orioles and was the American League’s ERA champ at 2.46 for the 1980 Yankees.
May did have one more brief flirtation with the Sox later in his career. The Sox wanted to select May as compensation for losing Steve Kemp to free agency following the 1982 season. May balked, invoking his no trade rights so the Sox then eyed Fergie Jenkins, who was left unprotected.
The Cubs then started talking trade with the Sox in order to avoid the Sox taking Jenkins. The Sox wound up acquiring Scott Fletcher, Pat Tabler, Dick Tidrow and Randy Martz for Steve Trout and Warren Brusstar and selecting Steve Mura from the compensation pool.
*1993, COOMER PROMOTED: The White Sox purchased the contracts of infielder Ron Coomer and pitcher Steve Schrenk from Triple-A Nashville.
Coomer, a Chicago native, had been in the minors since 1987 and spent 1991 to 1993 in the Sox chain, accruing some fair numbers at Double-A and Triple-A.
The current Cubs’ radio broadcaster hit .255 with 13 homers and 76 RBI at the Sox Double-A Birmingham affiliate in 1991 and .237 with nine homers and 40 RBI in 86 games at Triple-A Vancouver before having a breakout year in 1993.
With Robin Ventura at third and Frank Thomas at first, Coomer never got a shot with the Sox. The Lockport High School graduate was traded to the Dodgers on Dec. 28, 1993 for pitcher Isidro Marquez.
Coomer eventually made it to the Majors with Minnesota in 1995 and played in the bigs until 2003. The peak of his career came in 1999 when he was named to the American League All-Star team.
In other moves on this day, reliever Terry Leach was designated for assignment and the Sox declined the option on left-handed pitcher Chuck Cary.
*2005, BIG GAME FREDDY: Behind their third consecutive complete game, this one from Freddy Garcia, the White Sox moved to within one game of the pennant with an 8-2 win over the Angels in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series in Anaheim.
Garcia followed the route-going efforts of Mark Buehrle and Jon Garland by limiting the Angels to six hits in his first action since starting and winning the clincher in the American League Division Series in Boston. The three consecutive complete games were the first in the postseason since Jon Matlack, Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman accomplished the feat for the 1973 New York Mets.
For the second game in a row, Paul Konerko, bound for the ALCS MVP Award, gave the Sox an early cushion with a home run in the first inning. Konerko’s blast came with Scott Podsednik and Tadahito Iguchi on base and fronted the Sox for good. The Sox later added to their lead on a home run by AJ Pierzynski and two RBIs each from Carl Everett and Joe Crede.