The start of the 2023 season marked the fourth time that the White Sox have started a season against the reigning World Series champions.
The Sox opened the franchise’s 123rd campaign by downing the Houston Astros, who were last seen winning the World Series from the Philadelphia Phillies the previous November, en route to a four-game split.
The 3-2 victory in Houston Thursday marked the second time the Sox defeated the defending champs on Opening Day. The previous triumph was on this date in 1984 when the Sox topped the Orioles 5-2 in Baltimore. The Orioles, of course, vanquished the Sox in the 1983 American League Championship Series before winning the World Series.
The victory also enabled first-year White Sox manager Pedro Grifol to join an elite club.
Grifol became just the third manager in big league history to win his debut against the reigning World Series champion. He was the first to do it since the Yankees’ Lou Piniella inaugurated his career with a win over the Royals in 1986. In addition, Grifol was just the second skipper to accomplish this on the road and the first the Phillies’ Pat Moran at Boston in 1915.
Of the four season-starting series’ the Sox have played against the champs, this was their second-best performance.
The series in 1984 in Baltimore lasted just one game because the second contest was postponed so, technically, it was a sweep.
The Sox dropped two of three to the champion Blue Jays in 1994 and Athletics in 1975.