Today in White Sox History: August 18
The Hic Man gets a new job on the South Side
1910
Red Faber, pitching for the Class-B Dubuque Dubs in the Three-I (Iowa, Illinois, Indiana) League, threw a 3-0 perfect game against the Davenport Prodigals. Faber, 21, would make his MLB debut in 1914 for the White Sox, beginning a Hall of Fame career.
The Cascade, Iowa native never threw a no-hitter, much less a perfect game, in the majors, however.
1977
He was a ship too late to save the drowning South Side Hit Men, but it wasn’t for lack of Steve Renko trying. The tall righthander was acquired from the Cubs for pitcher Larry Anderson and cash, and was basically unbeatable for the final six weeks of the season.
Renko went 5-0 (and the team was 6-2 in his starts, the only losses both by one run) with a 3.54 ERA (117 ERA+) and 3.13 FIP, adding up to 1.3 WAR in just eight starts.
As good as that late deal was in 1977, the White Sox helped curse their 1978 by swapping Renko and catcher Jim Essian to Oakland at the end of spring training for reliever Pablo Torrealba. The pair combined to put up 3.4 WAR for the A’s, while Torrealba was a -0.4 WAR pitcher in 28 games for the White Sox, released midway through the 1979 season and never to pitch in the majors again.
Also on this day, the White Sox held an open tryout at Comiskey Park, inviting some 250 amateurs in hopes of finding a gold nugget. The club found only one: Southpaw Kevin Hickey, who at 22 was already a 16´´softball legend, having led his club to a national title and facing off against many city notables — including Sun-Times columnist Mike Royko. By 1981, the “Hic Man” was in the majors.
2020
Continuing an absolute barrage of leadoff home runs, Tim Anderson started another game off with a homer, this time in a 10-4 win over the Tigers in Chicago. Anderson’s homer made him the first White Sox ever to with three leadoff home runs in a six-game span. He also became the fifth player in MLB history to hit a leadoff home run in three straight games against one opponent.
Anderson victimized Matthew Boyd on August 12 and 17, and his record-setter on this day came against Tarik Skubal.
Incredibly, Anderson almost added another leadoff home run against Casey Mize leading off the next day’s game, but his fly deep to right field was caught short of the fence.