Today in White Sox History: August 31
Chris Getz hops from the highchair to the Big Chair
1926
In a twin bill at Detroit, White Sox infielder Ray Morehart tied a major-league record in cranking out nine hits in 10 at-bats! Morehart went 5-for-6 in the opener, and then capped it off with a 4-for-4 performance in the nightcap. Two of his nine hits were doubles.
Morehead’s five hits fueled a 19-2 win in the opener, which remains tied for the 12th-most runs in a game in franchise history and the 17-run win remains tied for third-biggest ever. The White Sox lost the nightcap, 7-6.
1935
In the highlight of his career, White Sox rookie pitcher Vern Kennedy threw a 5-0 no-hitter against Cleveland, at Comiskey Park. The no-hitter was saved in the ninth inning when with one out, outfielder Al Simmons made a diving catch on a ball.
Kennedy didn’t even realize he had a no-hitter going until the final out!
Kennedy also had the game-breaking hit in the contest, a bases-loaded triple, driving in three runs in the sixth inning. It was also the first no-hitter in the American League since 1931.
Kennedy’s four walks against just five strikeouts gave him a relatively low game score of 88, which ranks in a tie for 121st in all White Sox starts in history.
1964
White Sox catcher Jerry McNertney was part of the cover shot for Sports Illustrated, in one of the few black-and-white covers ever done by the magazine.
1993
Outfielder Tim Raines became only the second White Sox player to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game. He did it at Yankee Stadium, as he victimized Sterling Hitchcock and Rich Monteleone to help the Sox coast to an 11-3 win. Raines went 3-for-5, with two runs and four RBIs. His home runs came in the fifth and ninth innings. Raines also stole his 744th career base, placing him fourth on the all-time list.
Also in this game, Frank Thomas had a homer that counted as two milestones. It was his 37th of the season, tying Dick Allen and Carlton Fisk for most in team history, as well as Big Frank’s 100th career round-tripper.
2010
Edwin Jackson stopped just one out short of a complete-game, 4-3 win at Cleveland. And in striking out 11, he became just the third White Sox pitcher to punch out double-figure batters in three consecutive games (Ed Walsh, 1910, and Floyd Bannister, 1985).
The win also completed a miraculous career start in Chicago for Jackson, who after being acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 30 went 3-2 with a 1.47 ERA and 45 strikeouts against eight walks in five starts.
2023
After the firing of both Ken Williams and Rick Hahn, White Sox fans were hoping that owner Jerry Reinsdorf would go out and bring in a top-notch executive from a consistently-winning organization to rebuild the franchise, which sank to new lows both on and off the field.
Instead, Reinsdorf decided to promote former Sox infielder Chris Getz to GM.
Getz had been in charge of the White Sox minor league operation for the past seven years, an operation that usually ranked near the bottom in MLB rankings and failed to develop anyone outside of a few high draft picks to produce for the big league club.
White Sox fans, and even many in the mainstream media, were highly critical of the decision — but not completely shocked, given Reinsdorf’s history.