Today in White Sox History: October 14
Jon Garland keeps the rotation’s roll going
1906
The White Sox beat the Cubs, winning the World Series four games to two, behind the pitching of Doc White. The South Siders clinched the title by winning the sixth game, 8-3. The White Sox wasted no time in putting this one out of reach, jumping out to a 7-1 lead after two innings against Cubs ace Mordecai Brown, who was knocked from the box with two outs in the second inning. Jiggs Donohue provided the most potent blow, driving in two runs with a ground-rule double in the bottom of the first, putting the White Sox up for good, 3-1.
The win remains one of the biggest upsets in World Series history. Ironically, the light-hitting White Sox ended up putting up 37 hits in the Series, to the 116-36-3 Cubs’ 36. The “Hitless Wonders” White Sox had a team batting average of only .230 for the season and hit even worse (.198) in the series. But they collected 10 doubles and three triples in the six games — and held the powerful Cubs to a series batting average of only .196.
Best of all, a crowd of 19,249 at South Side Park got to witness the only home win of the entire World Series.
Ed Walsh won two games for the Sox during the Series, with infielder George Rohe batting .333, leading the team with an OPS of better than 1.000, and playing in all six games. Rohe also contributed the key moment of the Series, clearing the bases with a two-out triple to give the White Sox a lead in Game 3 and contributing a Series-high 276.51 championship leverage (cLI) score to the cause.
Based on championship win probability (cWPA), the MVP of the Series would have gone to Nick Altrock, who won Game 1 and lost a heartbreaker in Game 4, with 26.33% cWPA. Others in the running would have included Donohue (18.39%), Rohe (13.55%) and George Davis (17.72%).
Leadoff hitter Ed Hahn smacked four singles in five at-bats, just the second White Sox player to have four hits in one postseason game — answering Frank Isbell’s effort all the way back in ... Game 5 of the Series! Only two White Sox have matched that feat since.
Reflective of the time, both the White Sox and Cubs used just four pitchers apiece to span all 54 innings of the Series.
After the win, owner Charles Comiskey handed a $15,000 check to manager Fielder Jones, to be split among the players. The players viewed the check as a bonus for their championship effort. Comiskey, though, considered it as part of their 1907 salary! To put that bonus/advance in perspective, the loser’s share for the Cubs ($439.50) remains the lowest in World Series history.
The 1906 Fall Classic remains the only time in 120 years that the White Sox and Cubs have ever met in the postseason.
2005
Jon Garland threw the second straight White Sox complete game in the ALCS, going the distance for a 5-2 win that ended up decided with one out in the first. Scott Podsednik singled to lead off, was sacrificed to second by Tadahito Iguchi, scored on a Jermaine Dye double — and the White Sox finished the initial flurry with eventual ALCS MVP Paul Konerko clocking a home run to left-center. Konerko would go 3-for-4 in the game, and those top four batters in the order 8-for-15.
Garland scattered four hits and a walk, striking out seven.
The win gave Chicago a 2-1 advantage in the ALCS, two wins from a pennant.