Chicago White Sox - The Reagan Years (1980-1989)

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1980

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1980

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Titles: AL West Champs (1983 - Lost to Orioles)

Top White Sox Players during the Eighties

BallPark: Comiskey Park

Pitchers:

Rich Dotson (17.57) - 60

Team Name: White Sox

Dewey Hoyt (11.12) - 48

Floyd Bannister (11.99) - 45

Owner: Bill Veeck (1980)

Britt Burns (18.75) - 42

Jerry Reinsdorf / Eddie Einhorn (1981-1989)

Bobby Thigpen (5.73) - 22

Tom Seaver (9.71) - 21

General Managers:

Bob James (3.03) - 16

Roland Hemond (1980-1985)

Melido Perez (1.49) - 14

Hawk Harrelson (1985-1986)

Steve Trout (3.66) - 13

Larry Himes (1986-1989)

Dennis Lamp (6.01) - 12

Jerry Reuss (2.61) - 12

Managers:

Jerry Koosman (3.07) - 9

Tony LaRussa (1980-1986)

Salome Barojas (4.52) - 7

Doug Rader (1986)

Dave LaPoint (5.19) - 5

Jim Fregosi (1986-1988)

Jeff Torborg (1989)

Catchers:

Carlton Fisk (22.49) - 86

Hall of Famers:

Tom Seaver

First Basemen:

Carlton Fisk

Greg Walker (6.21) - 23

Harold Baines

Second Basemen:

No Hitters:

Tony Bernazard (7.71) - 14

Joe Cowley (1986)

Julio Cruz (4.14) - 13

Scott Fletcher (9.25) - 13

Rookie of the Year:

Ron Kittle (1983)

ShortStop:

Ozzie Guillen (1986)

Ozzie Guillen (13.65) - 38

Bill Almon (2.62) - 14

MVP:

None

Third Base:

Vance Law (4.04) - 11

Cy Young:

LaMarr Hoyt (1983)

Outfield:

Harold Baines (22.17) - 78

Notable Events:

Rudy Law (7.01) - 35

Chet Lemon (8.22) - 22

1980 - Chicago comes into the Eighties having had only one winning season in

Greg Luzinski (7.06) - 17

the previous seven. It will be another lost decade for Chicago in the Eighties.

Ron Kittle (3.42) - 17

They do have four above .500 seasons (one barely) including one

Tom Paciorek (2.27) - 16

with a Division title. The rest of it is forgettable.

Ivan Calderon (6.32) - 14

Ron LeFlore (1.31) - 10

1980 - Harold Baines comes up as a twenty one year old rookie. He was a

1st round pick in the 1977 draft. He ends up with an excellent major league

Notable Events:

twenty two year career that is just a notch below Hall of Fame worthy,

alhto' he gets elected into the Hall anyway.

1983 - Ron Kittle is a rookie and hits 35 homers and knocks in a hundred runs,

winning Rookie of the Year honors. He never matches his rookie numbers again,

1980 - Dewey Hoyt comes up as a twenty five year old rookie. Hoyt was a

but has a reasonably productive career moving forward. Kittle had been signed

5th round pick by the Yankees in the 1973 draft. He had a brief five

by the Dodgers in 1977 and released a year later. The White Sox picked him

year career with the Sox, emerging in 1982 as a top starter and performing

up for a song after his release

off the charts in 1983 before coming back down to earth in 1984.

Hoyt was obtained from the Yankees in a 1977 deal for Oscar Gamble.

1983 - Chicago hosts the All Star game, fifty years after they hosted

the first one. The AL, almost miraculously, wins after having lost

1980 - Pitcher Richard Dotson's first full season with Chicago as a twenty

19 of the previous 20.

one year old. He has a so-so career except for one huge season, 1983.

Dotson was a first round pick by the Angels in 1977 and was obtained

1983 - The Pale Hose win the Western Division title, then lose to the Orioles

that winter in a deal for catcher Brian Downing

in the ALCS. A bunch of guys had career type years all at once:

Dewey Hoyt, the Cy Young winner; Rich Dotson won 22 games;

1980 - LHP Britt Burns, 21, joins the rotation and goes 15-13.

Floyd Bannister won 13 of his last 14 decisions; Ron Kittle won rookie

He was a 3rd round pick in the 1978 draft.

of the year. Greg Luzinski turned back the clock for one year and

had a huge season.

1980 - Bill Veeck brings back Minnie Minoso for two pinch hit at bats.

Minnie is 58 years old and has now played in five decades

1983 - Chicago had improved 12 games from 1982 to 99 wins in 1983.

having been similarly been brought back in 1976 by Veeck.

They then descended twenty five games in 1984.

1983 was just one of those magical seasons of destiny.

1981 -The Sox purchase slugger Greg Luzinski from the Phillies.

Altho' only thirty years old, he looks and plays much older.

1984 - The White Sox win the longest game in history timewise - 25 innings

Greg only has one big year left in him, but he picks a good one, 1983.

5-4 against the Brewers.

1981 - Bill Veeck sells the White Sox to Jerry Reinsdorf / Eddie

1985 - Twenty one year old shortstop Ozzie Guillen makes his debut.

Einhorn after 1980 season. Chicago, once again, dodged a

He will play thirteen years with the Sox as one of the better shortstops

bullet here as Veeck initially sold to Ed DeBartolo who intended to

in the league. Ozzie will later become one of the better managers

move the team to Denver, but Bowie Kuhn, in one of his few

in the game with the White Sox

intelligent acts as Commissioner, voided the deal.

1985 - Tom Seaver wins his 300th whle wearing a White Sox uniform

1981 - Jerry Reinsdorf signs 34 year old catcher Carlton Fisk to

a long term deal in 1981 trying to revitalize the franchise.

1986 - The Pale Hose deal future super star outfielder Bobby Bonilla, 23, to the

The odds were that this would be a terrible move due to Fisk's age

Pirates for righthander Jose DeLeon, 25, in an awful trade. Bonilla had been

and the position he was playing. Who knew that this guy would

picked up from the Bucs in the Rule 5 draft over the winter. The Sox thought

be able to play catcher effectively until he was forty five?

they had put one over on Pittsburgh getting DeLeon for free. The Pirates

Apparently, Reinsdorf did.

ended up getting the last laugh.

1983 - Twenty eight year old lefty Floyd Bannister is signed as

1988 - The city of Chicago agrees to build a new stadium for the Sox.

a free agent from Seattle . He wins 16 games .

The Sox would have moved to St. Petersburg, Fla in 1989 if it hadn't.

The impending Chicago franchise move drama has now passed the 20 year

mark with moves to Milwaukee, Seattle, Denver and now Fl. Lauderdale saved

by the bell at the last moment. The new stadium is the ransom extracted

from the locals to keep the team in Chicago.