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:

Tony LaRussa

First Basemen:

Bill Veeck

Greg Walker (6.21) - 23

Tom Seaver

Carlton Fisk

Second Basemen:

Harold Baines

Tony Bernazard (7.71) - 14

Julio Cruz (4.14) - 13

No Hitters:

Scott Fletcher (9.25) - 13

Joe Cowley (1986)

ShortStop:

Rookie of the Year:

Ozzie Guillen (13.65) - 38

Ron Kittle (1983)

Bill Almon (2.62) - 14

Ozzie Guillen (1986)

Third Base:

MVP:

Vance Law (4.04) - 11

None

Outfield:

Cy Young:

Harold Baines (22.17) - 78

LaMarr Hoyt (1983)

Rudy Law (7.01) - 35

Chet Lemon (8.22) - 22

Notable Events:

Greg Luzinski (7.06) - 17

Ron Kittle (3.42) - 17

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

Tom Paciorek (2.27) - 16

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

Ivan Calderon (6.32) - 14

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

Ron LeFlore (1.31) - 10

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

Notable Events:

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

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

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

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

alhto' he gets elected into the Hall anyway.

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

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

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

up for a song after his release

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

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

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

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

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

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

19 of the previous 20.

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

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

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

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

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

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

that winter in a deal for catcher Brian Downing

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

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

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

had a huge season.

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

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

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

They then descended twenty five games in 1984.

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

1983 was just one of those magical seasons of destiny.

having been similarly been brought back in 1976 by Veeck.

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

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

5-4 against the Brewers.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

in the game with the White Sox

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

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

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

intelligent acts as Commissioner, voided the deal.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ended up getting the last laugh.

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

Apparently, Reinsdorf did.

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

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

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

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

a free agent from Seattle . He wins 16 games .

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.