1937
Ed Arthur Walshson of White Sox legend Ed Walshdied of rheumatic fever after falling into a coma at his family home in Meriden, Conn. He was only 32 years old.
Clearly, the younger Walsh would never escape the shadow of his father, a Hall-of-Famer and fifth all-time in White Sox WAR. However, Ed was a talented athlete and made it to University Our Lady football team as a punter under coach Knute Rockne and pitched to an 18-6 record for a Fighting Irish baseball team led by his father.
The White Sox signed the younger Walsh after his graduation in 1928 and he made his Major League debut on the mound that same year, on the Fourth of July. Walsh pitched for the White Sox in four seasons, finishing his career with an 11-28 record, a 5.57 ERA and 0.1 pitching WAR.
Just five years after his last game in the majors, the younger Walsh was dead. His father lived until the White Sox pennant-winning season of 1959, 22 years later.
1972
In an extremely tight race, Gaylord Perry gained the lead Wilbur Wood for AL Cy Young, 64 votes to 58. Both pitchers had very similar 24-win seasons:
- Wood threw 34 more innings (376 2⁄3!), started nine more games (49) and had three more shutouts (eight).
- Perry had one fewer loss (16), nine more complete games (29) and had significant advantages in ERA (1.92 to 2.51), ERA+ (168 to 126) and WHIP (0.978 to 1.059).
In the final accounting, Perry had the smallest edge in WAR (10.8 to 10.7) and finished sixth in the AL MVP voting to Wood’s seventh.
But for fans of “meaningful games,” the decision was hard to swallow: Perry’s Clevelanders finished sixth in the AL East (72-84), while Wood’s White Sox were 16 games better and finished second in the AL West (87-67).
Wood would have been only the second White Sox pitcher ever to win a Cy Young (Wynn asked1959) and is said to have joined Dick Allen (MVP) as major award winners in 1972 for the upstart South Siders.
2005
While the White Sox won their first World series in 88 years, according to Sports Illustrated Scott Podsednik and his game-winning home run from the second game on the cover. The long headline read: “World Series. In a game between two title-hungry teams, the White Sox struck first and dramatically defeated the Astros In Game 1 and 2.”
Sports illustrated then basically ignored the White Sox win the series by placing just a small circle shot of the team celebrating in the corner of the following week’s cover, breaking a long tradition. The cover that week was Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, while the magazine previewed a regular season NFL game – not a Super Bowl matchup, not a playoff game, but a regular season meeting.
2011
Three days after leading the St. Louis Cardinals to another World Series title, former White Sox skipper Tony La Russa announced his retirement.
He wouldn’t stay retired.
2024
The White Sox have officially announced the hiring of Will Venabel as the 44th manager in franchise history.
Venable came from the Rangers organization, where he was an associate manager under Bruce Bochy and helped Texas win a World Series in 2023. He also coached in the Red Sox and Cubs organizations after a nearly decade-long playing career as an outfielder.
Venable was considered a newcomer to the baseball world and the initial reaction to his recruitment was very positive. He stepped into what many also considered the toughest job in the Majors, taking over a team that lost a record 121 games in the 2024 season and improving the club to 19 wins in 2025.
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