Today in White Sox History: December 29

Happy birthday to an all-time draft bust

1951

Pitcher Hiram Bithorn was the first Puerto Rican play in the majors outside of the Negro Leagues, but he lived a lot of life beyond that in his 35 years.

Because Puerto Rico did not yet have a national baseball team, Bithorn medaled in volleyball (silver) and basketball (bronze) during the 1935 Caribbean Games. But by the next year, at just 20, he arrived in the U.S. to pitch for Norfolk. He won 16 games for the Class B Tars. During his rise through the minors, he routinely returned home to play in the winter Puerto Rican League, and in 1938 managed the Senadores de San Juan — at 22, still the youngest manager in PRL history.

By 1942, Bithorn was in the majors, pitching for the Cubs. A year later he achieved superstardom, going 18-12 with a 2.60 ERA, a majors-best seven shutouts, a 128 ERA+ and 5.5 WAR. Somehow, Bithorn finished just 32nd in MVP voting (three guesses why).

Instead of heading back to Wrigley Field in 1944 to follow up on his second-best NL pitcher WAR, however, Bithorn enlisted in the Navy to fight in World War II. Like so many others, his career was permanently sidelined after two years away from the game.

He pitched in 1946 as a swingman for the north siders and did OK, although the Cubs sold him to Pittsburgh in January 1947. Two months later, the White Sox grabbed Bithorn off of waivers, but only gave him two outings (career White Sox record: 1-0). Despite a brief comeback in 1949, nagging arm soreness ended Tropical Hurricane Hi’s career.

The story gets trickier after the South Side, as Bithorn attempted another comeback in 1951, in the Mexican Pacific League. It was there, on this day in 1951, when Bithorn was murdered by a policeman in Mexico who subsequently (and falsely) claimed the pitcher was acting violently. With a fatal stomach wound, Bithorn suffered as he was transferred to the nearest hospital — 84 miles away. He died the next day.

Bithorn was a national hero in Puerto Rico, still second among sports figures to Roberto Clemente. Hiram Bithorn Stadium was built in 1962 to honor him, and it still stands, right next to Roberto Clemente Coliseum. It was at Hiram Bithorn Stadium that the Montreal Expos played 22 “home” games in both the 2003 and 2004 campaigns.

Bithorn’s seven shutouts in 1943 remain the all-time best among Puerto Rican pitchers.

1964

White Sox contemporaries but never never quite minor league teammates, Craig Grebeck was born in Johnstown, Pa. and Curt Hasler was born in Honolulu.

Grebeck was signed on Aug. 13, 1986 as an undrafted free agent, and his 12-year career in the majors makes him one of the White Sox’s most successful draft-era UDFA signings. Hasler was drafted in the 21st round in 1987 out of Bradley University.

By 1990, with just three full seasons in the minors under him, Grebeck made his debut on the South Side. Over his career, he racked up 10.2 WAR in just 752 games, which as a 162-game average is an impressive 2.2 WAR per year. Grebeck also was a consistently positive performer, with just one negative-WAR season (-0.1 in 50 games for Florida in 1996) until his final campaign, in 2001.

While always pitching older than his level, Hasler nonetheless was excellent in his first three full seasons as a starting pitcher in the minors, never putting up an ERA of more than 3.47. In 1991 at Triple-A Vancouver he pitched in just 11 games, and presumably suffered or had been suffering enough of an arm injury as to retire in-season and finish 1991 as the pitching coach for the rookie GCL White Sox. Hasler has remained a coach or coordinator in the White Sox system since then, now spanning more than three decades.

1969

After so many home-run drafts from GM Larry Himes (picking Jack McDowell, Robin Ventura, Frank Thomas and Alex Fernandez in the first round from 1987 to 1990), the White Sox might have been forgiven for thinking they had figured drafting out. But the player who snapped their lucky streak, pitcher Scott Ruffcorn, was born on this day in New Braunfels, Texas.

Maybe it was just a case of bad luck, because the White Sox weren’t the only ones thinking Ruffcorn was can’t-miss: Baseball America tabbed him the No. 80 prospect in all of baseball before the 1993 season, No. 32 before 1994, and No. 23 before 1995. And the righty was outstanding on his way to Chicago, going 25-11 with a 2.49 ERA in his two full pro seasons (1991-92) before seeing the majors for the first time.

But Ruffcorn’s gilded future and fast rise yielded one of the worst MLB careers ever for a White Sox first round pick: -1.3 WAR over four seasons (over just 12 games!).

Ruffcorn, who finished his career with a season in Philadelphia, never won a single game of his 30 in the majors, going 0-8 all-time, with an 8.57 ERA. He also holds the all-time record for the most consecutive seasons with an ERA of 7.00 or more, with five — every season of his career. Ruffcorn’s ERA in fact was never less than 7.71 in any given season.