Today in White Sox History: January 27
The South Side says goodbye to an inefficient speedster
1948
The White Sox acquired catcher Ralph Weigel from Cleveland for center fielder Thurman Tucker.
Weigel played just one year on the South Side, seeing action in 66 games and putting up a .607 OPS. Tucker, on the other hand, played three years in Cleveland, starting with a strong, 1.2 WAR season over 83 games for the eventual World Series champions. Thurman played in only the Game 4 clincher for Cleveland, but made key plays at bat and in the field to bring home what remains the franchise’s most recent title.
1953
Sometimes, GM Frank Lane made one too many trades, and this time it came over the objection of manager Paul Richards. This was one of those deals that seemed to be too good to be true, and turned out to be the case, as the White Sox acquired two-time American League batting champ Ferris “Burrhead” Fain from the Philadelphia A’s as part of a five-player deal. Fain and minor-leaguer Bobby Wilson cost the White Sox slugger Eddie Robinson, shortstop Joe DeMaestri and center fielder Ed McGhee.
Fain never came close to winning a batting title in Chicago, was a distraction off the field, was injured, and was rumored to have gotten into a fight with second baseman Nellie Fox that resulted in injuries. Lockers were supposedly pushed on top of Fox during the altercation, and he was pinned underneath them. The fight was thought to have taken place after a game in Washington, D.C. against the Senators.
Fain’s seasons in Chicago featured two All-Star appearances, but a lot of disappointment. The first baseman was packaged off to Detroit in a multi-player deal after the 1954 season, and the 1955 campaign would be his last.
2005
So ... who needs scouts?
(just joking ...)
White Sox GM Ken Williams signed Japanese second baseman Tadahito Iguchi after scouting him solely by watching video tape. Iguchi turned into a very solid second baseman and No. 2 hitter in the White Sox lineup, delivering defense, home runs and RBIs to a team that would go on to take the World Series.
Iguchi’s three-run home run in Game 2 of the 2005 ALDS turned that contest around and gave the White Sox a commanding, two-game lead in the best-of-five series.
The following year, Iguchi’s single in the 19th inning on July 9 beat the Red Sox, 6-5. That game tied for the fifth-longest in franchise history.
His best offensive game came a few weeks earlier, in a 10-9, extra-inning loss to the Astros. Iguchi drove in seven runs, five scoring on home runs in the eighth and ninth innings at U.S. Cellular Field.
And on April 15, 2006, Iguchi turned in one of the most incredible defensive plays in major league history, throwing out Toronto’s Bengie Molina in the ninth inning of a 4-2 White Sox win: Iguchi threw the ball to first base while sailing horizontally off the ground and from a most unusual throwing angle.
2012
Juan Pierre officially ended his time with the White Sox by signing with the Phillies as a free agent.
The left fielder, acquired as a sort of Los Angeles Dodgers salary dump (imagine that!) in 2009, had two truly horrible seasons for the White Sox. In 2010, Pierre led the majors with 68 steals ... and 18 times caught, while a paltry .275/.341/.316 slash winnowed his WAR to just 0.3 over 734 plate appearances. That was followed by a much worse 2011 season, as an identically-bad OPS and a majors-most 17 times caught offset by just 27 stolen bases triggered a -0.9 WAR. On the bright side, Pierre missed just six games over his two South Side seasons, although with production like that perhaps he should have sat more frequently.
While the speedster had just two more MLB seasons ahead of him, ironically Pierre followed up his career-worst season with a very solid 2.1 WAR for Philadelphia in 2012, despite starting just 98 games.