Today in White Sox History: November 26

1976

It was a move that would pay large returns the following season. On this day, injured third baseman Eric Soderholm signed a free agent deal with the White Sox.

Soderholm would become Comeback Player of the Year for 1977, with 25 home runs, 67 RBIs and a .280 batting average. His production would help lead the South Side Hit Men to a remarkable, 90-win season.

Soderholm had missed the entire 1976 season with a severe leg injury suffered when he was still with the Twins.

1991

The White Sox hired Gene Lamont as the new manager, replacing Jeff Torborg. Lamont was hired after Pirates manager and former Sox coach Jim Leyland highly recommended him. (Lamont was a coach on Leyland’s staff.)

The quiet, laid-back Lamont would win the American League’s Western Division title in 1993 and be named Manager of the Year for it. He’d also guide the Sox to the Central Division lead at the time of the labor impasse in 1994.