Today in White Sox History: August 12

1990

The White Sox set what was believed to be the longest wait in baseball history before calling a game because of rain. The team was slated to play the Rangers at Comiskey Park in an afternoon contest starting at 1 p.m. Central time. Persistent rains caused a delay before the first pitch was even thrown. Because this was the last trip into Chicago by Texas, the Sox waited until the evening before “officially” calling the game. The wait lasted seven hours and 23 minutes!

As it turned out, the Sox had to play the makeup game in Arlington as part of a doubleheader the following week, after Texas said they would not make a special trip back to Chicago on an off-day to make the game up.

2007

White Sox closer Bobby Jenks tied a major league record when he retired his 41st consecutive hitter, in a game against the Mariners. Jenks’ streak started back on June 17 at Cleveland.

Jenks tied a record originally set by San Francisco’s Jim Barr, and the shared record was broken in 2009 by the Jenks’ teammate Mark Buehrle, who retired 45 consecutive batters sandwiched around his perfect game.

2017

When White Sox first baseman José Abreu went deep with one out in the fourth inning against the Royals, he became the first player in team history with four consecutive seasons of at least 20 home runs to start his career. Jermaine Dye and José Valentín opened the White Sox portion of their careers with five consecutive seasons of at least 20 homers, and Jim Thome, Paul Konerko and Carlos Quentin started their White Sox careers with four consecutive seasons of at least 20 homers. But Abreu’s achievement was unique in franchise annals.

Abreu homered again in the sixth; marking his ninth career multi-homer game, with both coming off of Ian Kennedy. Abreu also became the first Sox player with 25 home runs in four straight seasons starting a career.

2020

For the fifth time in franchise history, the White Sox led off a game with back-to-back home runs. It was shortstop Tim Anderson and outfielder Eloy Jiménez who turned the trick in Detroit, staking the Sox to a 2-0 lead over Matthew Boyd and the Tigers. The Sox would go on to win the game, 7-5.

2021

It was a remarkable night in a remarkable location: The first “Field of Dreams” game, played at the location of the movie of the same name. The White Sox hosted the Yankees, with both teams wearing throwback uniforms.

An 8,000-seat stadium was built next to the field where the movie was shot, and the game was nationally televised by Fox Sports. Some of the original cast members, including baseball fan Kevin Costner, came out to take in the celebration. The classic baseball movie was released in 1989.

The Sox would win, 9-8, after blowing a three-run, ninth-inning lead. Tim Anderson hit a walk-off, two-run home run.