Today in White Sox History: August 8

1914

The Sox purchased the contract of outfielder Oscar “Happy” Felsch from Milwaukee for $19,000. Felsch, an outstanding glove man and hitter, would become part of history by his participation in the 1919 “Black Sox” scandal.

1976

With the White Sox in last place and going nowhere, owner Bill Veeck pulled out another wacky promotion. For the first time, a major league team played a game wearing shorts, as the Sox beat the Royals, 5-2, at Comiskey Park.

The White Sox would wear shorts two other times, both against the Orioles: August 21-22.

Their record in the three games was 2-1; maybe they should have worn them more often, because they finished the season with 97 losses!

No other big-league team has worn them since.

1994

With time running out for labor peace, Sports Illustrated put Frank Thomas on the cover along with future White Sox outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. The headline read, “Top Guns. Frank Thomas and Ken Griffey Jr. Two powerful reasons to keep playing ball.”

The plea would fall on deaf ears, as baseball shut down the following week, ending the season.

2021

The White Sox put on a show for a national TV audience on ABC by pounding the Cubs, 9-3, and sweeping the weekend series at Wrigley Field. The game marked the first regular season baseball broadcast by that network since August 1995. The Sox jumped out early, hammering three first-inning home runs by Tim Anderson, Eloy Jiménez and Andrew Vaughn. It was the first time the White Sox hit three first-inning home runs on the road in franchise history. Jiménez was 3-for-4 with two runs scored, five RBIs and a pair of home runs.