Today in White Sox History: January 17

2002

After one injury-plagued, controversial season with the White Sox, pitcher David Wells signed a two-year, $7 million contract with the Yankees. Wells won only five games in 2001 for Chicago. Naturally, he then turned around and won 61 games over the next four years with New York, San Diego and Boston.

The White Sox did get some revenge by beating Wells in Game 2 of the 2005 ALDS, 5-4, when he was pitching for the Red Sox.

It was a combination of resilience by the White Sox, and sheer good fortune. Down 4-0 and with Wells cruising into the fifth inning, Carl Everett grounded a single to right to start the inning, and Aaron Rowand drove in the first White Sox run of the night with a double that landed mere feet inside of the left-field line. A.J. Pierzynski fell behind, 1-2, but tapped a productive ground out to second, moving Rowand to third. With a seeing-eye single grounded through the middle, Joe Crede drove in the second run of the game, and runners moved to first and third when ex-White Sox Tony Graffanino let a potential double-play grounder off the bat of Juan Uribe sneak under his glove. After Scott Podsednik popped out foul to third base, Tadahito Iguchi delivered what would hold up as the winning runs in the game with a two-out, three-run, line shot homer to left field.