Today in White Sox History: May 6

1903

The White Sox were charged with 11 errors in a game in Chicago vs. Detroit. While that’s a big story in itself, it’s not the most remarkable item to come out of this game.

What is the most remarkable item to come out of this game is the fact that the Sox won the game, 10-9, scoring three runs in the ninth inning! First baseman Cozy Dolan had an error, third baseman Frank Isbell made three, shortstop Lee Tannehill had four — and starting pitcher Patsy Flaherty had three!

Chances are, Isbell and Tannehill sent their gloves out to be re-laced after this one. This game was just Chicago’s 12th of the season, and already Tannehill had amassed 11 errors, Isbell 10. And in part thanks to Flaherty’s cloddish fielding, none of his nine runs surrendered over this complete-game win were earned.

The White Sox set this new record for fumbles just two years and one day after a nine-error, 21-7 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. This 11-error game has never been surpassed in White Sox annals, and remains tied with the Tigers (1901), St. Louis Cardinals (1902 and 1909) and Boston Beaneaters (1906) for the most miscues ever committed in a major league game.

Notably, among the 17 games with the most errors (10 or 11) in majors history, four came against the White Sox (so, a full quarter of these games featured the White Sox as the benefactor).

Even more noteworthy, none of the other 16 games of 10 or 11 errors resulted in a win for the leaky team: This White Sox game is the only in history where the team with double-figure errors still won the game.

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1917

Remember just a day ago, when the lowly Browns no-hit the mighty White Sox? Well, it happened again, one day and two games later.

St. Louis swept Chicago in a doubleheader, with Bob Groom holding the White Sox hitless in a 3-0 nightcap win.

However, the loss marked the end of the eventual world champions’ four-game losing streak (what would be their longest of the season), and the 11-10 club would win 89 of its final 135 games (a .659 winning percentage!) in storming to the sole 100-win season in White Sox history.

Unlike the no-hitter on May 5, the Browns actually played a very good game in this win, and moved one full game ahead of the White Sox in the AL standings.

This is the only time in major league history that a team has been no-hit on consecutive days. And the team no-hit was a 100-win eventual World Series winner.

Also, this was Groom’s last full season in the big leagues, and he would lead the AL with 19 losses, against just eight wins.

Baseball is crazy.

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1963

Making an emergency start in Kansas City, White Sox pitcher Gary Peters hit the first of his 19 career home runs. It came in the third inning off Ted Bowsfield. Peters tossed eight innings of one-run ball in the 5-1 win. It was the first win in 1963 for Gary, who’d go on to collect 19 of them and win Rookie of the Year honors. Peters had 189 strikeouts to go along with a 2.33 ERA.

Peters is also the franchise leader in most home runs hit by a pitcher with 15, three more than Jack Harshman.

Peters was told that he would be that game’s starter late — while on the airplane flying into Kansas City — by pitching coach Ray Berres after scheduled starter Juan Pizarro was felled by the flu.

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1964

Dave Nicholson hit what may have been the longest home run in MLB history.

On this night, in the fifth inning, in the first game of a twin bill versus the A’s, Nicholson blasted a shot off of future White Sox pitcher Moe Drabowsky that went over the roof and was found across the street in Armour Square.

Some Sox fans claimed they heard the ball hit the top of the roof, but White Sox officials said when they found the ball it had no signs of tar on it, nor was it scuffed. Longtime Chicago baseball reporter Jerome Holtzman was at the game, and claimed he saw the ball bounce back up after hitting the roof — and then go back out of sight.

Nicholson’s shot went over the roof around the 375-foot sign in left-center field. It was found 135 feet from the base of the wall. Factoring in the elevation needed to get the ball over the roof (approximately 70 feet), hitting a ball on to the roof or over it required a ground-to-ground distance of at least 474 feet.

Unofficial estimates place the drive as traveling 573 feet, eclipsing Mickey Mantle’s shot at Griffith Stadium in Washington in 1956 that went an unofficial 565 feet.

For the night, Dave would hammer three home runs and drive in five in the twin bill as the Sox swept both games, 6-4 and 11-4.

The postscript to the story is that a few months later, on July 12 in Kansas City (the next time Drabowsky faced Nicholson), he hit him in the forehead with a fastball — opening a gash that required stitches.

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