1977 Chicago White Sox season

The 1977 Chicago White Sox season in the American League saw the team finish third in the American League West, at 90–72, 12 games behind the Kansas City Royals.

Offseason

White Sox owner Bill Veeck tried a new philosophy during the offseason: figuring that if he could not compete with the bigger spending clubs for free agents, he would "rent" them, even if only for one year. With this strategy in mind, he traded for Richie Zisk (who had one year remaining on his contract) and Oscar Gamble (also in the final year of his contract), hoping that he would be able to continue the practice financially.^[1]

Notable transactions

October 6, 1976: Minnie Miñoso was released by the White Sox.^[2]
October 21, 1976: Phil Roof was traded by the White Sox to the Toronto Blue Jays for a player to be named later. The Blue Jays completed the deal by sending Larry Anderson to the White Sox on January 5.^[3]
November 26, 1976: Eric Soderholm was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.^[4]
December 5, 1976: Royle Stillman was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.^[5]
December 10, 1976: Goose Gossage and Terry Forster were traded by the White Sox to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Richie Zisk and Silvio Martínez.^[6]
January 11, 1977: Mark Esser was drafted by the White Sox in the 8th round of the 1977 Major League Baseball draft.^[7]
January 26, 1977: Blue Moon Odom was released by the White Sox.^[8]
February 15, 1977: Fritz Peterson was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.^[9]

Regular season

On April 7 in Toronto, the White Sox played the Toronto Blue Jays in the first game in Blue Jays history.^[10]

The White Sox, who came to be called the "South Side Hitmen", were in solid contention for most of the season, battling the division-winning Royals and Minnesota Twins most of the way.^[1] They moved into first place in the AL West on July 1 and remained there until August 12.^[1] Their primary weapon was their power hitting. As a team, the White Sox hit 192 home runs, a record which lasted until 1996.^[1] Their displays of power caused fans to cheer for "curtain calls", where players came out of the dugout after hitting a home run to acknowledge those cheers. Some Royals players greatly resented this, and called such behavior "bush" and "unprofessional". The climax of this came on August 5, when White Sox pitcher Bart Johnson and Royals catcher Darrell Porter had a fistfight in a game at Kansas City.^[1]

Opening Day lineup

Ralph Garr, left field
Alan Bannister, shortstop
Jorge Orta, second base
Richie Zisk, right field
Jim Spencer, first base
Oscar Gamble, designated hitter
Eric Soderholm, third base
Chet Lemon, center field
Brian Downing, catcher
Ken Brett, pitcher

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

April 5, 1977: Bucky Dent was traded by the White Sox to the New York Yankees for Oscar Gamble, LaMarr Hoyt, Bob Polinsky (minors), and $200,000.^[11]
August 20, 1977: Steve Staniland (minors) was traded by the White Sox to the St. Louis Cardinals for Don Kessinger.^[12]
August 31, 1977: The White Sox traded players to be named later to the St. Louis Cardinals for Clay Carroll. The White Sox completed the deal by sending Nyls Nyman to the Cardinals on September 2, and sending Dave Hamilton and Silvio Martínez to the Cardinals on November 28.^[13]

Roster

Game log

Regular season

Player stats

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Base on balls; SO = Strikeouts; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; HR = Home runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Awards and honors

All-Stars

All-Star Game

Richie Zisk, starter, outfield

Farm system

The GCL White Sox won their league's championship.

Notes

^ a b c d e The White Sox Encyclopedia, Richard C. Lindberg, p. 88, Temple University Press, ISBN 1-56639-449-X
^ Minnie Miñoso at Baseball Reference
^ Phil Roof at Baseball Reference
^ Eric Soderholm at Baseball-Reference
^ Royle Stillman at Baseball Reference
^ Rich Gossage at Baseball Reference
^ Mark Esser at Baseball Reference
^ Blue Moon Odom at Baseball Reference
^ Fritz Peterson at Baseball Reference
^ Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.94, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2
^ Oscar Gamble at Baseball Reference
^ Don Kessinger at Baseball Reference
^ Nyls Nyman at Baseball Reference

References

Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
1977 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Reference
1977 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Almanac