Today in White Sox History: August 14

A waivers steal helped shore up the mid-1970s staff

1910

The White Sox celebrated the first sellout in team history at Comiskey Park when more than 32,000 fans poured in to see a doubleheader split against the New York Highlanders.

1915

The White Sox purchased the contract of pitcher Lefty Williams from Salt Lake City. Williams might have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, if not for his role as a member of the the 1919 Black Sox. In his four seasons, he’d go 81-44 for the White Sox.

1939

It was the first time a major league night game was played in Chicago, with the White Sox besting the St. Louis Browns, 5-2. Johnny Rigney got the complete-game win with 10 strikeouts. After he retired, Rigney would eventually become a vice president with the team.

1973

GM Roland Hemond acquired starting pitcher Jim Kaat on waivers from Minnesota. All “Kitty” did was become a two-time 20-game winner for the White Sox, in 1974 and 1975. He made the All-Star team in 1975 and won 45 games in two-and-a-quarter years in Chicago.

1983

Catcher Carlton Fisk appeared to hit a go-ahead home run in the fifth inning off of the Orioles' Scott McGregor, only to have home-plate umpire Jim Evans overrule third-base umpire Greg Kosc and say it was a ground-rule double. The decision was based on the impression that a fan leaned over the wall to catch it. The White Sox wound up losing, 2-1. That fan then called Jimmy Piersall’s radio show after the game to give his side of the story, and TV replays showed he was not leaning over the wall when he caught the ball. Manager Tony La Russa went ballistic in what became his most classic moment arguing with an umpire, kicking dirt and then taking the third base bag out of the ground and flinging it towards the Sox dugout. Naturally, he was ejected for his outburst. It was just another in a series of bizarre plays that took place against Baltimore down through the years.

2008

White Sox outfielder Carlos Quentin set a major league record by getting hit by a pitch for the sixth consecutive game. Quentin would be hit 20 times in the 2008 season.

In the game, a 9-2 win over the Royals at U.S. Cellular Field, the Sox would hit four consecutive home runs for the first time in franchise history. The four came in a six-run sixth inning, and were hit by Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, Alexei Ramírez and Juan Uribe. It was the sixth time in major league history a team hit four home runs in a row.