Tom Seaver could have been ... a Yankee?
In the opener of a doubleheader sweep that would pull the White Sox to within 1 1⁄2 games of first place, Doc White earned his 23rd win of the season with a 2-0 shutout in St. Louis. However, White walked Browns first baseman Tom Jones in the game, ending an AL-record streak of 65 1⁄3 innings without walking a batter.
White’s 27 wins, 1.2 walks per nine innings and 3.71 strikeouts per walk would end up leading the majors in 1907. The White Sox, however, would win just 10 of 21 games to end the season, ending up right where they stood in the standings on this day — in third place.
The White Sox rapped out 26 hits in a 17-2 win over the A’s. Six White Sox got on base at least six times in the game (by hit or walk), led by Zeke Bonura with a 5-for-5 day and four RBIs leading to a game-best 13.1% WPA, Mike Kreevich going 5-for-6 including two doubles and a triple, and Luke Appling also at 5-for-6.
The 26 hits remain tied for the second-most in a game in White Sox history. Likewise, 17 runs remain tied for 32nd-most in franchise annals, and the 15-run win remains tied for 21st.
Philadelphia’s Horace Lisenbee was hung out to dry by manager Connie Mack, going the distance in the game despite surrendering all 26 hits, along with 17 runs (14 earned). Lisenbee’s line, including four walks and just one K, resulted in a -35 game score — making this effort the fourth-worst game ever pitched and the only game after 1923 where the starting pitcher had a game score of -30 or worse.
The New York Yankees claimed future Hall-of-Famer Tom Seaver on waivers, but wouldn’t trade catcher Ron Hassey to acquire him for their playoff run. Seaver was disappointed — the Yankees were the only team he would agree to be traded to.
The White Sox continued their pursuit of Hassey, however, acquiring him during the offseason, trading him back to the Yankees, then re-acquiring him during the 1986 season; he missed being teammates with Seaver by one month.
The White Sox were in New York, near Ground Zero, when the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center took place. They got a firsthand look at one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Major League Baseball, in the wake of the national emergency, suspended all games for a week. The Sox returned to New York in early October to make up the three postponed games with the Yankees.
In a 2-0 loss to the Royals at U.S. Cellular Field, White Sox pitcher Chris Sale set the team record by recording 200 or more strikeouts for the fourth consecutive season. (Sale had set the team’s all-time single-season mark with 274 strikeouts in 2015.) The southpaw pitched eight innings, striking out 12, only to lose as the Sox offense could not give him any support. Sale would finish 2016 having fanned 233 hitters.
