Happy birthday to the Go-Go Sox’s first-sacker
Future general manager of the White Sox, Hank Greenberg, was born in New York City.
Greenberg came over to the White Sox from Cleveland, duplicating his relationship with Bill Veeck after Veeck bought the White Sox. The Hall of Fame slugger stayed on past Veeck’s stewardship but eventually resigned from the day-to-day grind. He also pursued ownership of the expansion team the American League placed in Los Angeles in 1961.
First baseman on the 1959 pennant-winning White Sox, Earl Torgeson, was born in Snohomish, Wash. Torgeson spent three full seasons plus parts of two others on the South Side, producing 4.8 WAR over 397 games — almost exactly an average MLB starter’s rate. He was an on-base machine (.392 in his Sox career), which fueled an .800 OPS and 120 OPS+.
The acquisition of Ted Kluszewski for the stretch run cost Torgeson his starting job, and the lefty got just two at-bats in the 1959 World Series. He was released at midseason 1961, and but for 22 games after being picked up by the Yankees Torgeson’s career was finished.
White Sox Cy Young winner LaMarr Hoyt was born in Columbia, S.C.
Hoyt was drafted by the Yankees in the fifth round in 1973 and came to the White Sox in one of the great what-if trades in franchise history: Bucky Dent was being sent to New York for Oscar Gamble and some minor league arms. The White Sox wanted Ron Guidry as one of them, and only a last-minute veto from manager Billy Martin prevented the deal. Hoyt either was already in the deal or got inserted at that point. And the White Sox did pretty will with him!
LaMarr worked his way to the majors quickly once he joined the White Sox, as a swingman in 1980 who bulled his way into the starting rotation by 1982. In his first year (1982) as a starter, he led the American League with 19 wins. What did he do for an encore? He won the AL Cy Young in 1983. But 1984 was a fall-off (in production, not workload) and Hoyt was shipped to San Diego that offseason in the (at the time, VERY unpopular) Ozzie Guillén trade.
Hoyt battled drug addiction for most of his adult life, passing away in 2021 at age 66. He had, however, come to terms with and enjoyed the huge mark he made in the majors and on the White Sox franchise.
Relief pitcher Jason Frasor was traded back to Toronto for minor league pitchers Daniel Webb and Myles Jaye. Frasor, who would become the all-time games-pitched leader for the Blue Jays with 455, had been shipped to Chicago at the 2011 trading deadline and provided a 5.09 ERA over 20 games. Webb would see action in four seasons with the White Sox between 2013 and 2016, pitching in 94 games with a 4.50 ERA, 86 ERA+ and -0.2 WAR.
