Today in White Sox History: April 27
Dan Pasqua announces his presence with authority
1909
Hitless Wonders redux? Well, the White Sox manage their third straight 1-0 victory over the St. Louis Browns, over three consecutive days.
1925
After Cleveland pulled ahead, 4-3, in the top of the eighth, the White Sox rallied for nine runs to turn the game into a rout. The rally was keyed by five singles, four walks, two stolen bases, two sacrifice flies, and an error, all against Cleveland reliever James Edwards.
Ted Lyons came on for the ninth to earn the save, his second and final of the season (Lyons, a Hall of Fame starter, also accumulated 25 saves in his career to go with 260 wins).
The win moved the White Sox to 9-5 and just a half-game out of first — the closest they’d be to the top of the American League all season.
Later in this season, on August 10, the White Sox picked Edwards up from Cleveland off of waivers.
1930
One of the most bizarre individual stats you’ll ever see occurred on this date. In a 2-1 White Sox win at St. Louis, first baseman Bud Clancy recorded a first: ZERO chances — nope, no putouts or assists — in the nine-inning game. His feat has been matched only one other time, by the A’s Gene Tenace.
In the game the rest of the White Sox infield recorded 11 putouts and two assists, the outfield seven putouts, the catcher eight putouts and an assist and the pitcher a putout.
1991
The first titanic home run in new Sox Park history came when Dan Pasqua launched a four-bagger 484 feet to right-center. Given the park was just eight games old, Pasqua’s last became the longest in new Sox Park history. It remains the fourth-longest ever hit there.
It was the first of two massive blasts Pasqua had in the game, as he went 4-for-5 with four RBIs and a game-high .256 WPA to help the White Sox rally from a 4-0 deficit before even getting to bat. The game was on a clear night, with the wind blowing 14 mph out to right field.
Pasqua’s home run record stood for almost exactly 10 years, as on April 26, 2001 Oakland’s Eric Chavez clouted a 490-foot bomb.
In the bottom of the third, before either of Pasqua’s homers, Matt Merullo provided a sacrifice fly to give Chicago a 7-4 lead; it was the first sacrifice fly ever hit at the new Sox Park.
The White Sox improved to 10-5 in beating the Yankees, 14-9, to stay a half-game up in the AL West.
2000
José Valentín accomplished the extremely rare “natural cycle” against the Orioles at Comiskey Park. He singled in the first inning, doubled in the second, tripled in the third and homered in the eighth. The Sox would win easily, 13-4. Valentín scored twice and had five RBIs in the game.
As of the end of the 2022 season, a “natural cycle” has been accomplished only 339 times in baseball history.
2014
José Abreu drove in four runs in a 9-2 triumph against Tampa Bay, setting the all-time record for rookie RBIs in April (31). He hit his 10th homer in the sixth, off of David Price, and had a two-run single the next inning. Albert Pujols had held the record previously, with 27 RBIs. Abreu had already set the all-time rookie mark for home runs in April, and his clout off of Price merely extended the record. And courtesy of Abreu, Scott Carroll won his major league debut.