1979 Chicago White Sox season

The 1979 Chicago White Sox season was the team's 80th season overall, and their 79th in Major League Baseball. The team finished in fifth place in the American League West with a record of 73 wins and 87 losses, 15 games behind the first-place California Angels.

1979 Chicago White Sox
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901) American League West (since 1969)
Location
Comiskey Park (since 1910) Chicago, Illinois (since 1900)
Other information
Owner(s)	Bill Veeck
General manager(s)	Roland Hemond
Manager(s)	Don Kessinger, Tony La Russa
Local television	WSNS-TV
Local radio	WMAQ (AM) (Harry Caray, Lorn Brown, Jimmy Piersall)
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Regular season

The team opened the season with reserve infielder Don Kessinger acting as player-manager. He was relieved of his managerial duties on August 2, with the team's record at 46-60, at which point he also retired as a player. He was replaced by coach Tony La Russa, making his major league managerial debut. The team went 27-27 the rest of the season.

Season standings

v t e AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
California Angels	88	74	0.543	—	49–32	39–42
Kansas City Royals	85	77	0.525	3	46–35	39–42
Texas Rangers	83	79	0.512	5	44–37	39–42
Minnesota Twins	82	80	0.506	6	39–42	43–38
Chicago White Sox	73	87	0.456	14	33–46	40–41
Seattle Mariners	67	95	0.414	21	36–45	31–50
Oakland Athletics	54	108	0.333	34	31–50	23–58

Record vs. opponents

1979 American League Records v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	8–5	9–3	8–3	8–5	7–6	6–6	8–5	8–4	5–6	8–4	10–2	6–6	11–2
Boston	5–8	—	5–7	5–6	6–7	8–5	8–4	8–4	9–3	5–8	9–3	8–4	6–6	9–4
California	3–9	7–5	—	9–4	6–6	4–8	7–6	7–5	9–4	7–5	10–3	7–6	5–8	7–5
Chicago	3–8	6–5	4–9	—	6–6	3–9	5–8	5–7	5–8	4–8	9–4	5–8	11–2	7–5
Cleveland	5–8	7–6	6–6	6–6	—	6–6	6–6	4–9	8–4	5–8	8–4	7–5	5–7	8–5
Detroit	6–7	5–8	8–4	9–3	6–6	—	5–7	6–7	4–8	7–6	7–5	7–5	6–6	9–4
Kansas City	6–6	4–8	6–7	8–5	6–6	7–5	—	5–7	7–6	5–7	9–4	7–6	6–7	9–3
Milwaukee	5–8	4–8	5–7	7–5	9–4	7–6	7–5	—	8–4	9–4	6–6	9–3	9–3	10–3
Minnesota	4–8	3–9	4–9	8–5	4–8	8–4	6–7	4–8	—	7–5	9–4	10–3	4–9	11–1
New York	6–5	8–5	5–7	8–4	8–5	6–7	7–5	4–9	5–7	—	9–3	6–6	8–4	9–4
Oakland	4–8	3–9	3–10	4–9	4–8	5–7	4–9	6–6	4–9	3–9	—	8–5	2–11	4–8
Seattle	2–10	4–8	6–7	8–5	5–7	5–7	6–7	3–9	3–10	6–6	5–8	—	6–7	8–4
Texas	6–6	6–6	8–5	2–11	7–5	6–6	7–6	3–9	9–4	4–8	11–2	7–6	—	7–5
Toronto	2–11	4–9	5–7	5–7	5–8	4–9	3–9	3–10	1–11	4–9	8–4	4–8	5–7	—

Opening Day lineup

• Harry Chappas, SS
• Claudell Washington, RF
• Chet Lemon, CF
• Jorge Orta, DH
• Lamar Johnson, 1B
• Alan Bannister, 2B
• Ralph Garr, LF
• Eric Soderholm, 3B
• Marv Foley, C
• Ken Kravec, P

Notable transactions

• May 16, 1979: Nardi Contreras was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.^[1]
• June 5, 1979: 1979 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Ricky Seilheimer was drafted by the White Sox in the 1st round (19th pick).^[2]
  • Fran Mullins was drafted by the White Sox in the 3rd round.^[3]
  • Jimmy Key was drafted by the White Sox in the 10th round, but did not sign.^[4]
• June 15, 1979: Eric Soderholm was traded by the White Sox to the Texas Rangers for Ed Farmer and Gary Holle.^[5]
• July 6, 1979: Rich Hinton was traded by the White Sox to the Seattle Mariners for Juan Bernhardt.^[6]

Roster

1979 Chicago White Sox
Roster
Pitchers 46 Francisco Barrios 30 Ross Baumgarten 40 Britt Burns 49 Richard Dotson 42 Mark Esser 22 Ed Farmer 47 Rich Hinton 36 Guy Hoffman 41 Fred Howard 50 LaMarr Hoyt 27 Ken Kravec 55 Jack Kucek 36 Lerrin LaGrow 24 Mike Proly 32,35 Dewey Robinson 55 Gil Rondon 26 Randy Scarbery 37 Ron Schueler 35 Pablo Torrealba 33 Steve Trout 28 Rich Wortham		Catchers 19 Mike Colbern 42,0,17 Marv Foley  5 Milt May 15 Bill Nahorodny Infielders  7 Alan Bannister  8 Kevin Bell 13 Harry Chappas 10 Joe Gates 23 Lamar Johnson 11 Don Kessinger 12 Jim Morrison  6 Jorge Orta 16 Greg Pryor 12 Eric Soderholm 25 Mike Squires		Outfielders 22 Thad Bosley 48 Ralph Garr 47 Rusty Kuntz 44 Chet Lemon 34 Junior Moore 20 Wayne Nordhagen 21 Rusty Torres 18 Claudell Washington		Manager 11 Don Kessinger 10 Tony La Russa Coaches 31 Fred Martin  9 Minnie Miñoso 57 Jimmy Piersall 37 Ron Schueler  3 Joe Sparks  1 Bobby Winkles

Disco Demolition Night

Main article: Disco Demolition Night

Disco Demolition Night (also known as "Anti-Disco Night" and "Disco Sucks Night") was a promotional event that took place on July 12, 1979, at Comiskey Park in Chicago. It was held during a scheduled twi-night doubleheader between the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers. After the first game, a throng of fans stormed the field, damaging it so badly that the second game had to be forfeited to Detroit.

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

Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	SB
Alan Bannister, 2B,LF,3B,DH	136	506	71	144	28	8	2	55	43	40	.285	22
Kevin Bell, 3B	70	200	20	49	8	1	4	22	15	43	.245	2
Thad Bosley, OF	36	77	13	24	1	1	1	8	9	14	.312	4
Harry Chappas, SS	26	59	9	17	1	0	1	4	5	5	.288	1
Mike Colbern, C	32	83	5	20	5	1	0	8	4	25	.241	0
Marv Foley, C	34	97	6	24	3	0	2	10	7	5	.247	0
Ralph Garr, LF,DH	102	307	34	86	10	2	9	39	17	19	.280	2
Joe Gates, 2B	16	16	5	1	0	1	0	1	2	3	.063	1
Lamar Johnson, 1B,DH	133	479	60	148	29	1	12	74	41	56	.309	8
Don Kessinger, SS	56	110	14	22	6	0	1	7	10	12	.200	1
Rusty Kuntz, OF	5	11	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	6	.091	0
Chet Lemon, CF	148	556	79	177	44	2	17	86	56	68	.318	7
Milt May, C	65	202	23	51	13	0	7	28	14	27	.252	0
Junior Moore, LF,RF,DH	88	201	24	53	6	2	1	23	12	20	.264	0
Jim Morrison, 2B,3B	67	240	38	66	14	0	14	35	15	48	.275	11
Bill Nahorodny, C,DH	65	179	20	46	10	0	6	29	18	23	.257	0
Wayne Nordhagen, DH,RF,LF,C	78	193	20	54	15	0	7	25	13	22	.280	0
Jorge Orta, DH,2B	113	325	49	85	18	3	11	46	44	33	.262	1
Greg Pryor, SS,2B,3B	143	476	60	131	23	3	3	34	35	41	.275	3
Eric Soderholm, 3B	56	210	31	53	8	2	6	34	19	19	.252	0
Mike Squires, 1B	122	295	44	78	10	1	2	22	22	9	.264	15
Rusty Torres, OF	90	170	26	43	5	0	8	24	23	37	.253	0
Claudell Washington, RF,DH	131	471	79	132	33	5	13	66	28	93	.280	19
Team totals	160	5463	730	1505	290	33	127	680	454	668	.275	97

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

Player	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K
Francisco Barrios	8	3	3.61	15	15	0	94.2	88	49	38	9	34	28
Ross Baumgarten	13	8	3.54	28	28	0	190.2	175	82	75	18	84	72
Britt Burns	0	0	5.40	6	0	0	5.0	10	5	3	1	1	2
Richard Dotson	2	0	3.70	5	5	0	24.1	28	13	10	0	6	13
Mark Esser	0	0	16.20	2	0	0	1.2	2	3	3	0	4	1
Ed Farmer	3	7	2.43	42	3	14	81.1	66	36	22	2	42	48
Rich Hinton	1	2	6.05	16	2	2	41.2	57	30	28	4	9	27
Guy Hoffman	0	5	5.34	24	0	2	30.1	30	18	18	0	28	18
Fred Howard	1	5	3.57	28	6	0	68.0	73	34	27	5	34	36
LaMarr Hoyt	0	0	0.00	2	0	0	3.0	2	0	0	0	0	0
Ken Kravec	15	13	3.74	36	35	1	250.0	208	115	104	20	114	132
Jack Kucek	0	0	0.00	1	0	0	0.2	0	4	0	0	3	0
Lerrin LaGrow	0	3	9.17	11	2	1	17.2	27	21	18	2	17	9
Wayne Nordhagen	0	0	9.00	2	0	0	2.0	2	2	2	0	1	2
Mike Proly	3	8	3.87	38	6	9	88.1	89	43	38	6	47	32
Dewey Robinson	0	1	6.28	11	0	0	14.1	11	12	10	1	11	5
Gil Rondón	0	0	3.72	4	0	0	9.2	11	5	4	2	6	3
Randy Scarbery	2	8	4.62	45	5	4	101.1	102	56	52	9	37	45
Ron Schueler	0	1	7.32	8	1	0	19.2	19	16	16	3	14	6
Pablo Torrealba	0	0	1.59	3	0	0	5.2	5	1	1	1	2	1
Steve Trout	11	8	3.89	34	18	4	155.0	165	77	67	10	64	76
Rich Wortham	14	14	4.90	34	33	0	204.0	195	126	111	21	103	119
Team totals	73	86	4.10	160	159	37	1409.0	1365	748	642	114	661	675

Farm system

See also: Minor league baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Iowa Oaks	American Association	Tony LaRussa and Joe Sparks
AA	Knoxville Knox Sox	Southern League	Gordon Lund
A	Appleton Foxes	Midwest League	Jim Breazeale

Notes

1. Nardi Contreras page at Baseball Reference
2. Ricky Seilheimer page at Baseball Reference
3. Fran Mullins page at Baseball Reference
4. Jimmy Key page at Baseball Reference
5. Eric Soderholm page at Baseball-Reference
6. Rich Hinton page at Baseball Reference

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, N.C.: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1979 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Reference