1991 Chicago White Sox season

The 1991 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 92nd season. They finished with a record of 87-75, good enough for 2nd place in the American League West, 8 games behind of the 1st place Minnesota Twins, as the club opened the new Comiskey Park on April 18.

1991 Chicago White Sox
First Season at New Comiskey Park
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901) American League West (since 1969)
Location
New Comiskey Park (since 1991) Chicago (since 1900)
Other information
Owner(s)	Jerry Reinsdorf
General manager(s)	Ron Schueler
Manager(s)	Jeff Torborg
Local television	WGN-TV SportsChannel Chicago (Ken Harrelson, Tom Paciorek)
Local radio	WMAQ (AM) (John Rooney, Wayne Hagin) WTAQ (Frank Diaz, Chico Carrasquel)
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Offseason

• November 30, 1990: Jerry Willard was released by the White Sox.^[1]
• December 3, 1990: Buddy Groom was drafted from the White Sox by the Detroit Tigers in the 1990 minor league draft.^[2]
• December 4, 1990: Shawn Hillegas and Eric King were traded by the White Sox to the Cleveland Indians for Cory Snyder and Lindsay Foster (minors).^[3]
• December 12, 1990: Charlie Hough was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.^[4]
• December 23, 1990: Iván Calderón and Barry Jones were traded by the White Sox to the Montreal Expos for Tim Raines, Jeff Carter and a player to be named later. The Expos completed the deal by sending Mario Brito (minors) to the White Sox on February 15.^[5]
• March 18, 1991: Ron Coomer was signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox.^[6]
• March 31, 1991: Joe Borowski was traded by the White Sox to the Baltimore Orioles for Pete Rose Jr.^[7]

Regular season

• Frank Thomas led the Major Leagues in on-base percentage with .457. He became the 38th player in history to reach base at least 300 times in one season.

New Comiskey Park

 

View from the upper deck of new Comiskey Park

• The White Sox started the season at new Comiskey Park. The park opened for the 1991 season, after the White Sox had spent 80 years at Comiskey Park. The new park was completed at a cost of US$167 million.
• The stadium was the first new sports venue built in Chicago since 1929, when Chicago Stadium was built. It was also the first baseball-only park since Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) opened in 1973, and the last built before the recent wave of new "retro-classic" stadiums. However, a few design features from the old park were retained. Most notable among them is the "exploding scoreboard", which is a replica of the one installed by Bill Veeck at the old park in 1960.
• Keeping up with tradition, after a White Sox player hits a home run, and eventually, at the beginning of all games, as well as after a White Sox victory, the scoreboard lights up in color and fireworks explode in the sky. The ballpark, as well as its entrance has several exterior arched windows. The Sox Shower, located in left-center field, is a place where fans can cool off during hot gamedays.
• The first game at new Comiskey was on April 18, 1991, against the Detroit Tigers. Despite starting the season on the road with a 6-1 record, the White Sox lost the game by a score of 16-0.

First Game at New Comiskey

Scorecard

April 18, New Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit	0	0	6	10	0	0	0	0	0	16	19	0
Chicago	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	1
W: Frank Tanana (1-1)  L: Jack McDowell (2-1)
HRs: Cecil Fielder (1), Rob Deer 2 (1, 2), Tony Phillips (2), Umpires: HP–Steve Palermo, 1B–Mike Reilly, 2B–Larry Young, 3B–Rich Garcia. Time 3:11. Attendance 42,191.

Batting

Detroit Tigers	AB	R	H	RBI	Chicago White Sox	AB	R	H	RBI
Phillips, dh,ss	6	2	4	3	Raines, dh	4	0	1	0
Trammell, ss	5	3	4	2	Johnson, cf	4	0	1	0
Tanana, p	1	0	0	0	Ventura, 3b	4	0	2	0
Whitaker, 2b	3	2	3	0	Thomas, 1b	4	0	1	0
Bernazard, 2b	2	0	1	0	Fisk, c	2	0	1	0
Fielder, 1b	3	2	2	4	Merullo, c	2	0	0	0
Bergman, 1b	2	0	0	0	Sosa, rf	4	0	0	0
Incaviglia, lf	3	0	0	1	Snyder, lf	3	0	0	0
Cuyler, cf	2	0	1	0	Guillen, ss	1	0	0	0
Tettleton c,rf	6	2	1	2	Grebeck, ph,ss	2	0	0	0
Deer, rf	5	2	2	4	Fletcher 2b	1	0	0	0
Allanson, c	0	0	0	0	Cora, ph,2b	2	0	1	0
Shelby, cf,lf	5	1	1	0	McDowell, p	0	0	0	0
Fryman, 3b	1	2	0	0	Drahman, p	0	0	0	0
de los Santos, 3b	2	0	0	0	Patterson, p	0	0	0	0
					Radinsky, p	0	0	0	0
					Pall, p	0	0	0	0
					Thigpen, p	0	0	0	0
Totals	46	16	19	16	Totals	33	0	7	0

Pitching

Chicago White Sox	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
McDowell, L (2-1)	2.2	5	6	6	3	0
Drahman	0.2	5	5	5	1	0
Patterson	2.2	7	5	4	1	2
Radinsky	1.0	1	0	0	0	2
Pall	1.0	1	0	0	0	2
Thigpen	1.0	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	8.0	16	9	9	3	7

Detroit Tigers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Tanana, W (1-1)	9.0	7	0	0	0	3
Totals	9.0	7	0	0	0	3

1991 Opening Day lineup

• Tim Raines, DH
• Lance Johnson, CF
• Robin Ventura, 3B
• Frank Thomas, 1B
• Carlton Fisk, C
• Cory Snyder, LF
• Sammy Sosa, RF
• Ozzie Guillén, SS
• Scott Fletcher, 2B
• Jack McDowell, P

Season standings

v t e AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Minnesota Twins	95	67	0.586	—	51–30	44–37
Chicago White Sox	87	75	0.537	8	46–35	41–40
Texas Rangers	85	77	0.525	10	46–35	39–42
Oakland Athletics	84	78	0.519	11	47–34	37–44
Seattle Mariners	83	79	0.512	12	45–36	38–43
Kansas City Royals	82	80	0.506	13	40–41	42–39
California Angels	81	81	0.500	14	40–41	41–40

Record vs. opponents

1991 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	6–6	4–8	7–6	5–8	4–8	3–10	4–8	5–8	3–9	4–8	9–3	5–8
Boston	5–8	—	4–8	7–5	9–4	5–8	7–5	7–6	3–9	6–7	8–4	9–3	5–7	9–4
California	6–6	8–4	—	8–5	7–5	5–7	9–4	6–6	8–5	6–6	1–12	6–7	5–8	6–6
Chicago	8–4	5–7	5–8	—	6–6	4–8	7–6	7–5	8–5	8–4	7–6	7–6	8–5	7–5
Cleveland	6–7	4–9	5–7	6–6	—	7–6	4–8	5–8	2–10	6–7	5–7	2–10	4–8	1–12
Detroit	8–5	8–5	7–5	8–4	6–7	—	8–4	4–9	4–8	8–5	4–8	8–4	6–6	5–8
Kansas City	8–4	5–7	4–9	6–7	8–4	4–8	—	9–3	6–7	7–5	6–7	7–6	7–6	5–7
Milwaukee	10–3	6–7	6–6	5–7	8–5	9–4	3–9	—	6–6	6–7	8–4	3–9	7–5	6–7
Minnesota	8–4	9–3	5–8	5–8	10–2	8–4	7–6	6–6	—	10–2	8–5	9–4	6–7	4–8
New York	8–5	7–6	6–6	4–8	7–6	5–8	5–7	7–6	2–10	—	6–6	3–9	5–7	6–7
Oakland	9–3	4–8	12–1	6–7	7–5	8–4	7–6	4–8	5–8	6–6	—	6–7	4–9	6–6
Seattle	8–4	3–9	7–6	6–7	10–2	4–8	6–7	9–3	4–9	9–3	7–6	—	5–8	5–7
Texas	3–9	7–5	8–5	5–8	8–4	6–6	6–7	5–7	7–6	7–5	9–4	8–5	—	6–6
Toronto	8–5	4–9	6–6	5–7	12–1	8–5	7–5	7–6	8–4	7–6	6–6	7–5	6–6	—

Notable transactions

• April 3, 1991: Bo Jackson was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.^[8]
• April 12, 1991: Danny Heep was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.^[9]
• April 13, 1991: Steve Lyons was released by the White Sox.^[10]
• May 18, 1991: Magglio Ordóñez was signed as an amateur free agent by the White Sox.^[11]
• July 12, 1991: Mike Huff was selected off waivers by the White Sox from the Cleveland Indians.^[12]
• July 14, 1991: Cory Snyder was traded by the White Sox to the Toronto Blue Jays for Shawn Jeter and a player to be named later. The Blue Jays completed the deal by sending Steve Wapnick to the White Sox on September 4.^[13]

Roster

1991 Chicago White Sox
Roster
Pitchers 40 Wilson Álvarez 41 Jeff Carter 50 Brian Drahman 42 Tom Drees 45 Wayne Edwards 32 Alex Fernandez 43 Ramón García 39 Roberto Hernández 27 Greg Hibbard 49 Charlie Hough 29 Jack McDowell 22 Donn Pall 34 Ken Patterson 33 Mélido Pérez 31 Scott Radinsky 37 Bobby Thigpen 51 Steve Wapnick		Catchers 72 Carlton Fisk 20 Ron Karkovice  5 Matt Merullo 47 Don Wakamatsu Infielders 28 Esteban Beltré 21 Joey Cora  7 Scott Fletcher 14 Craig Grebeck 13 Ozzie Guillén 42 Ron Kittle 44 Dan Pasqua 23 Robin Ventura 35 Frank Thomas		Outfielders 12 Mike Huff  1 Lance Johnson 26 Rodney McCray 24 Warren Newson 30 Tim Raines 28 Cory Snyder 25 Sammy Sosa Other batters  8 Bo Jackson		Manager 10 Jeff Torborg Coaches 18 Terry Bevington (Third Base) 46 Sammy Ellis (Pitching) 36 Barry Foote (First Base)  6 Walt Hriniak (Hitting) 53 Dave LaRoche (Bullpen) 15 Joe Nossek (Bench) ? John Stephenson (Bullpen Catcher)

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
Esteban Beltre, SS	8	6	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.167	1
Joey Cora, 2B	100	228	37	55	2	3	0	18	20	21	.241	18
Carlton Fisk, C	134	460	42	111	25	0	18	74	32	86	.241	1
Scott Fletcher, 2B	90	248	14	51	10	1	1	28	17	26	.206	0
Craig Grebeck, 2B,3B,SS	107	224	37	63	16	3	6	31	38	40	.281	1
Ozzie Guillén, SS	154	524	52	143	20	3	3	49	11	38	.273	21
Mike Huff, OF	51	97	14	26	4	1	1	15	12	18	.268	3
Bo Jackson, DH	23	71	8	16	4	0	3	14	12	25	.225	0
Lance Johnson, CF	159	588	72	161	14	13	0	49	26	58	.274	26
Ron Karkovice, C	75	167	25	41	13	0	5	22	15	42	.246	0
Ron Kittle, 1B	17	47	7	9	0	0	2	7	5	9	.191	0
Rodney McCray, OF	17	7	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	.286	1
Matt Merullo, C,1B,DH	80	140	8	32	1	0	5	21	9	18	.229	0
Warren Newson, OF	71	132	20	39	5	0	4	25	28	34	.295	2
Dan Pasqua, 1B,OF,DH	134	417	71	108	22	5	18	66	62	86	.259	0
Tim Raines, LF	155	609	102	163	20	6	5	50	83	68	.268	51
Sammy Sosa, RF,CF	116	316	39	64	10	1	10	33	14	98	.203	13
Cory Snyder, OF,1B	50	117	10	22	4	0	3	11	6	41	.188	0
Frank Thomas, DH,1B	158	559	104	178	31	2	32	109	138	112	.318	1
Robin Ventura, 3B,1B	157	606	92	172	25	1	23	100	80	67	.284	2
Don Wakamatsu, C	18	31	2	7	0	0	0	0	1	6	.226	0
Team totals	162	5594	758	1464	226	39	139	722	610	896	.262	134

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
Wilson Álvarez	3	2	3.51	10	9	0	56.1	47	26	22	9	29	32
Jeff Carter	0	1	5.25	5	2	0	12.0	8	8	7	1	5	2
Brian Drahman	3	2	3.23	28	0	0	30.2	21	12	11	4	14	18
Tom Drees	0	0	12.27	4	0	0	7.1	10	10	10	4	6	2
Wayne Edwards	0	2	3.86	13	0	0	23.1	22	14	10	2	20	12
Alex Fernandez	9	13	4.51	34	32	0	191.2	186	100	96	16	90	145
Ramón García	4	4	5.40	16	15	0	78.1	79	50	47	13	33	40
Roberto Hernández	1	0	7.80	9	3	0	15.0	18	15	13	1	7	6
Greg Hibbard	11	11	4.31	32	29	0	194.0	196	107	93	23	58	71
Charlie Hough	9	10	4.02	31	29	0	199.1	167	98	89	21	94	107
Jack McDowell	17	10	3.41	35	35	0	253.2	212	97	96	19	84	191
Donn Pall	7	2	2.41	51	0	0	71.0	59	22	19	7	23	40
Ken Patterson	3	0	2.83	43	0	1	63.2	48	22	20	5	36	32
Mélido Pérez	8	7	5.25	49	8	1	135.2	111	49	47	15	52	128
Scott Radinsky	5	5	2.02	67	0	8	71.1	53	18	16	4	25	49
Bobby Thigpen	7	5	3.49	67	0	30	69.2	63	32	27	10	46	47
Steve Wapnick	0	1	1.80	6	0	0	5.0	2	1	1	0	4	1
Team totals	87	75	3.79	162	162	40	1478.0	1302	681	622	154	626	923

Awards and honors

• Frank Thomas – Major League Baseball Leader, On-Base Percentage (.457)

All-Star Game

• Jack McDowell, pitcher, reserve
• Carlton Fisk, catcher, reserve
• Ozzie Guillén, shortstop, reserve

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Vancouver Canadians	Pacific Coast League	Marv Foley and Rick Renick
AA	Birmingham Barons	Southern League	Tony Franklin
A	Sarasota White Sox	Florida State League	Rick Patterson
A	South Bend White Sox	Midwest League	Tommy Thompson
A-Short Season	Utica Blue Sox	New York–Penn League	Mike Gellinger
Rookie	GCL White Sox	Gulf Coast League	Jaime García

^[14]

References

1. Jerry Willard at Baseball-Reference
2. Buddy Groom at Baseball-Reference
3. Shawn Hillegas at Baseball-Reference
4. Charlie Hough at Baseball-Reference
5. Tim Raines at Baseball-Reference
6. "Ron Coomer Stats".
7. Pete Rose, Jr. at Baseball-Reference
8. Bo Jackson at Baseball-Reference
9. Danny Heep at Baseball-Reference
10. Steve Lyons at Baseball-Reference
11. Magglio Ordóñez at Baseball-Reference
12. Mike Huff at Baseball-Reference
13. Cory Snyder at Baseball-Reference
14. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997

External links

• 1991 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Reference
• 1991 Chicago White Sox team page at www.baseball-almanac.com