1990 Chicago White Sox season

The 1990 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 91st season. They finished with a record of 94–68, good enough for second place in the American League West, 9 games behind of the first place Oakland Athletics, as the White Sox played their final season at the aging Comiskey Park before moving to the new Comiskey Park the next season.

1990 Chicago White Sox
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Comiskey Park
City	Chicago
Owners	Jerry Reinsdorf
General managers	Larry Himes
Managers	Jeff Torborg
Television	WGN-TV SportsChannel Chicago (Ken Harrelson, Tom Paciorek, Jim Durham)
Radio	WMAQ (AM) (John Rooney, Wayne Hagin) WTAQ (Frank Diaz, Chico Carrasquel)
← 1989 Seasons 1991 →

Regular season

In the summer of 1990, Michael Jordan took batting practice at Comiskey Park.^[1] The following year, Upper Deck created a baseball card of Michael Jordan and it was numbered SP1.^[2]

The White Sox and Texas Rangers were involved in the longest rain delay in baseball history at 7 hours and 23 minutes at Comiskey Park on August 12. Behind the delay's length was the White Sox's insistence that the game be rescheduled at Comiskey four days later when both teams were idle and not at Arlington Stadium the subsequent weekend, which was rejected by the Rangers. The gamesmanship between the two sides resulted in the contest eventually played as part of a twi-night doubleheader at Arlington on August 17.^[3]

Bobby Thigpen had the best season of his career in 1990, setting the major league record of 57 saves. He also maintained a 1.83 ERA and was named to the AL All-Star team. He also blew eight saves that season, including two three-run leads.

In anticipation of the move to new Comiskey Park, the White Sox on July 2 unveiled new team colors of black and silver and uniforms based on the ones worn in 1959 and the early-1970s featuring a return of pinstripes to the home version.^[4] The uniform ensemble was originally scheduled to debut the following season, but its popularity with the fans resulted in the White Sox officially making the change beginning with the opening game of its final homestand of the campaign on September 25.^[5] The ballclub instantly jumped to the top of MLB merchandise sales.

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	103	59	.636	—	51‍–‍30	52‍–‍29
Chicago White Sox	94	68	.580	9	49‍–‍31	45‍–‍37
Texas Rangers	83	79	.512	20	47‍–‍35	36‍–‍44
California Angels	80	82	.494	23	42‍–‍39	38‍–‍43
Seattle Mariners	77	85	.475	26	38‍–‍43	39‍–‍42
Kansas City Royals	75	86	.466	27½	45‍–‍36	30‍–‍50
Minnesota Twins	74	88	.457	29	41‍–‍40	33‍–‍48

Record vs. opponents

1990 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	4–9	7–5	6–6	6–7	6–7	8–3	7–6	6–6	6–7	4–8	3–9	8–4	5–8
Boston	9–4	—	7–5	6–6	9–4	8–5	4–8	5–8	4–8	9–4	4–8	8–4	5–7	10–3
California	5–7	5–7	—	5–8	7–5	5–7	7–6	7–5	9–4	6–6	4–9	5–8	8–5	7–5
Chicago	6–6	6–6	8–5	—	5–7	5–7	9–4	10–2	7–6	10–2	8–5	8–5	7–6	5–7
Cleveland	7–6	4–9	5–7	7–5	—	5–8	6–6	9–4	7–5	5–8	4–8	7–5	7–5	4–9
Detroit	7–6	5–8	7–5	7–5	8–5	—	5–7	3–10	6–6	7–6	6–6	7–5	6–6	5–8
Kansas City	3–8	8–4	6–7	4–9	6–6	7–5	—	4–8	8–5	8–4	4–9	7–6	5–8	5–7
Milwaukee	6–7	8–5	5–7	2–10	4–9	10–3	8–4	—	4–8	6–7	5–7	4–8	5–7	7–6
Minnesota	6–6	8–4	4–9	6–7	5–7	6–6	5–8	8–4	—	6–6	6–7	6–7	5–8	3–9
New York	7–6	4–9	6–6	2–10	8–5	6–7	4–8	7–6	6–6	—	0–12	9–3	3–9	5–8
Oakland	8–4	8–4	9–4	5–8	8–4	6–6	9–4	7–5	7–6	12–0	—	9–4	8–5	7–5
Seattle	9–3	4–8	8–5	5–8	5–7	5–7	6–7	8–4	7–6	3–9	4–9	—	7–6	6–6
Texas	4–8	7–5	5–8	6–7	5–7	6–6	8–5	7–5	8–5	9–3	5–8	6–7	—	7–5
Toronto	8–5	3–10	5–7	7–5	9–4	8–5	7–5	6–7	9–3	8–5	5–7	6–6	5–7	—

1990 Opening Day lineup

• Lance Johnson, CF
• Scott Fletcher, 2B
• Iván Calderón, LF
• Greg Walker, DH
• Carlton Fisk, C
• Carlos Martínez, 1B
• Robin Ventura, 3B
• Sammy Sosa, RF
• Ozzie Guillén, SS
• Mélido Pérez, P

Notable transactions

• June 4, 1990: Alex Fernandez was drafted by the White Sox in the 1st round of the 1990 amateur draft.^[6]
• June 4, 1990: Bob Wickman was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 2nd round of the 1990 amateur draft. Player signed June 6, 1990.^[7]
• June 4, 1990: Ray Durham was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 5th round of the 1990 amateur draft. Player signed June 5, 1990.^[8]
• June 4, 1990: Jason Bere was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 36th round of the 1990 amateur draft. Player signed June 6, 1990.^[9]
• July 30, 1990: Phil Bradley was traded by the Baltimore Orioles to the Chicago White Sox for Ron Kittle.^[10]

No Hitter

• July 1, 1990 – New York Yankees pitcher Andy Hawkins threw a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox and lost the game. A scoreless game until the bottom of the 8th inning, Sammy Sosa started the rally by hitting a ground ball that Yankee third basemen Mike Blowers bobbled. Initially it was ruled a hit. Yankee manager Stump Merrill was standing on the top of the dugout steps barking up in the direction of the press box. Quickly the play was changed to an error on Blowers. Sosa then stole second base. Ozzie Guillén and Lance Johnson both then drew walks to load the bases. The next batter, Robin Ventura hit a fly ball that eluded Yankees left fielder Jim Leyritz allowing three unearned runs to score. The next batter, Iván Calderón, then lifted a fly ball to right field that was dropped by Jesse Barfield making the score 4-0.

Line Score

July 1, Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	3
Chicago	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	x	4	0	2
W: Barry Jones (10-1)  L: Andy Hawkins (1-5)
Attendance: 30,642 Time: 2:34

Batting

New York Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	Chicago White Sox	AB	R	H	RBI
Kelly, cf	4	0	0	0	Johnson, cf	3	1	0	0
Sax, 2b	4	0	0	0	Ventura, 3b	4	1	0	0
Mattingly, 1b	4	0	0	0	Calderon, dh	3	0	0	0
Balboni, dh	4	0	0	0	Pasqua, lf	4	0	0	0
Tolleson, pr, dh	0	0	0	0	Gallagher, lf	0	0	0	0
Barfield, rf	4	0	1	0	Kittle, 1b	3	0	0	0
Leyritz, lf	3	0	1	0	Lyons, 1b	0	0	0	0
Blowers, 3b	3	0	0	0	Karkovice, c	2	0	0	0
Geren, c	3	0	1	0	Fletcher, 2b	2	0	0	0
Espinoza, ss	2	0	1	0	Sosa, rf	3	1	0	0
NONE	0	0	0	0	Guillen, ss	2	1	0	0
Totals	31	0	4	0	Totals	26	4	0	0

Pitching

New York Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Hawkins, L (1-5)	8.0	0	4	0	5	3

Chicago White Sox	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Hibbard	7.0	4	0	0	0	4
Jones W (10-1)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1
Radinsky	1.0	0	0	0	0	0

Turn Back the Clock Day

On July 11, 1990, as part of the celebration of Comiskey Park, the White Sox played a Turn Back the Clock game against the Milwaukee Brewers. The White Sox wore their 1917 home uniforms. This was the first Turn Back the Clock game in the major leagues and started what has become a popular promotion. The club turned off the electronic scoreboards and public address system. They constructed a special manually operated scoreboard in center field for the day and even the grounds-crew wore period costume. General admission tickets were sold for $0.50, popcorn was a nickel, and the stadium organ was shut down for the game.

Line Score

July 11, Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	R	H	E
Milwaukee	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	0	3	12	15	1
Chicago	4	0	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	13	0
W: Dan Plesac (1-3)  L: Donn Pall (0-3)
Home Runs: Yount (8) Attendance: 40,666 Time: 4:44

Batting

Milwaukee Brewers	AB	R	H	RBI	Chicago White Sox	AB	R	H	RBI
Gantner, 2b	7	1	3	2	Johnson, cf	7	1	2	0
Sheffield, 3b	5	2	3	0	Ventura, 3b	5	0	0	0
Yount, cf	4	2	2	3	Gallagher, ph	1	0	0	0
Parker,dh	5	1	1	0	Grebeck, 3b	0	0	0	0
Brock, 1b	3	0	0	0	Calderon, dh	6	1	2	1
Deer, ph, 1b	2	1	0	1	Kittle, 1b	6	1	1	0
Vaughn, lf	4	1	2	2	Fisk, c	4	2	1	0
Felder, lf	2	1	1	0	Lyons, lf	6	0	1	1
Surhoff, c	5	2	1	2	Fletcher, 2b	6	2	3	2
Hamilton, rf	6	1	2	2	Sosa, rf	6	2	2	3
Spiers, ss	4	0	0	0	Guillen, ss	6	0	1	1
Sveum, ph, ss	2	0	0	0	NONE	0	0	0	0
Diaz, ss	0	0	0	0	NONE	0	0	0	0
Totals	49	12	15	12	Totals	53	9	13	8

Roster

1990 Chicago White Sox
Roster
Pitchers 45 Wayne Edwards 32 Alex Fernandez 27 Greg Hibbard 57 Shawn Hillegas 50 Barry Jones 36 Eric King 52 Jerry Kutzler 47 Bill Long 40,29 Jack McDowell 30 Donn Pall 34 Ken Patterson 33 Mélido Pérez 43 Adam Peterson 31 Scott Radinsky 47 Steve Rosenberg 37 Bobby Thigpen		Catchers 72 Carlton Fisk 20 Ron Karkovice 26 Jerry Willard Infielders  7 Scott Fletcher 14 Craig Grebeck 13 Ozzie Guillén 42 Ron Kittle 12 Steve Lyons 24 Carlos Martínez 15,35 Frank Thomas 23 Robin Ventura 29 Greg Walker		Outfielders  8 Daryl Boston  8 Phil Bradley 22 Iván Calderón 17 Dave Gallagher  1 Lance Johnson 44 Dan Pasqua 28 Rodney McCray 25 Sammy Sosa Other batters 21 Matt Stark		Manager 10 Jeff Torborg Coaches 18 Terry Bevington (Third Base)  5 Ron Clark (First Base) 32 Sammy Ellis (Pitching) ? Barry Foote (Bullpen Catcher)  6 Walt Hriniak (Hitting) 53 Dave LaRoche (Bullpen) ? Joe Nossek (Bench)

Game log

Regular season

1990 regular season game log: 94–68 (Home: 49–31; Away: 45–37)
April: 10–6 (Home: 8–2; Away: 2–4) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Streak
May: 18–10 (Home: 10–5; Away: 8–5) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Streak
June: 17–10 (Home: 6–9; Away: 11–1) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Streak
July: 13–14 (Home: 7–7; Away: 6–7) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Streak — July 10 61st All-Star Game in Chicago, IL
August: 17–15 (Home: 7–6; Away: 10–9) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Streak
September: 18–11 (Home: 11–2; Away: 7–9) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Streak
October: 1–2 (Home: 0–0; Away: 1–2) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Streak
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = White Sox team member

Detailed records

American League
Opponent	Total	Home	Away	RS	RA
American League East
Opponent	Total	Home	Away	RS	RA
Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Milwaukee Brewers
New York Yankees
Toronto Blue Jays
American League West
Opponent	Total	Home	Away	RS	RA
California Angels
Chicago White Sox	–	–	–	–	–
Kansas City Royals
Minnesota Twins
Oakland Athletics
Seattle Mariners
Texas Rangers

Month-by-Month

Month-by-Month
Month	Total	RS	RA	Home	RS	RA	Away	RS	RA

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
Daryl Boston, RF	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	1
Phil Bradley, OF,DH	45	133	20	30	5	1	0	5	20	26	.226	7
Iván Calderón, LF	158	607	85	166	44	2	14	74	51	79	.273	32
Carlton Fisk, C	137	452	65	129	21	0	18	65	61	73	.285	7
Scott Fletcher, 2B	151	509	54	123	18	3	4	56	45	63	.242	1
Dave Gallagher, OF	45	75	5	21	3	1	0	5	3	9	.280	0
Craig Grebeck, 3B,SS,2B	59	119	7	20	3	1	1	9	8	24	.168	0
Ozzie Guillén, SS	160	516	61	144	21	4	1	58	26	37	.279	13
Lance Johnson, CF	151	541	76	154	18	9	1	51	33	45	.285	36
Ron Karkovice, C	68	183	30	45	10	0	6	20	16	52	.246	2
Ron Kittle, DH,1B	83	277	29	68	14	0	16	43	24	77	.245	0
Steve Lyons, 1B,2B,OF	94	146	22	28	6	1	1	11	10	41	.192	1
Carlos Martinez, 1B	92	272	18	61	6	5	4	24	10	40	.224	0
Rodney McCray, OF	32	6	8	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	.000	6
Dan Pasqua, DH,OF	112	325	43	89	27	3	13	58	37	66	.274	1
Sammy Sosa, RF	153	532	72	124	26	10	15	70	33	150	.233	32
Matt Stark, DH	8	16	0	4	1	0	0	3	1	6	.250	0
Frank Thomas, 1B,DH	60	191	39	63	11	3	7	31	44	54	.330	1
Robin Ventura, 3B	150	493	48	123	17	1	5	54	55	53	.249	1
Greg Walker, 1B,DH	2	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.200	0
Jerry Willard, C	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000	0
Team Totals	162	5402	682	1393	251	44	106	637	478	903	.258	140

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
Wayne Edwards	5	3	3.22	42	5	2	95.0	81	39	34	6	43	63
Alex Fernandez	5	5	3.80	13	13	0	87.2	89	40	37	6	34	61
Greg Hibbard	14	9	3.16	33	33	0	211.0	202	80	74	11	57	92
Shawn Hillegas	0	0	0.79	7	0	0	11.1	4	1	1	0	6	5
Barry Jones	11	4	2.31	65	0	1	74.0	62	20	19	2	40	45
Eric King	12	4	3.28	25	25	0	151.0	135	59	55	10	40	70
Jerry Kutzler	2	1	6.03	7	7	0	31.1	38	23	21	2	15	21
Bill Long	0	1	6.35	4	0	0	5.2	6	5	4	2	2	2
Steve Lyons	0	0	4.50	1	0	0	2.0	2	1	1	0	4	1
Jack McDowell	14	9	3.82	33	33	0	205.0	189	93	87	20	77	165
Donn Pall	3	5	3.32	56	0	2	76.0	63	33	28	7	30	39
Ken Patterson	2	1	3.39	43	0	2	66.1	58	27	25	6	35	40
Mélido Pérez	13	14	4.61	35	35	0	197.0	177	111	101	14	87	161
Adam Peterson	2	5	4.55	20	11	0	85.0	90	46	43	12	26	29
Scott Radinsky	6	1	4.82	62	0	4	52.1	47	29	28	1	37	46
Steve Rosenberg	1	0	5.40	6	0	0	10.0	10	6	6	2	5	4
Bobby Thigpen	4	6	1.83	77	0	57	88.2	60	20	18	5	35	70
Team Totals	94	68	3.61	162	162	68	1449.1	1313	633	581	106	575	914

Awards and honors

• Bobby Thigpen, Major League Record, 57 saves in one season
• Bobby Thigpen, MLB All-Star Game, reserve
• Jeff Torborg, Associated Press Manager of the Year

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

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

^[11]

References

1. 20th Century Chicago: 100 Years, 100 Voices By Chicago Sun-Times, p.119, Chicago sun-times, Adrienne Drell, Published 2000, Sports Publishing LLC, ISBN 1-58261-239-0
2. 1991 Upper Deck #SP1 – Michael Jordan Archived March 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine CheckOutMyCards.com
3. Muskat, Carrie. "The game between the Chicago White Sox and Texas...," United Press International (UPI), Sunday, August 12, 1990. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
4. Murphy, Robert J. "White Sox unveil new look," United Press International (UPI), Monday, July 2, 1990. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
5. "White Sox to unveil '91 uniform," United Press International (UPI), Wednesday, September 5, 1990. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
6. Baseball Draft: 1st Round of the 1990 June Draft Baseball-Reference.com
7. Bob Wickman Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
8. "Ray Durham Stats".
9. "Jason Bere Stats".
10. Phil Bradley Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
11. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997

External links

• 1990 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Reference
• 1990 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Almanac
• Last Comiskey, a 2023 documentary about the 1990 Chicago White Sox, on YouTube