1986 Chicago White Sox season

The 1986 Chicago White Sox season was the 87th season for the Chicago White Sox franchise of Major League Baseball (MLB). They compiled a record of 72–90, finishing in fifth place in the West division of the American League, 20 games behind the first-place California Angels. The team played their home games at Comiskey Park.

1986 Chicago White Sox
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Comiskey Park
City	Chicago
Owners	Jerry Reinsdorf
President of baseball operations	Ken Harrelson[a]
General managers	Tom Haller (from June 9)[2]
Managers	Tony La Russa, Doug Rader, Jim Fregosi
Television	WFLD Sportsvision (Don Drysdale, Frank Messer)
Radio	WMAQ (AM) (Del Crandall, Lorn Brown) WTAQ (Armando Perez Martinez, Frank Diaz)
← 1985 Seasons 1987 →

Offseason

• November 25, 1985: Wayne Tolleson was traded by the Texas Rangers with Dave Schmidt to the Chicago White Sox for a player to be named later, Ed Correa, and Scott Fletcher. The Chicago White Sox sent Jose Mota (December 11, 1985) to the Texas Rangers to complete the trade.^[3]
• December 10, 1985: Bobby Bonilla was drafted by the Chicago White Sox from the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1985 rule 5 draft.^[4]
• December 12, 1985: Ron Hassey was traded by the New York Yankees with Joe Cowley to the Chicago White Sox for Britt Burns, Glen Braxton (minors), and Mike Soper (minors).^[5]
• February 13, 1986: Ron Hassey was traded by the Chicago White Sox with Chris Alvarez (minors), Eric Schmidt (minors), and Matt Winters to the New York Yankees for Neil Allen, Scott Bradley, Glen Braxton (minors), and cash.^[5]

Regular season

In a game against the Minnesota Twins held on October 4, Greg Gagne of the Twins hit two inside the park home runs in one game.^[6]

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
California Angels	92	70	.568	—	50‍–‍32	42‍–‍38
Texas Rangers	87	75	.537	5	51‍–‍30	36‍–‍45
Kansas City Royals	76	86	.469	16	45‍–‍36	31‍–‍50
Oakland Athletics	76	86	.469	16	47‍–‍36	29‍–‍50
Chicago White Sox	72	90	.444	20	41‍–‍40	31‍–‍50
Minnesota Twins	71	91	.438	21	43‍–‍38	28‍–‍53
Seattle Mariners	67	95	.414	25	41‍–‍41	26‍–‍54

Record vs. opponents

1986 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	6–6	9–3	4–9	1–12	6–6	6–7	8–4	5–8	5–7	6–6	5–7	8–5
Boston	9–4	—	5–7	7–5	10–3	7–6	6–6	6–6	10–2	5–8	7–5	8–4	8–4	7–6
California	6–6	7–5	—	7–6	6–6	7–5	8–5	5–7	7–6	7–5	10–3	8–5	8–5	6–6
Chicago	3–9	5–7	6–7	—	5–7	6–6	7–6	5–7	6–7	6–6	7–6	8–5	2–11	6–6
Cleveland	9–4	3–10	6–6	7–5	—	4–9	8–4	8–5	6–6	5–8	10–2	9–3	6–6	3–10–1
Detroit	12–1	6–7	5–7	6–6	9–4	—	5–7	8–5	7–5	6–7	6–6	6–6	7–5	4–9
Kansas City	6–6	6–6	5–8	6–7	4–8	7–5	—	6–6	6–7	4–8	8–5	5–8	8–5	5–7
Milwaukee	7–6	6–6	7–5	7–5	5–8	5–8	6–6	—	4–8	8–5	5–7	6–6	4–8	7–6
Minnesota	4–8	2–10	6–7	7–6	6–6	5–7	7–6	8–4	—	4–8	6–7	6–7	6–7	4–8
New York	8–5	8–5	5–7	6–6	8–5	7–6	8–4	5–8	8–4	—	5–7	8–4	7–5	7–6
Oakland	7–5	5–7	3–10	6–7	2–10	6–6	5–8	7–5	7–6	7–5	—	10–3	3–10	8–4
Seattle	6–6	4–8	5–8	5–8	3–9	6–6	8–5	6–6	7–6	4–8	3–10	—	4–9	6–6
Texas	7–5	4–8	5–8	11–2	6–6	5–7	5–8	8–4	7–6	5–7	10–3	9–4	—	5–7
Toronto	5–8	6–7	6–6	6–6	10–3–1	9–4	7–5	6–7	8–4	6–7	4–8	6–6	7–5	—

Notable transactions

• June 29, 1986: Steve Lyons was traded by the Boston Red Sox to the Chicago White Sox for Tom Seaver.^[7]
• July 23, 1986: Bobby Bonilla was traded by the Chicago White Sox to the Pittsburgh Pirates for José DeLeón.^[4]
• July 30, 1986: Ron Hassey was traded by the New York Yankees with a player to be named later and Carlos Martinez to the Chicago White Sox for Ron Kittle, Wayne Tolleson, and Joel Skinner. The New York Yankees sent Bill Lindsey (December 24, 1986) to the Chicago White Sox to complete the trade.^[5]
• August 12, 1986: Steve Carlton signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox.^[8]
• August 15, 1986: George Foster was signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox.^[9]
• August 13, 1986: Craig Grebeck was signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent.^[10]
• September 7, 1986: George Foster was released by the Chicago White Sox.^[9]

1986 Opening Day lineup

• John Cangelosi, CF
• Wayne Tolleson, 3B
• Harold Baines, RF
• Carlton Fisk, LF
• Ron Kittle, DH
• Greg Walker, 1B
• Tim Hulett, 2B
• Joel Skinner, C
• Ozzie Guillén, SS
• Tom Seaver, P

Roster

1986 Chicago White Sox
Roster
Pitchers 50 Juan Agosto 33 Neil Allen 19 Floyd Bannister 32 Steve Carlton 45 Bryan Clark 40 Joe Cowley 52 Joel Davis 46 Bill Dawley 26 José DeLeón 34 Richard Dotson 51 Pete Filson 43 Bob James 50 Joel McKeon 30 Gene Nelson 24 Dave Schmidt 36 Ray Searage 41 Tom Seaver 58 Bobby Thigpen		Catchers 72 Carlton Fisk 25 Ron Hassey  7 Marc Hill 53 Ron Karkovice 22 Joel Skinner Infielders 37 Dave Cochrane 12 Julio Cruz 18 Brian Giles 13 Ozzie Guillén 17 Jerry Hairston 23,32 Tim Hulett 23 Bryan Little 14 Russ Morman 42 Jack Perconte  1 Wayne Tolleson 29 Greg Walker		Outfielders  3 Harold Baines 26 Bobby Bonilla  8 Daryl Boston 25 Scott Bradley 22 Iván Calderón 44 John Cangelosi 47 Rod Craig 15 George Foster 42 Ron Kittle 10 Steve Lyons 20 Reid Nichols  1 Kenny Williams Other batters  5 Luis Salazar		Manager 16 Jim Fregosi 10 Tony La Russa Coaches 35 Ed Brinkman 21 Moe Drabowsky 18 Dave Duncan 48 Willie Horton 15 Art Kusnyer

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
Harold Baines, RF, DH	145	570	72	169	29	2	21	88	38	89	.296	2
Bobby Bonilla, OF, 1B	75	234	27	63	10	2	2	26	33	49	.269	4
Daryl Boston, CF	56	199	29	53	11	3	5	22	21	33	.266	9
Scott Bradley, DH, OF	9	21	3	6	0	0	0	0	1	0	.286	0
Iván Calderón, DH, LF	13	33	3	10	2	1	0	2	3	6	.303	0
John Cangelosi, OF	137	438	65	103	16	3	2	32	71	61	.235	50
Dave Cochrane, 3B	19	62	4	12	2	0	1	2	5	22	.194	0
Rod Craig, OF	10	10	3	2	0	0	0	1	0	2	.200	0
Julio Cruz, 2B	81	209	38	45	2	0	0	19	42	28	.215	7
Bill Dawley, P, PH	46	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Carlton Fisk, C, LF, DH	125	457	42	101	11	0	14	63	22	92	.221	2
George Foster, LF, DH	15	51	2	11	0	2	1	4	3	8	.216	0
Brian Giles	9	11	0	3	0	0	0	1	0	2	.273	0
Ozzie Guillén, SS	159	547	58	137	19	4	2	47	12	52	.250	8
Jerry Hairston, DH, 1B, OF	101	225	32	61	15	0	5	26	26	26	.271	0
Ron Hassey, DH, C	49	150	22	53	11	1	3	20	22	11	.353	0
Marc Hill, C	22	19	2	3	0	0	0	0	1	3	.158	0
Tim Hulett, 3B, 2B	150	520	53	120	16	5	17	44	21	91	.231	4
Ron Karkovice, C	37	97	13	24	7	0	4	13	9	37	.247	1
Ron Kittle, DH, LF	86	296	34	63	11	0	17	48	28	87	.213	2
Bryan Little, 2B, SS	20	35	3	6	1	0	0	2	4	4	.171	0
Steve Lyons, OF, 3B	42	123	10	25	2	1	0	6	7	24	.203	2
Russ Morman, 1B	49	159	18	40	5	0	4	17	16	36	.252	1
Reid Nichols, OF	74	136	9	31	4	0	2	18	11	23	.228	5
Jack Perconte, 2B	24	73	6	16	1	0	0	4	11	10	.219	2
Luis Salazar, DH	4	7	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	3	.143	0
Joel Skinner, C	60	149	17	30	5	1	4	20	9	43	.201	1
Wayne Tolleson, 3B, SS	81	260	39	65	7	3	3	29	38	43	.250	13
Greg Walker, 1B	78	282	37	78	10	6	13	51	29	44	.277	1
Kenny Williams, OF	15	31	2	4	0	0	1	1	1	11	.129	1
Team Totals	162	5406	644	1335	197	34	121	605	487	940	.247	115

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
Juan Agosto	0	2	7.71	9	0	0	4.2	6	5	4	0	4	3
Neil Allen	7	2	3.82	22	17	0	113.0	101	50	48	8	39	57
Floyd Bannister	10	14	3.54	28	27	0	165.1	162	81	65	17	48	92
Steve Carlton	4	3	3.69	10	10	0	63.1	58	30	26	6	25	40
Bryan Clark	0	0	4.50	5	0	0	8.0	8	4	4	0	2	5
Joe Cowley	11	11	3.88	27	27	0	162.1	133	81	70	20	84	132
Joel Davis	4	5	4.70	19	19	0	105.1	115	64	55	9	51	54
Bill Dawley	0	7	3.32	46	0	2	97.2	91	38	36	10	31	66
José DeLeón	4	5	2.96	13	13	0	79.0	49	30	26	7	42	68
Richard Dotson	10	17	5.48	34	34	0	197.0	226	125	120	24	71	110
Pete Filson	0	1	6.17	3	1	0	11.2	14	9	8	4	5	4
Bob James	5	4	5.25	49	0	14	58.1	61	36	34	8	26	32
Joel McKeon	3	1	2.45	30	0	1	33.0	18	10	9	2	19	18
Gene Nelson	6	6	3.85	54	1	6	114.2	118	52	49	7	46	70
Dave Schmidt	3	6	3.31	49	1	8	92.1	94	37	34	10	34	67
Ray Searage	1	0	0.62	29	0	0	29.0	15	3	2	1	22	26
Tom Seaver	2	6	4.38	12	12	0	72.0	66	37	35	9	28	31
Bobby Thigpen	2	0	1.77	20	0	7	35.2	26	7	7	1	12	20
Team Totals	72	90	3.93	162	162	38	1442.1	1361	699	630	143	589	895

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Buffalo Bisons	American Association	Jim Marshall
AA	Birmingham Barons	Southern League	Tom Haller and Bob Bailey
A	Peninsula White Sox	Carolina League	Bob Bailey and Duke Sims
A	Appleton Foxes	Midwest League	Duke Sims and Rico Petrocelli
Rookie	GCL White Sox	Gulf Coast League	Steve Dillard

^[11]

Notes

1. Harrelson's formal title was executive vice president of baseball operations.^[1]