1977 Chicago White Sox season

March 2026 November 2013 Chicago White Sox 1977 American League West Comiskey Park Chicago, Illinois Bill Veeck Roland Hemond Bob Lemon WSNS-TV WMAQ (AM)(Harry Caray, Lorn Brown, Jimmy Piersall, Mary Shane) The 1977 Chicago White Sox season in the American League saw the team finish third in the American League West, at 90–72, 12 games behind the Kansas City Royals. Offseason White Sox owner Bill Veeck tried a new philosophy during the offseason: figuring that if he could not compete with the bigger spending clubs for free agents, he would "rent" them, even if only for one year. With this strategy in mind, he traded for Richie Zisk (who had one year remaining on his contract) and Oscar Gamble (also in the final year of his contract), hoping that he would be able to continue the practice financially.The White Sox Encyclopedia, Richard C. Lindberg, p. 88, Temple University Press, 1-56639-449-X Notable transactions October 6, 1976: Minnie Miñoso was released by the White Sox.Minnie Miñoso at Baseball Reference October 21, 1976: Phil Roof was traded by the White Sox to the Toronto Blue Jays for a player to be named later. The Blue Jays completed the deal by sending Larry Anderson to the White Sox on January 5.Phil Roof at Baseball Reference November 26, 1976: Eric Soderholm was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.Eric Soderholm at Baseball-Reference December 5, 1976: Royle Stillman was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.Royle Stillman at Baseball Reference December 10, 1976: Goose Gossage and Terry Forster were traded by the White Sox to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Richie Zisk and Silvio Martínez.Rich Gossage at Baseball Reference January 11, 1977: Mark Esser was drafted by the White Sox in the 8th round of the 1977 Major League Baseball draft.Mark Esser at Baseball Reference January 26, 1977: Blue Moon Odom was released by the White Sox.Blue Moon Odom at Baseball Reference February 15, 1977: Fritz Peterson was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.Fritz Peterson at Baseball Reference Regular season On April 7 in Toronto, the White Sox played the Toronto Blue Jays in the first game in Blue Jays history.Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.94, Penguin Books, 0-14-023978-2 The White Sox lost 9–5 to the Blue Jays, which resulted in the first win for the Blue Jays in franchise history. The White Sox, who came to be called the "South Side Hitmen", were in solid contention for most of the season, battling the division-winning Royals and Minnesota Twins most of the way. They moved into first place in the AL West on July 1 and remained there until August 12. Their primary weapon was their power hitting. As a team, the White Sox hit 192 home runs, a record which lasted until 1996. Their displays of power caused fans to cheer for "curtain calls", where players came out of the dugout after hitting a home run to acknowledge those cheers. Some Royals players greatly resented this, and called such behavior "bush" and "unprofessional". The climax of this came on August 5, when White Sox pitcher Bart Johnson and Royals catcher Darrell Porter had a fistfight in a game at Kansas City. Opening Day lineup Ralph Garr, left field Alan Bannister, shortstop Jorge Orta, second base Richie Zisk, right field Jim Spencer, first base Oscar Gamble, designated hitter Eric Soderholm, third base Chet Lemon, center field Brian Downing, catcher Ken Brett, pitcher Season standings Record vs. opponents CWS Notable transactions April 5, 1977: Bucky Dent was traded by the White Sox to the New York Yankees for Oscar Gamble, LaMarr Hoyt, Bob Polinsky (minors), and $200,000.Oscar Gamble at Baseball Reference August 20, 1977: Steve Staniland (minors) was traded by the White Sox to the St. Louis Cardinals for Don Kessinger.Don Kessinger at Baseball Reference August 31, 1977: The White Sox traded players to be named later to the St. Louis Cardinals for Clay Carroll. The White Sox completed the deal by sending Nyls Nyman to the Cardinals on September 2, and sending Dave Hamilton and Silvio Martínez to the Cardinals on November 28.Nyls Nyman at Baseball Reference Roster 1977 Chicago White Sox Roster Pitchers 51 Larry Anderson 46 Francisco Barrios 34 Ken Brett 34 Clay Carroll 43 Bruce Dal Canton 37 Dave Frost 26 Dave Hamilton 24 Bart Johnson 33 Don Kirkwood 45 Chris Knapp 27 Ken Kravec 55 Jack Kucek 36 Lerrin LaGrow 47 Silvio Martínez 50 Steve Renko 32 Steve Stone 51 John Verhoeven 52 Randy Wiles 28 Wilbur Wood Catchers 16 Brian Downing 11 Jim Essian 20 Bill Nahorodny Infielders  7 Alan Bannister  8 Kevin Bell 10 Jack Brohamer  1 John Flannery 23 Lamar Johnson 30 Don Kessinger  1 Tim Nordbrook  6 Jorge Orta 12 Eric Soderholm  3 Jim Spencer 19 Mike Squires Outfielders  5 Bob Coluccio 38 Henry Cruz 25 Tommy Cruz 17 Oscar Gamble 48 Ralph Garr 25 Jerry Hairston 44 Chet Lemon  5 Bob Molinaro 15 Wayne Nordhagen 18 Royle Stillman 22 Richie Zisk Other batters 20 Nyls Nyman Manager 21 Bob Lemon Coaches 14 Larry Doby 29 Bobby Knoop  9 Minnie Miñoso 31 Stan Williams 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, SS, 2B, LF, CF 139 560 87 154 20 3 3 57 54 49 .275 4 Kevin Bell, SS, 3B 9 28 4 5 1 0 1 6 3 8 .179 0 Jack Brohamer, 3B, 2B 59 152 26 39 10 3 2 20 21 8 .257 0 Bob Coluccio, OF 20 37 4 10 0 0 0 7 6 2 .270 0 Henry Cruz, OF 53 77 13 17 2 1 2 10 8 11 .221 0 Tommy Cruz, LF 4 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 Brian Downing, C, DH, OF 69 169 28 48 4 2 4 25 34 21 .284 1 Jim Essian, C 114 322 50 88 18 2 10 44 52 35 .273 1 John Flannery, SS 7 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 0 Oscar Gamble, DH, OF 137 408 75 121 22 2 31 83 54 54 .297 1 Ralph Garr, LF 134 543 78 163 29 7 10 54 27 44 .300 12 Jerry Hairston, CF, LF 13 26 3 8 2 0 0 4 5 7 .308 0 Lamar Johnson, DH, 1B 118 374 52 113 12 5 18 65 24 53 .302 1 Don Kessinger, SS, 2B, 3B 39 119 12 28 3 2 0 11 13 7 .235 2 Chet Lemon, CF 150 553 99 151 38 4 19 67 52 88 .273 8 Bob Molinaro, RF 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .500 1 Bill Nahorodny, C 7 23 3 6 1 0 1 4 2 3 .261 0 Tim Nordbrook, SS 15 20 2 5 0 0 0 1 7 4 .250 1 Wayne Nordhagen, RF, LF, DH 52 124 16 39 7 3 4 22 2 12 .315 1 Nyls Nyman, PH 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 Jorge Orta, 2B 144 564 71 159 27 8 11 84 46 49 .282 4 Eric Soderholm, 3B, DH 130 460 77 129 20 3 25 67 47 47 .280 2 Jim Spencer, 1B 128 470 56 116 16 1 18 69 36 50 .247 1 Mike Squires, 1B 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 0 Royle Stillman, OF, DH 56 119 18 25 7 1 3 13 17 21 .210 2 Richie Zisk, RF, DH, LF 141 531 78 154 17 6 30 101 55 98 .290 0 Team totals 162 5633 844 1568 254 52 192 809 559 666 .278 42 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 Larry Anderson 1 3 9.35 6 0 0 8.2 10 10 9 1 19 7 Francisco Barrios 14 7 4.12 33 31 0 231.1 241 117 106 22 59 119 Ken Brett 6 4 5.01 13 13 0 82.2 101 47 46 10 15 39 Clay Carroll 1 3 4.76 8 0 1 11.1 14 7 6 3 4 4 Bruce Dal Canton 0 2 3.75 8 0 2 24.0 20 11 10 1 13 9 Dave Frost 1 1 3.04 4 3 0 23.2 30 9 8 0 3 15 Dave Hamilton 4 5 3.61 55 0 9 67.1 71 33 27 6 37 45 Bart Johnson 4 5 4.01 29 4 2 92.0 114 48 41 5 41 46 Don Kirkwood 1 1 5.18 16 0 0 40.0 49 27 23 3 12 24 Chris Knapp 12 7 4.80 27 26 0 146.1 166 90 78 16 62 103 Ken Kravec 11 8 4.10 26 25 0 166.2 161 87 76 12 57 125 Jack Kucek 0 1 3.63 8 3 0 34.2 35 20 14 4 10 25 Lerrin LaGrow 7 3 2.46 66 0 25 98.2 81 32 27 10 38 63 Silvio Martinez 0 1 5.57 10 0 1 21.0 28 14 13 4 14 10 Steve Renko 5 0 3.54 8 8 0 53.1 55 23 21 3 17 36 Steve Stone 15 12 4.51 31 31 0 207.1 228 115 104 25 83 124 John Verhoeven 0 0 2.61 6 0 0 10.1 9 3 3 0 2 6 Randy Wiles 1 1 10.13 5 0 0 2.2 5 3 3 1 4 0 Wilbur Wood 7 8 4.99 24 18 0 122.2 139 75 68 10 50 42 Team totals 90 72 4.25 162 162 40 1444.2 1557 771 682 136 540 842 Awards and honors All-Stars All-Star Game Richie Zisk, starter, outfield Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Iowa Oaks American Association Joe Sparks AA Knoxville Knox Sox Southern League Jim Napier A Appleton Foxes Midwest League Gordon Lund Rookie GCL White Sox Gulf Coast League Joe Jones The GCL White Sox won their league's championship. Notes 2 References Johnson Lloyd Wolff Miles The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball 2nd Durham, North Carolina Baseball America 1997 978-0-9637189-8-3 1977 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Reference 1977 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Almanac Category:Chicago White Sox seasons Chicago White Sox season Chicago