1979 Chicago White Sox season

March 2026 November 2013 Chicago White Sox 1979 American League West Comiskey Park Chicago, Illinois Bill Veeck Roland Hemond Don Kessinger, Tony La Russa WSNS-TV WMAQ (AM)(Harry Caray, Lorn Brown, Jimmy Piersall) 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. 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 Record vs. opponents CWS 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.Nardi Contreras page at Baseball Reference June 5, 1979: 1979 Major League Baseball draft Ricky Seilheimer was drafted by the White Sox in the 1st round (19th pick).Ricky Seilheimer page at Baseball Reference Fran Mullins was drafted by the White Sox in the 3rd round.Fran Mullins page at Baseball Reference Jimmy Key was drafted by the White Sox in the 10th round, but did not sign.Jimmy Key page at Baseball Reference June 15, 1979: Eric Soderholm was traded by the White Sox to the Texas Rangers for Ed Farmer and Gary Holle.Eric Soderholm page at Baseball-Reference July 6, 1979: Rich Hinton was traded by the White Sox to the Seattle Mariners for Juan Bernhardt.Rich Hinton page at Baseball Reference 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 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 Minor league baseball 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 2 References Johnson Lloyd Wolff Miles The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball 2nd Durham, N.C. Baseball America 1997 978-0-9637189-8-3 1979 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Reference Category:Chicago White Sox seasons Chicago White Sox season Chicago Category:1979 in Chicago