1994 Chicago White Sox season

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

1994 Chicago White Sox
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionCentral
BallparkComiskey Park
CityChicago
OwnersJerry Reinsdorf
General managersRon Schueler
ManagersGene Lamont
TelevisionWGN-TV
SportsChannel Chicago
(Ken Harrelson, Tom Paciorek)
RadioWMAQ (AM)
(John Rooney, Ed Farmer)
WIND (AM)
(Hector Molina, Chico Carrasquel)
← 1993 Seasons 1995 →

The 1994 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 94th season in the major leagues, and their 95th season overall. They led the American League Central, 1 game ahead of the second place Cleveland Indians with a record of 67–46, when the season was cut short by the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike.

Michael Jordan

After retiring from the National Basketball Association, Michael Jordan surprised the sports world by signing a contract with the Chicago White Sox. He was invited to spring training and was sent to the Birmingham Barons on March 31, 1994.[1] Jordan has stated this decision was made to pursue the dream of his late father, who had always envisioned his son as a Major League Baseball player.[citation needed]

Offseason

  • October 13, 1993: George Bell was released by the Chicago White Sox.[2]
  • December 15, 1993: Julio Franco was signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox.[3]
  • December 22, 1993: Tim Raines signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox.[4]
  • December 28, 1993: Ron Coomer was traded by the Chicago White Sox to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Isidro Marquez.[5]
  • February 8, 1994: Carlos Lee was signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent.[6]
  • January 26, 1994: Dane Johnson was signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox.[7]
  • March 1, 1994: Scott Sanderson was signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox.[8]
  • March 21, 1994: Paul Assenmacher was traded by the New York Yankees to the Chicago White Sox for Brian Boehringer.[9]
  • March 29, 1994: Mike Huff was traded by the Chicago White Sox to the Toronto Blue Jays for Domingo Martínez.[10]

Regular season

  • July 15, 1994: During a game against the White Sox, Indians outfielder Albert Belle's bat was confiscated by umpire Dave Phillips.[11] It was the result of White Sox manager Gene Lamont believing that the bat was corked. During the game, Indians pitcher Jason Grimsley removed a ceiling tile in his manager's office and clambered on top of an 18-inch-wide (460 mm) cinder block.[12] He replaced the corked bat with a conventional bat but the bat had Paul Sorrento's name on it. Belle was suspended for seven games.[11]

By Friday, August 12, the White Sox had compiled a 67-46 record through 113 games. They were leading the AL Central Division and had scored 633 runs (5.60 per game) and allowed 498 runs (4.41 per game).[13] Their hitters had also struck out just 568 times: the fewest in the Majors. While their pitchers combined for just 20 saves, they did have 9 shutouts, tying the Oakland Athletics for the most in the Majors, and hit only 17 batters: the fewest among all 28 teams.[14]

Season standings

AL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Chicago White Sox 67 46 0.593 34–19 33–27
Cleveland Indians 66 47 0.584 1 35–16 31–31
Kansas City Royals 64 51 0.557 4 35–24 29–27
Minnesota Twins 53 60 0.469 14 32–27 21–33
Milwaukee Brewers 53 62 0.461 15 24–32 29–30
Division leaders W L Pct.
New York Yankees 70 43 0.619
Chicago White Sox 67 46 0.593
Texas Rangers 52 62 0.456
Wild Card team
(Top team qualifies for postseason)
W L Pct. GB
Cleveland Indians 66 47 0.584
Baltimore Orioles 63 49 0.562
Kansas City Royals 64 51 0.557 3
Toronto Blue Jays 55 60 0.478 12
Boston Red Sox 54 61 0.470 13
Minnesota Twins 53 60 0.469 13
Detroit Tigers 53 62 0.461 14
Milwaukee Brewers 53 62 0.461 14
Oakland Athletics 51 63 0.447 15½
Seattle Mariners 49 63 0.438 16½
California Angels 47 68 0.409 20

Record vs. opponents


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 4–2 8–4 2–4 4–6 3–4 4–1 7–3 4–5 4–6 7–5 4–6 3–3 7–2
Boston 2–4 7–5 2–4 3–7 4–2 4–2 5–5 1–8 3–7 9–3 6–6 1–5 7–3
California 4–8 5–7 5–5 0–5 3–4 6–4 3–3 3–3 4–8 3–6 2–7 6–4 3–4
Chicago 4–2 4–2 5–5 7–5 8–4 3–7 9–3 2–4 4–2 6–3 9–1 4–5 2–3
Cleveland 6–4 7–3 5–0 5–7 8–2 1–4 5–2 9–3 0–9 6–0 3–2 5–7 6–4
Detroit 4–3 2–4 4–3 4–8 2–8 4–8 6–4 3–3 3–3 5–4 6–3 5–7 5–4
Kansas City 1–4 2–4 4–6 7–3 4–1 8–4 5–7 6–4 4–2 7–3 6–4 4–3 6–6
Milwaukee 3–7 5–5 3–3 3–9 2–5 4–6 7–5 6–6 2–7 4–1 4–2 3–3 7–3
Minnesota 5–4 8–1 3–3 4–2 3–9 3–3 4–6 6–6 4–5 2–5 3–3 4–5 4–8
New York 6–4 7–3 8–4 2–4 9–0 3–3 2–4 7–2 5–4 7–5 8–4 3–2 3–4
Oakland 5–7 3–9 6–3 3–6 0–6 4–5 3–7 1–4 5–2 5–7 4–3 7–3 5–1
Seattle 4–6 6–6 7–2 1–9 2–3 3–6 4–6 2–4 3–3 4–8 3–4 9–1 1–5
Texas 3–3 5–1 4–6 5–4 7–5 7–5 3–4 3–3 5–4 2–3 3–7 1–9 4–8
Toronto 2–7 3–7 4–3 3–2 4–6 4–5 6–6 3–7 8–4 4–3 1–5 5–1 8–4


Opening Day lineup

Notable transactions

  • April 4, 1994: Pete Rose Jr. was signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox.[15]
  • April 12, 1994: Atlee Hammaker was signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox.[16]
  • April 21, 1994: Steve Sax was released by the Chicago White Sox.[17]

Roster

1994 Chicago White Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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
Joey Cora, 2B 90 312 55 86 13 4 2 30 38 32 .276 8
Julio Franco, 3B,1B 112 433 72 138 19 2 20 98 62 75 .319 8
Craig Grebeck, 2B,SS,3B 35 97 17 30 5 0 0 5 12 5 .309 0
Ozzie Guillén, SS 100 365 46 105 9 5 1 39 14 35 .288 5
Joe Hall, OF 17 28 6 11 3 0 1 5 2 4 .393 0
Dann Howitt, OF,1B 10 14 4 5 3 0 0 0 1 7 .357 0
Darrin Jackson, RF,CF 104 369 43 115 17 3 10 51 27 56 .312 7
Lance Johnson, CF 106 412 56 114 11 14 3 54 26 23 .277 26
Ron Karkovice, C 77 207 33 44 9 1 11 29 36 68 .213 0
Mike LaValliere, C 59 139 6 39 4 0 1 24 20 15 .281 0
Norberto Martin, 2B,SS,3B 45 131 19 36 7 1 1 16 9 16 .275 4
Bob Melvin, C 11 19 3 3 0 0 0 1 1 4 .158 0
Warren Newson, RF,LF 63 102 16 26 5 0 2 7 14 23 .255 1
Dan Pasqua, OF,1B 11 23 2 5 2 0 2 4 0 9 .217 0
Tim Raines, LF 101 384 80 102 15 5 10 52 61 43 .266 13
Frank Thomas, 1B,3B 113 399 106 141 34 1 38 101 109 61 .353 2
Ron Tingley, C 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 0
Robin Ventura, 3B 109 401 57 113 15 1 18 78 61 69 .282 3
Bob Zupcic, OF,3B 32 88 10 18 4 1 1 8 4 16 .205 0
Team Totals
113 3942 633 1133 175 39 121 602 497 568 .287 77

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 12 8 3.45 24 24 0 161.2 147 72 62 16 63 108
Paul Assenmacher 1 2 3.55 44 0 1 33.0 26 13 13 2 15 29
Jason Bere 12 2 3.81 24 24 0 141.2 119 65 60 17 80 127
Dennis Cook 3 1 3.55 38 0 0 33.0 29 17 13 4 17 26
José DeLeón 3 2 3.36 42 0 2 67.0 48 28 25 5 36 67
Alex Fernandez 11 7 3.86 24 24 0 170.1 163 83 73 25 54 122
Atlee Hammaker 0 0 0.00 2 0 0 1.1 1 0 0 0 0 1
Roberto Hernández 4 4 4.91 45 0 14 47.2 44 29 26 5 20 50
Dane Johnson 2 1 6.57 15 0 0 12.1 16 9 9 2 12 7
Kirk McCaskill 1 4 3.42 40 0 3 52.2 51 22 20 6 26 37
Jack McDowell 10 9 3.73 25 25 0 181.0 186 82 75 12 44 127
Scott Ruffcorn 0 2 12.79 2 2 0 6.1 15 11 9 1 5 3
Scott Sanderson 8 4 5.09 18 14 0 92.0 110 57 52 20 13 36
Jeff Schwarz 0 0 6.35 9 0 0 11.1 9 10 8 0 16 14
Team Totals
67 46 3.96 113 113 20 1011.1 964 498 445 115 401 754

Awards and records

  • Lance Johnson, American League record, Led American League in triples for four consecutive seasons (1991–1994)[18]
  • Frank Thomas, Silver Slugger Award

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Nashville Sounds American Association Rick Renick
AA Birmingham Barons Southern League Terry Francona
A Prince William Cannons Carolina League Dave Huppert
A South Bend Silver Hawks Midwest League Mike Gellinger
A Hickory Crawdads South Atlantic League Fred Kendall
Rookie GCL White Sox Gulf Coast League Mike Rojas

[19]

Notes

  1. ^ "Michael Jordan Chronology". January 12, 1999. Archived from the original on March 9, 2013.
  2. ^ "George Bell Stats".
  3. ^ Julio Franco Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  4. ^ Tim Raines Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  5. ^ "Ron Coomer Stats".
  6. ^ Carlos Lee Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  7. ^ "Dane Johnson Stats".
  8. ^ Scott Sanderson Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  9. ^ "Paul Assenmacher Stats".
  10. ^ Mike Huff Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  11. ^ a b "ESPN.com - Page2 - Biggest cheaters in baseball".
  12. ^ "Spitters, Beanballs, and the Incredible Shrinking Strike Zone / G. Waggoner, K. Moloney, and H. Howard | BaseballLibrary.com". Archived from the original on October 12, 2008. Retrieved September 2, 2008.
  13. ^ "1994 American League Season Summary".
  14. ^ "1994 Major League Baseball Season Summary".
  15. ^ Pete Rose Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  16. ^ "Atlee Hammaker Stats".
  17. ^ Steve Sax Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  18. ^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.95, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  19. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997

References