It was on this day back in 1954 that White Sox pitcher Jack Harshman set a still-standing franchise record, recording 16 strikeouts in a 5-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox. While Harshman never posted season strikeout totals which would stand out in today’s era, from 1954-1959 (the bulk of his career) he accumulated 710 strikeouts, good for 13th-most over that period (good ol’ Early Wynn tops the list with 977).
Somewhat surprisingly, given that total, Harshman’s career-best high in strikeouts for a season is 161, accomplished in 1958 while with Baltimore. That said, there are plenty of pitchers who have recorded 170 or more strikeouts in a season with the White Sox, which is today’s Sporcle theme. While Harshman may not be among the 46 names listed here, he still can lord that single-game franchise record over all of them. How many of those 46 can you get? Good luck!
Quiz Parameters
- I've allotted 10 minutes for completion attempts.
- For hints, you get the season and the number of strikeouts.
Useless information to amaze, annoy, confuse, and/or confound your friends and family:
- The longest drought between 170K seasons was nearly 40 years, starting in 1916 and ending in 1953.
- The oldest pitcher to record at least 170 strikeouts in a season on this list was 39, while the youngest was 23.
- The highest ERA from the players on this list? 4.87 (1985). The lowest? 1.27 (1910).
All data from stathead.com
