How the 1995 White Sox lost a season in 10 days

Whenever baseball returns, rust is likely to be a factor. Sure, it stands a chance of being a highly convenient scapegoat for underperforming teams, but you probably can’t start a season, stop a season, and then start a season months later without some unfortunate byproducts.

The 1995 season featured plenty of such hiccups after its delayed start. In particular, the shoddiness of the defense inspired May 8 edition of The Sporting News to compare error totals across baseball during the first week of the 1994 and 1995 seasons:

  • 1994: 121 errors over 78 games.
  • 1995: 123 errors over 65 games.

However, it might not have registered as a standalone story if it weren’t for the contributions of the White Sox, whose early defense registered as farcical. Of the 45 errors by American League teams over this sample, the White Sox contributed 18 of them.

When the 1995 White Sox took the field for Opening Day on April 26, they hadn’t played a regular season game 257 days, and they didn’t have much of a spring either. Jerry Reinsdorf and Ron Schueler waited until early April to start patching the holes on their MLB roster from the bargain bin, even though some teams started signing free agents earlier.

Neither of these events made the Sox unique, but the combination of these elements on the South Side resulted in a surplus of iron oxide. Those expecting another neck-and-neck race with the Cleveland Indians had to revise their hopes after just 10 days of games.

* * * * * * * * *

Technically speaking, the White Sox had worse starts than their 1-7 introduction to the 1995 season. The 1968 Sox lost their first 10 games of the season, which was a rude awakening for an 89-win club the year before. The 1923 Sox won only one of their first nine games (seven losses and a tie).

But knowing what we know about the oppressive conditions for offenses in the Year of the Pitcher, the 1968 White Sox benefit from hindsight. That pitching staff allowed just 42 runs over those 10 losses, or 33 runs over nine games after giving up nine runs on Opening Day. They just couldn’t score, tallying 13 runs over those 10 games, including three shutouts.

The 1995 White Sox didn’t look particularly prepared to start the season in any facet, but especially on the run-prevention side. The pitching put stress on the defense, the defense put stress on the pitching, and the result was the baseball equivalent of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The White Sox as an entity weren’t prepared to handle such a poor first impression, because the team was already operating at a deficit in terms of fan satisfaction due to the collateral damage Reinsdorf’s hard line inflicted on his own franchise.

A 1-7 start is one thing. A 1-7 start in which all losses are embarrassing and/or agonizing is another. If Reinsdorf got his wish and fielded a team of replacement scabs and scrubs, you might not have been able to tell the difference.

The blow-by-blow (emphasis on “blow”):

April 26: Brewers 12, White Sox 3

Jack McDowell started Opening Day for the White Sox the previous four seasons, but with Black Jack donning Yankee pinstripes, the White Sox turned to Alex Fernandez, who had a chance of ascending into acedom. That ETA was delayed, because Fernandez gave up a first-inning grand slam, committed the first of two errors during a two-run second, then departed after Pat Listach reached base for the third time in three innings during Milwaukee’s two-run third.

Mike Devereaux, one of the Sox’s biggest offseason additions, couldn’t have drawn up a worse start. He grounded into a 1-2-3 double play in his first at-bat in the first inning, then dropped a flyball on the warning track for two unearned runs in the second. Maybe he could blame it on the equipment manager. He wore a nameless No. 52, because his No. 8 jersey was nowhere to be found.

From the Chicago Tribune: “Or at least one side played baseball. The other side, the guys in black, did their best imitation of what the replacement White Sox might have looked like had they made it to Opening Day. Somewhere in the bush leagues, Oil Can Boyd was laughing.”

April 27: Brewers 9, White Sox 4

In 1994, the White Sox home opener drew 42,890. This time around, the Sox drew 31,073. Some of the fans who showed up carried signs airing their grievances.

Jim Abbott couldn’t complete five innings and ended up taking the loss in his White Sox debut, but he kept the Sox in the game. The score is the result of a disastrous six-run sixth, even though Jose De Leon retired two of the first three batters that inning. Two pitchers, two singles, two walks and two singles later, the White Sox trailed 8-1.

From the Chicago Tribune: “Thursday’s White Sox loss was no less unwatchable than the 12-3 loss to the Brewers in the season opener at County Stadium. Abbott experienced control problems, the bullpen was lit up for the second straight game, the defense was indefensible at times and the Sox even let Brewers sparkplug Pat Listach score from second base on an infield hit.”

April 28: Red Sox 10, White Sox 4

Five White Sox pitchers combine to walk 14 batters — all unintentional — over eight innings. It’s not a record for walks, but they did make history by throwing just 100 of 203 pitches for strikes, which is the lowest strike total for any 200-pitch game in the pitch count era. Jason Bere set the tone by issuing five walks over the first three innings, but Scott Ruffcorn escalated matters. He walked six batters over the course of five outs, with just 24 of his 56 pitches finding the zone.

Compounding the pitching problems, the Sox defense put a “4” in the error column, including three by three different infielders in the second. Gene Lamont used pith: “We walked some guys and made some errors.”

From the Chicago Tribune: “The new ‘fan friendly’ ad campaign the White Sox are using this season asks folks to pen “Dear Sox” letters to the organization and discuss their true feelings about being a Sox fan.

“After the White Sox took their third straight drubbing Friday, 10-4 to Boston, the letters may be a little more pointed than the Sox had hoped.

“Dear Sox, do you have any pitchers who can throw strikes?

“Dear Sox, must your fielders attempt to make catches by letting the ball bounce off their chests first?

“Dear Sox, can we still get a refund on our season tickets?”

April 29: Red Sox 8, White Sox 0

Wilson Alvarez already lost this game three batters in, as Luis Alicea reached when Chris Sabo dropped the throw, then scored two batters later on a Mike LaValliere passed ball. The White Sox were held to five hits, and had more than half as many errors. Robin Ventura committed two, giving him five over four games.

At this point, the White Sox are 0-4, outscored to the tune of 39-11.

From the Chicago Tribune: “Will Sox fans begin jumping off the bandwagon before the end of the first week of the season?”

“‘What bandwagon?’ [Frank] Thomas said. ‘There’s no bandwagon to jump off of.'”

April 30: White Sox 17, Red Sox 11

The White Sox finally break through in the win column, as every White Sox reached base at least twice, and Ron Karkovice sealed it with an eighth-inning grand slam. That said, they inspired zero confidence about the other parts of their game. James Baldwin couldn’t make it out of the fourth, and the White Sox defense committed six errors, giving them 18 over the first five games of the season. (That doesn’t include two passed balls by Karkovice in this one.)

From the Chicago Tribune: Ventura had to quickly shift his self-assessments as his error total piled up.

From the day before: “‘Every game is different,’ Ventura said. ‘I don’t carry it over to the next day. I know I can make the plays. I’m not going to worry about it every day.'”

After this one: “‘Disgusting,’ Ventura said in an accurate analysis.”

May 2: Blue Jays 9, White Sox 8

Make that 21 errors over six games, including another one for Ventura (his seventh), and two by Ray Durham in the fifth inning that put three unearned runs on Fernandez’s tab. The White Sox went from leading 7-2 to 7-5. Kirk McCaskill blew a three-run lead in the eighth, with the final two runs scoring on a checked-swing single. In the ninth, Isidro Marquez’s second pitch of the inning went over Roberto Alomar’s head. His third pitch of the inning went over the center-field wall for the walk-off homer.

From the Chicago Tribune: “Lamont said he went with Marquez over closer Roberto Hernandez in the ninth because ‘you don’t know how long the game’s got to go.’ Marquez, a 29-year-old rookie, has been scored upon in three of his four appearances, and his ERA of 9.84.”

May 3: Blue Jays 8, White Sox 7 (10 innings)

The White Sox fall to 1-6 on their second consecutive walk-off loss, even though they overcame a 4-0 first-inning hole, and took the lead when Warren Newson scored on a balk in the ninth.

If Lamont was second-guessing himself by not going to Hernandez in the ninth the night before, he could rest a little easier this time around. Alomar homered in the ninth inning once again, this one off the Sox closer on a full count with two outs to tie the game. (Like Marquez, Hernandez also knocked Alomar off the plate earlier in the battle.)

Hernandez returned for the 10th, giving up a leadoff single, and three batters later, a game-winning single by rookie Tomas Perez in his first MLB at-bat.

From the Chicago Tribune: “‘If you don’t learn from what we saw the last two nights . . .’ said White Sox manager Gene Lamont. ‘If you knock him down, it better not be intentional.'”

May 5: Royals 3, White Sox 1 (12 innings)

It took eight games, but the White Sox rotation notched its first quality start. Jason Bere threw seven innings of one-run ball, and with decent peripherals (six hits, three walks, eight strikeouts). Of course, it coincides with a quiet night from the White Sox offense, who muster just six hits and a walk off Doug Linton and Co.

McCaskill recorded the last two outs of the 10th and pitched a scoreless 11th, but gave way in the 12th on four consecutive hits. Jeff Montgomery recorded his second save with a 1-2-3 inning.

From the Chicago Tribune: Bevington’s decision [to not send a runner] brought some boos from the crowd of 18,511 fans, the smallest Comiskey house in 129 home games, dating back to April 12, 1993.”

* * * * * * * * *

Through eight games, the White Sox were 1-7, outscored by 26 runs thanks to a whopping 23 errors.

That rust eventually came loose, and the team settled down. After averaging 2.88 errors over their first eight games, they committed just 0.63 errors a game over their final 136. The starting pitching also solidified somewhat — at least as far as Fernandez and Abbott were concerned — and combined with an above-average offfense, the Sox played .500 ball the rest of the way.

But breaking even wasn’t good enough to overcome a start that left them 4½ games out of the AL Central race after just eight games. They never came within four games of first place afterward as Cleveland roared to a 100-win season, nor could they manage to even threaten the .500 mark at any point.

Fortunately, the 2020 White Sox have little in common with their predecessors from 25 years ago, at least as far as chemistry is concerned. They’re adding payroll, not cutting it after their attempt to install a salary cap failed. They have established and respected leadership, not a lame-duck manager who was retained for a second lame-duck year on a low-ball one-year contract.

Their lack of a track record means they could face-plant out of the gate in a similar fashion, but they could also be in position to thrive if one of their Central counterparts implodes. Any season with such a delay is going to have its oddities, but at least from this distance, the White Sox have avoided inviting further dysfunction this time around.

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MarketMaker

The strike had such a profound impact on me as a kid. I was a die-hard Sox fan prior to the strike, glued to every game. I had just entered my teens when the strike started and I felt robbed, going from watching an awesome team to no baseball at all. It was pretty blindsiding and I resented the whole thing. I found a lot of things to fill the space and, when baseball came back, I hadn’t sat around waiting for it. I remember the strike starting so vividly. I hardly remember it ending at all.

For the better part of a decade I’d still watch some games and check the boxscores, but it was pretty passive. It wasn’t until I was finishing college that I really dove back in.

I’m guessing that’s a pretty odd chapter in the lives of a lot of Sox fans. I wonder if Reinsdorf will ever really know or care to appreciate how his actions impacted a generation of Sox fans. I will happily say good riddance the day he sells the team.

Joist

I work at a private school in San Diego. Last year a young guy named Reese started working there, and I heard the kids refer to him as “Mr. McCaskill”. I jokingly asked him, “Hey, are you related to Kirk McCaskill?” He was a bit taken aback and then said “Uh…yeah, he’s my dad.” So..I work with Kirk McCaskill’s son.

Joist

Ha, he did say that.