1989 Chicago White Sox season

1989 Chicago White Sox
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
American League West (since 1969)
Location
Comiskey Park (since 1910)
Chicago (since 1900)
Other information
Owner(s)	Jerry Reinsdorf
General manager(s)	Larry Himes
Manager(s)	Jeff Torborg
Local television	WFLD SportsChannel Chicago (Gary Thorne, Tom Paciorek)
Local radio	WMAQ (AM) (John Rooney, Wayne Hagin) WTAQ (Frank Diaz, Jose Manuel Flores)
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The 1989 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 90th season. They finished with a record 69-92, good enough for 7th place in the American League West, 29.5 games behind of the 1st place Oakland Athletics.

Offseason

Potential move to Florida

In July 1988, legislators from the State of Illinois narrowly approved a proposal for a new state-financed stadium and a lease deal that would save the team $60 million and kept the White Sox from moving to St. Petersburg, Florida.^[1] St. Petersburg has begun construction on an $80 million domed stadium.^[1]

The club's principal owners, Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn, had said the team would move to St. Petersburg, Florida, for the 1989 season if the stadium proposal were not approved.^[1]

The State Senate in Springfield passed the stadium bill by a 30-26 vote about 20 minutes before midnight, then sent it on to the General Assembly, where Gov. James Thompson was involved in political maneuvering on the last day the Legislature was in session.^[1]

The money for the ball park, would come from a 2 percent city hotel-motel tax, estimated to be worth at least $8 million a year. The city would add $5 million annually in revenue-sharing funds, and the state would contribute $5 million in hotel-motel tax revenues.^[1]

Notable transactions

• December 5, 1988: Rich Amaral was drafted by the White Sox from the Chicago Cubs in the 1988 rule 5 draft.^[2]
• December 12, 1988: Mike Diaz was released by the White Sox.^[3]
• February 10, 1989: Jerry Willard was signed as a free agent with the White Sox.^[4]
• March 23, 1989: Kenny Williams was traded by the White Sox to the Detroit Tigers for Eric King.^[5]

Regular season

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	99	63	0.611	—	54–27	45–36
Kansas City Royals	92	70	0.568	7	55–26	37–44
California Angels	91	71	0.562	8	52–29	39–42
Texas Rangers	83	79	0.512	16	45–36	38–43
Minnesota Twins	80	82	0.494	19	45–36	35–46
Seattle Mariners	73	89	0.451	26	40–41	33–48
Chicago White Sox	69	92	0.429	29½	35–45	34–47

Record vs. opponents

1989 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	6–7	6–6	6–6	7–6	10–3	6–6	7–6	4–8	8–5	5–7	6–6	9–3	7–6
Boston	7–6	—	4–8	7–5	8–5	11–2	4–8	6–7	6–6	7–6	7–5	5–7	6–6	5–8
California	6–6	8–4	—	8–5	5–7	11–1	4–9	7–5	11–2	6–6	5–8	7–6	6–7	7–5
Chicago	6–6	5–7	5–8	—	7–5	4–8	6–7	10–2	5–8	5–6	5–8	7–6	3–10	1–11
Cleveland	6–7	5–8	7–5	5–7	—	5–8	8–4	3–10	5–7	9–4	2–10	6–6	7–5	5–8
Detroit	3–10	2–11	1–11	8–4	8–5	—	6–6	6–7	5–7	6–7	4–8	4–8	4–8	2–11
Kansas City	6–6	8–4	9–4	7–6	4–8	6–6	—	8–4	7–6	6–6	7–6	9–4	8–5	7–5
Milwaukee	6–7	7–6	5–7	2–10	10–3	7–6	4–8	—	9–3	8–5	5–7	7–5	5–7	6–7
Minnesota	8–4	6–6	2–11	8–5	7–5	7–5	6–7	3–9	—	6–6	6–7	7–6	5–8	9–3
New York	5–8	6–7	6–6	6–5	4–9	7–6	6–6	5–8	6–6	—	3–9	8–4	5–7	7–6
Oakland	7–5	5–7	8–5	8–5	10–2	8–4	6–7	7–5	7–6	9–3	—	9–4	8–5	7–5
Seattle	6–6	7–5	6–7	6–7	6–6	8–4	4–9	5–7	6–7	4–8	4–9	—	6–7	5–7
Texas	3–9	6–6	7–6	10–3	5–7	8–4	5–8	7–5	8–5	7–5	5–8	7–6	—	5–7
Toronto	6–7	8–5	5–7	11–1	8–5	11–2	5–7	7–6	3–9	6–7	5–7	7–5	7–5	—

1989 Opening Day Lineup

• Ozzie Guillén, ss
• Dave Gallagher, cf
• Harold Baines, dh
• Iván Calderón, rf
• Greg Walker, 1b
• Carlton Fisk, c
• Dan Pasqua, lf
• Steve Lyons, 2b
• Eddie Williams, 3b
• Jerry Reuss, p

Notable transactions

• May 8, 1989: Domingo Jean was signed as an amateur free agent by the White Sox.^[6]
• June 5, 1989: Frank Thomas was selected by the White Sox in the 1st round (7th pick) of the 1989 Major League Baseball Draft.^[7]
• July 1, 1989: Richard Dotson was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.^[8]
• July 29, 1989: Harold Baines and Fred Manrique were traded by the White Sox to the Texas Rangers for Sammy Sosa, Wilson Álvarez, and Scott Fletcher.^[9]

Roster

1989 Chicago White Sox
Roster
Pitchers 35 Jeff Bittiger 31 John Davis 34 Richard Dotson 56 Wayne Edwards 27,54 Jack Hardy 27,52 Greg Hibbard 45,57 Shawn Hillegas 50 Barry Jones 36 Eric King 47 Bill Long 49 Tom McCarthy 30 Donn Pall 38,34 Ken Patterson 33 Mélido Pérez 43 Adam Peterson 41 Jerry Reuss 46 Steve Rosenberg 54 José Segura 37 Bobby Thigpen		Catchers 72 Carlton Fisk 20 Ron Karkovice  7 Matt Merullo Infielders  7 Scott Fletcher 13 Ozzie Guillén 42 Ron Kittle 12 Steve Lyons 14 Fred Manrique 24 Carlos Martínez 26 Russ Morman 28 Billy Jo Robidoux 15 Jeff Schaefer 21 Robin Ventura 29 Greg Walker 25 Eddie Williams		Outfielders  8 Daryl Boston 22 Iván Calderón 17 Dave Gallagher  1 Lance Johnson 44 Dan Pasqua 25 Sammy Sosa Other batters  3 Harold Baines 15 Jerry Hairston		Manager 10 Jeff Torborg Coaches 18 Terry Bevington (Third Base)  5 Ron Clark (First Base) 32 Sammy Ellis (Pitching)  6 Walt Hriniak (Hitting) 53 Dave LaRoche (Bullpen)

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
Harold Baines, DH,RF	96	333	55	107	20	1	13	56	60	52	.321	0
Daryl Boston, OF	101	218	34	55	3	4	5	23	24	31	.252	7
Iván Calderón, OF,DH,1B	157	622	83	178	34	9	14	87	43	94	.286	7
Carlton Fisk, C	103	375	47	110	25	2	13	68	36	60	.293	1
Scott Fletcher, 2B,SS	59	232	30	63	11	1	1	21	26	19	.272	1
Dave Gallagher, OF	161	601	74	160	22	2	1	46	46	79	.266	5
Ozzie Guillén, SS	155	597	63	151	20	8	1	54	15	48	.253	36
Jerry Hairston, PH	3	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333	0
Lance Johnson, OF	50	180	28	54	8	2	0	16	17	24	.300	16
Ron Karkovice, C	71	182	21	48	9	2	3	24	10	56	.264	0
Ron Kittle, 1B,DH,LF	51	169	26	51	10	0	11	37	22	42	.302	0
Steve Lyons, 2B,1B,3B,OF	140	443	51	117	21	3	2	50	35	68	.264	9
Fred Manrique, 2B	65	187	23	56	13	1	2	30	8	30	.299	0
Carlos Martinez, 3B,1B,LF	109	350	44	105	22	0	5	32	21	57	.300	4
Matt Merullo, C	31	81	5	18	1	0	1	8	6	14	.222	0
Russ Morman, 1B	37	58	5	13	2	0	0	8	6	16	.224	1
Dan Pasqua, OF,DH	73	246	26	61	9	1	11	47	25	58	.248	1
Billy Jo Robidoux, 1B	16	39	2	5	2	0	0	1	4	9	.128	0
Jeff Schaefer, SS,2B,3B	15	10	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.100	1
Sammy Sosa, OF	33	99	19	27	5	0	3	10	11	27	.273	7
Robin Ventura, 3B	16	45	5	8	3	0	0	7	8	6	.178	0
Greg Walker, 1B,DH	77	233	25	49	14	0	5	26	23	50	.210	0
Eddie Williams, 3B	66	201	25	55	8	0	3	10	18	31	.274	1
Team totals	161	5504	693	1493	262	36	94	661	464	873	.271	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
Jeff Bittiger	0	1	6.52	2	1	0	9.2	9	7	7	2	6	7
Wayne Edwards	0	0	3.68	7	0	0	7.1	7	3	3	1	3	9
John Davis	0	1	4.50	4	0	1	6.0	5	4	3	2	2	5
Richard Dotson	3	7	3.88	17	17	0	99.2	112	51	43	8	44	55
Jack Hardy	0	0	6.57	5	0	0	12.1	14	9	9	1	5	4
Greg Hibbard	6	7	3.21	23	23	0	137.1	142	58	49	5	41	55
Shawn Hillegas	7	11	4.74	50	13	3	119.2	132	67	63	12	55	76
Barry Jones	3	2	2.37	22	0	1	30.1	22	12	8	2	8	17
Eric King	9	10	3.39	25	25	0	159.1	144	69	60	13	65	72
Bill Long	5	5	3.92	30	8	1	98.2	101	49	43	8	37	51
Tom McCarthy	1	2	3.51	31	0	0	66.2	72	32	26	8	20	27
Donn Pall	4	5	3.31	53	0	6	87.0	90	35	32	9	22	58
Ken Patterson	6	1	4.52	50	1	0	65.2	64	37	33	11	31	43
Mélido Pérez	11	14	5.01	31	31	0	183.1	187	106	102	23	93	141
Adam Peterson	0	1	15.19	3	2	0	5.1	13	9	9	1	2	3
Jerry Reuss	8	5	5.06	23	19	0	106.2	135	65	60	12	22	27
Steve Rosenberg	4	13	4.94	38	21	0	142.0	148	92	78	14	59	77
Jose Segura	0	1	15.00	7	0	0	6.0	13	11	10	2	4	4
Bobby Thigpen	2	6	3.76	61	0	34	79.0	62	34	33	10	43	47
Team totals	69	92	4.23	161	161	46	1422.0	1472	750	668	144	552	778

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Vancouver Canadians	Pacific Coast League	Marv Foley
AA	Birmingham Barons	Southern League	Ken Berry
A	Sarasota White Sox	Florida State League	Tony Franklin
A	South Bend White Sox	Midwest League	Rick Patterson
A-Short Season	Utica Blue Sox	New York–Penn League	Ron Vaughn
Rookie	GCL White Sox	Gulf Coast League	Ed Pebley

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Vancouver, Birmingham, South Bend^[10]

References

1. White Sox Are Safe at Home - New York Times
2. Rich Amaral page at Baseball Reference
3. Mike Diaz page at Baseball Reference
4. Jerry Willard page at Baseball Reference
5. Kenny Williams page at Baseball Reference
6. Domingo Jean page at Baseball Reference
7. Frank Thomas page at Baseball Reference
8. Richard Dotson page at Baseball Reference
9. Sammy Sosa page at Baseball Reference
10. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997

External links

• 1989 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Reference