1977 Chicago White Sox season

The 1977 Chicago White Sox season in the American League saw the team finish third in the American League West, at 90–72, 12 games behind the Kansas City Royals.

Offseason

White Sox owner Bill Veeck tried a new philosophy during the offseason: figuring that if he could not compete with the bigger spending clubs for free agents, he would "rent" them, even if only for one year. With this strategy in mind, he traded for Richie Zisk (who had one year remaining on his contract) and Oscar Gamble (also in the final year of his contract), hoping that he would be able to continue the practice financially.

Notable transactions

October 6, 1976: Minnie Miñoso was released by the White Sox.
October 21, 1976: Phil Roof was traded by the White Sox to the Toronto Blue Jays for a player to be named later. The Blue Jays completed the deal by sending Larry Anderson to the White Sox on January 5.
November 26, 1976: Eric Soderholm was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.
December 5, 1976: Royle Stillman was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.
December 10, 1976: Goose Gossage and Terry Forster were traded by the White Sox to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Richie Zisk and Silvio Martínez.
January 11, 1977: Mark Esser was drafted by the White Sox in the 8th round of the 1977 Major League Baseball draft.
January 26, 1977: Blue Moon Odom was released by the White Sox.
February 15, 1977: Fritz Peterson was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.

Regular season

On April 7 in Toronto, the White Sox played the Toronto Blue Jays in the first game in Blue Jays history.

The White Sox, who came to be called the "South Side Hitmen", were in solid contention for most of the season, battling the division-winning Royals and Minnesota Twins most of the way. They moved into first place in the AL West on July 1 and remained there until August 12. Their primary weapon was their power hitting. As a team, the White Sox hit 192 home runs, a record which lasted until 1996. Their displays of power caused fans to cheer for "curtain calls", where players came out of the dugout after hitting a home run to acknowledge those cheers. Some Royals players greatly resented this, and called such behavior "bush" and "unprofessional". The climax of this came on August 5, when White Sox pitcher Bart Johnson and Royals catcher Darrell Porter had a fistfight in a game at Kansas City.

Opening Day lineup

Ralph Garr, left field
Alan Bannister, shortstop
Jorge Orta, second base
Richie Zisk, right field
Jim Spencer, first base
Oscar Gamble, designated hitter
Eric Soderholm, third base
Chet Lemon, center field
Brian Downing, catcher
Ken Brett, pitcher

Season standings

v
t
e
AL West
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Kansas City Royals	102	60	.630	—	55‍–‍26	47‍–‍34
Texas Rangers	94	68	.580	8	44‍–‍37	50‍–‍31
Chicago White Sox	90	72	.556	12	48‍–‍33	42‍–‍39
Minnesota Twins	84	77	.522	17½	48‍–‍32	36‍–‍45
California Angels	74	88	.457	28	39‍–‍42	35‍–‍46
Seattle Mariners	64	98	.395	38	29‍–‍52	35‍–‍46
Oakland Athletics	63	98	.391	38½	35‍–‍46	28‍–‍52

Record vs. opponents

1977 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	6–8	5–6	5–5	11–4	12–3	4–7	11–4	6–4	8–7	8–2	7–3	4–6	10–5
Boston	8–6	—	7–3	3–7	8–7	9–6	5–5	9–6	4–6	8–7	8–3	10–1	6–4	12–3
California	6–5	3–7	—	8–7	6–4	4–6	6–9	5–5	7–8	4–7	5–10	9–6	5–10	6–4
Chicago	5–5	7–3	7–8	—	6–4	4–6	8–7	6–5	10–5	3–7	10–5	10–5	6–9	8–3
Cleveland	4–11	7–8	4–6	4–6	—	8–7	3–7	11–4	2–9	3–12	7–3	7–3	2–9	9–5
Detroit	3–12	6–9	6–4	6–4	7–8	—	3–8	10–5	5–5	6–9	5–5	5–6	2–8	10–5
Kansas City	7–4	5–5	9–6	7–8	7–3	8–3	—	8–2	10–5	5–5	9–6	11–4	8–7	8–2
Milwaukee	4–11	6–9	5–5	5–6	4–11	5–10	2–8	—	3–8	8–7	5–5	7–3	5–5	8–7
Minnesota	4–6	6–4	8–7	5–10	9–2	5–5	5–10	8–3	—	2–8	8–6	7–8	8–7	9–1
New York	7–8	7–8	7–4	7–3	12–3	9–6	5–5	7–8	8–2	—	9–2	6–4	7–3	9–6
Oakland	2–8	3–8	10–5	5–10	3–7	5–5	6–9	5–5	6–8	2–9	—	7–8	2–13	7–3
Seattle	3–7	1–10	6–9	5–10	3–7	6–5	4–11	3–7	8–7	4–6	8–7	—	9–6	4–6
Texas	6–4	4–6	10–5	9–6	9–2	8–2	7–8	5–5	7–8	3–7	13–2	6–9	—	7–4
Toronto	5–10	3–12	4–6	3–8	5–9	5–10	2–8	7–8	1–9	6–9	3–7	6–4	4–7	—

Notable transactions

April 5, 1977: Bucky Dent was traded by the White Sox to the New York Yankees for Oscar Gamble, LaMarr Hoyt, Bob Polinsky (minors), and $200,000.
August 20, 1977: Steve Staniland (minors) was traded by the White Sox to the St. Louis Cardinals for Don Kessinger.
August 31, 1977: The White Sox traded players to be named later to the St. Louis Cardinals for Clay Carroll. The White Sox completed the deal by sending Nyls Nyman to the Cardinals on September 2, and sending Dave Hamilton and Silvio Martínez to the Cardinals on November 28.

Roster

1977 Chicago White Sox
Roster
Pitchers 51 Larry Anderson 46 Francisco Barrios 34 Ken Brett 34 Clay Carroll 43 Bruce Dal Canton 37 Dave Frost 26 Dave Hamilton 24 Bart Johnson 33 Don Kirkwood 45 Chris Knapp 27 Ken Kravec 55 Jack Kucek 36 Lerrin LaGrow 47 Silvio Martínez 50 Steve Renko 32 Steve Stone 51 John Verhoeven 52 Randy Wiles 28 Wilbur Wood		Catchers 16 Brian Downing 11 Jim Essian 20 Bill Nahorodny Infielders 7 Alan Bannister 8 Kevin Bell 10 Jack Brohamer 1 John Flannery 23 Lamar Johnson 30 Don Kessinger 1 Tim Nordbrook 6 Jorge Orta 12 Eric Soderholm 3 Jim Spencer 19 Mike Squires		Outfielders 5 Bob Coluccio 38 Henry Cruz 25 Tommy Cruz 17 Oscar Gamble 48 Ralph Garr 25 Jerry Hairston 44 Chet Lemon 5 Bob Molinaro 15 Wayne Nordhagen 18 Royle Stillman 22 Richie Zisk Other batters 20 Nyls Nyman		Manager 21 Bob Lemon Coaches 14 Larry Doby 29 Bobby Knoop 9 Minnie Miñoso 31 Stan Williams

1977 Chicago White Sox

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

20 Nyls Nyman

Manager

21 Bob Lemon

Coaches

Game log

Regular season

1977 regular season game log: 90–72 (Home: 48–33; Away: 42–39)

April: 10–8 (Home: 5–2; Away: 5–6)

#	Date	Opponent
4	April 12	Red Sox
5	April 13	Red Sox
15	April 26	@ Tigers
16	April 27	@ Tigers
17	April 29	Rangers
18	April 30	Rangers

May: 15–11 (Home: 6–5; Away: 9–6)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
19	May 1	Rangers
20	May 2	@ Royals
21	May 3	@ Royals
22	May 4	@ Royals
23	May 5	@ Royals
27	May 9	@ Rangers
28	May 10	@ Rangers
29	May 11	@ Rangers
33	May 18	Royals
34	May 19	Royals
35	May 20	Tigers
36	May 21	Tigers
37	May 22	Tigers
40	May 27	@ Yankees	L 6–8	Tidrow (4–2)	Dal Canton (0–2)	Lyle (8)	2:38	20,643	23–17	L1
41	May 28	@ Yankees	W 9–4	Barrios (4–3)	Guidry (3–1)	—	2:34	54,881	24–17	W1
42	May 29	@ Yankees	L 2–5	Figueroa (6–3)	Kravec (0–1)	—	2:29	22,556	24–18	L1

June: 15–13 (Home: 10–5; Away: 5–8)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
45	June 1	Orioles
46	June 2	Orioles
47	June 3	Yankees	W 9–5	Kravec (1–1)	Torrez (6–4)	LaGrow (8)	2:38	30,396	28–19	W4
48	June 4	Yankees	L 6–8	Gullett (4–2)	Johnson (3–3)	Lyle (9)	2:48	35,789	28–20	L1
49	June 5	Yankees	L 6–8	Tidrow (5–2)	Stone (6–4)	Lyle (10)	2:29	23,688	28–21	L2
50	June 6	@ Twins
51	June 7	@ Twins
52	June 8	@ Rangers
53	June 9	@ Rangers
54	June 10	@ Orioles
55	June 11	@ Orioles
56	June 12	@ Orioles
57	June 13	@ Red Sox
58	June 14	@ Red Sox
59	June 16	@ Red Sox
67	June 24	@ Twins
68	June 25	@ Twins
69	June 26	@ Twins

July: 22–6 (Home: 13–5; Away: 9–1)

#	Date	Opponent
73	July 1	Twins
74	July 2	Twins
75	July 3 (1)	Twins
76	July 3 (2)	Twins
80	July 8	@ Tigers
81	July 9	@ Tigers
82	July 10	@ Tigers
83	July 11	Royals
84	July 12	Royals
88	July 15	Red Sox
89	July 16	Red Sox
90	July 17	Red Sox
48th All-Star Game in Bronx, New York
93	July 24	@ Red Sox
94	July 25	@ Red Sox
95	July 26	Tigers
96	July 27	Tigers
97	July 29	Royals
98	July 30	Royals
99	July 31 (1)	Royals
100	July 31 (2)	Royals

August: 11–18 (Home: 6–7; Away: 5–11)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
101	August 1	Rangers
102	August 2	Rangers
103	August 3	Rangers
104	August 4	Rangers
105	August 5	@ Royals
106	August 6	@ Royals
107	August 7	@ Royals
112	August 12	@ Rangers
113	August 13	@ Rangers
114	August 14	@ Rangers
115	August 15	@ Yankees	L 2–6	Torrez (13–10)	Kravec (7–5)	—	2:04	33,902	66–49	L2
116	August 16	@ Yankees	L 10–11	Clay (1–3)	Wiles (1–1)	—	2:55	29,312	66–50	L3
121	August 22	Yankees	W 5–3	Barrios (12–4)	Figueroa (12–9)	—	2:23	45,443	69–52	W2
122	August 23	Yankees	L 3–8	Torrez (15–10)	Wood (6–6)	—	2:33	39,340	69–53	L1
123	August 24	@ Orioles
124	August 25	@ Orioles

September: 16–14 (Home: 7–7; Away: 9–7)

#	Date	Opponent
130	September 2	Orioles
131	September 3	Orioles
132	September 4	Orioles
143	September 12	Twins
144	September 13	Twins
145	September 14	Twins
146	September 15	Twins
158	September 27	@ Twins
159	September 28	@ Twins

October: 1–2 (Home: 1–2; Away: 0–0)

#	Date	Time (CT)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak

Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement
Bold = White Sox team member

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, SS, 2B, LF, CF	139	560	87	154	20	3	3	57	54	49	.275	4
Kevin Bell, SS,3B	9	28	4	5	1	0	1	6	3	8	.179	0
Jack Brohamer, 3B,2B	59	152	26	39	10	3	2	20	21	8	.257	0
Bob Coluccio, OF	20	37	4	10	0	0	0	7	6	2	.270	0
Henry Cruz, OF	53	77	13	17	2	1	2	10	8	11	.221	0
Tommy Cruz, LF	4	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Brian Downing, C, DH, OF	69	169	28	48	4	2	4	25	34	21	.284	1
Jim Essian, C	114	322	50	88	18	2	10	44	52	35	.273	1
John Flannery, SS	7	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000	0
Oscar Gamble, DH, OF	137	408	75	121	22	2	31	83	54	54	.297	1
Ralph Garr, LF	134	543	78	163	29	7	10	54	27	44	.300	12
Jerry Hairston, CF, LF	13	26	3	8	2	0	0	4	5	7	.308	0
Lamar Johnson, DH,1B	118	374	52	113	12	5	18	65	24	53	.302	1
Don Kessinger, SS,2B,3B	39	119	12	28	3	2	0	11	13	7	.235	2
Chet Lemon, CF	150	553	99	151	38	4	19	67	52	88	.273	8
Bob Molinaro, RF	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.500	1
Bill Nahorodny, C	7	23	3	6	1	0	1	4	2	3	.261	0
Tim Nordbrook, SS	15	20	2	5	0	0	0	1	7	4	.250	1
Wayne Nordhagen, RF, LF, DH	52	124	16	39	7	3	4	22	2	12	.315	1
Nyls Nyman, PH	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Jorge Orta, 2B	144	564	71	159	27	8	11	84	46	49	.282	4
Eric Soderholm, 3B, DH	130	460	77	129	20	3	25	67	47	47	.280	2
Jim Spencer, 1B	128	470	56	116	16	1	18	69	36	50	.247	1
Mike Squires, 1B	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	0
Royle Stillman, OF, DH	56	119	18	25	7	1	3	13	17	21	.210	2
Richie Zisk, RF, DH, LF	141	531	78	154	17	6	30	101	55	98	.290	0
Team Totals	162	5633	844	1568	254	52	192	809	559	666	.278	42

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
Larry Anderson	1	3	9.35	6	0	0	8.2	10	10	9	1	19	7
Francisco Barrios	14	7	4.12	33	31	0	231.1	241	117	106	22	59	119
Ken Brett	6	4	5.01	13	13	0	82.2	101	47	46	10	15	39
Clay Carroll	1	3	4.76	8	0	1	11.1	14	7	6	3	4	4
Bruce Dal Canton	0	2	3.75	8	0	2	24.0	20	11	10	1	13	9
Dave Frost	1	1	3.04	4	3	0	23.2	30	9	8	0	3	15
Dave Hamilton	4	5	3.61	55	0	9	67.1	71	33	27	6	37	45
Bart Johnson	4	5	4.01	29	4	2	92.0	114	48	41	5	41	46
Don Kirkwood	1	1	5.18	16	0	0	40.0	49	27	23	3	12	24
Chris Knapp	12	7	4.80	27	26	0	146.1	166	90	78	16	62	103
Ken Kravec	11	8	4.10	26	25	0	166.2	161	87	76	12	57	125
Jack Kucek	0	1	3.63	8	3	0	34.2	35	20	14	4	10	25
Lerrin LaGrow	7	3	2.46	66	0	25	98.2	81	32	27	10	38	63
Silvio Martinez	0	1	5.57	10	0	1	21.0	28	14	13	4	14	10
Steve Renko	5	0	3.54	8	8	0	53.1	55	23	21	3	17	36
Steve Stone	15	12	4.51	31	31	0	207.1	228	115	104	25	83	124
John Verhoeven	0	0	2.61	6	0	0	10.1	9	3	3	0	2	6
Randy Wiles	1	1	10.13	5	0	0	2.2	5	3	3	1	4	0
Wilbur Wood	7	8	4.99	24	18	0	122.2	139	75	68	10	50	42
Team Totals	90	72	4.25	162	162	40	1444.2	1557	771	682	136	540	842

Awards and honors

All-Stars

All-Star Game

Richie Zisk, starter, outfield

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Iowa Oaks	American Association	Joe Sparks
AA	Knoxville Knox Sox	Southern League	Jim Napier
A	Appleton Foxes	Midwest League	Gordon Lund
Rookie	GCL White Sox	Gulf Coast League	Joe Jones

Notes

^ The White Sox Encyclopedia, Richard C. Lindberg, p. 88, Temple University Press, ISBN 1-56639-449-X
Minnie Miñoso at Baseball Reference
Phil Roof at Baseball Reference
Eric Soderholm at Baseball-Reference
Royle Stillman at Baseball Reference
Rich Gossage at Baseball Reference
Mark Esser at Baseball Reference
Blue Moon Odom at Baseball Reference
Fritz Peterson at Baseball Reference
Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.94, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2
Oscar Gamble at Baseball Reference
Don Kessinger at Baseball Reference
Nyls Nyman at Baseball Reference

References

Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
1977 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Reference
1977 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Almanac

1977 MLB season by team

AL East	Baltimore Boston Cleveland Detroit Milwaukee New York Toronto
AL West	California Chicago Kansas City Minnesota Oakland Seattle Texas

NL East	Chicago Montréal New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis
NL West	Atlanta Cincinnati Houston Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco

Chicago White Sox

Established in 1900
Based in Chicago, Illinois

Franchise

Ballparks

Culture

Lore

Rivalries

Key personnel

Chairman: Jerry Reinsdorf
General Manager: Chris Getz
Special Assistant to the GM: Jim Thome
Manager: Will Venable

World Series
championships (3)

American League
championships (6)

Division championships (6)

West: 1983
1993
Central: 2000
2005
2008
2021

Wild Card berths (1)

2020

Minor league
affiliates

Charlotte Knights (Triple-A)
Birmingham Barons (Double-A)
Winston-Salem Dash (High-A)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (Single-A)
ACL White Sox (Rookie)
DSL White Sox (Rookie)

Media

Seasons (125)
1900s	1900 · 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910s	1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920s	1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930s	1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940s	1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020s	2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

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