1973 Chicago White Sox - 77-85 - 5th Pl AL West - 17GB

It was all lollipops and gum drops and rainbows in the Southside of Chicago according to a March 12, 1973 Sports Illustrated Preview article (No Holes in these Sox) by William Leggett.  Coming off a close finish in 1972 where the Chisox finished 5 1/2 back of the eventual champion A's prognosticators thought this might just be their year.  The logic that they used was simple:  Chicago led the division by a 1/2 game on August 28th and stuck close even though their big bopper, Bill Melton, missed 105 games.  Common sense reasoning said, if Melton was in the lineup they should have won the division.  Well, with him scheduled back for 1973 the White Sox were thinking flag.  It all looked like it was going according to plan with the team holding a share of 1st or being within a game as late as July.  But the bottom fell out of their season on June 13th.  Allen suffered a hairline fracture of a bone in his right leg in a collision with the Angels’ Mike Epstein, and was out of action for a month. Controversy erupted over the length of Allen’s absence. Some accused him of being a malingerer, claiming that the injury was not as serious as he claimed. Critics noted that he walked without his crutches while attending the All-Star Game in Kansas City. But Allen did attempt to play again in 1973, returning to the lineup on July 31. He went 3-for-4, limped noticeably, and was shut down for the remainder of the season on August 2. (according to a SABR article).

With the reigning 1972 AL MVP out of the lineup the Sox were toast.  Melton had a comeback year with 20 homers, 87 RBI and a .277 average, but without Allen the lineup didn't scare anyone.  Lost in the Allen windstorm  was the fact that the starting rotation was subpar at best.  After Wilbur Wood (24-20, 3.46, 359IP), who ate innings like Wimpy at Burgers, the rotation had an underachieving Stan Bahnsen (18-21, 3.57), a young Steve Stone (6-11, 4.24) and an elderly Eddie Fisher (6-7, 4.88).  Manager Chuck Tanner had so little confidence in his arms that he handed the ball to Wood an incredible 48 times as a starter.  Lefty knuckleballers are rare and Wood's ability to pitch both ends of a double header were even rarer.  The bullpen was the strength of this team.  Cy Acosta and Terry Foster was a fine righty/lefty combo that combined for 34 saves and 168 innings.  The regression of 23 year old Bart Johnson hurt big time.

In the end pennant fever on the Southside turned into a 5th place finish as the team crumbled over the course of the final 3 months of the season.  Their only hope would be "next year" with a healthy Allen in the final year of a huge 3 year deal.

22 new cards were created to round out the 1973 Set for the Pale Hose.

Rookie Bill Sharp did quite well as the the Chisox starting centerfielder (.276-4-22).  His average dropped 23 points the following season, which might have precipitated a trade to Milwaukee early on during the '75 season.  Sharp was a good glove no power guy.  He stole very few bases and didn't seem to walk a lot either.  He was out of baseball after the '77 season.  Sharp got his chance to play when key off season acquisition Ken Henderson went down.  He hit a woeful .224 through August, but caught fire hitting .380 during the final month of the season.  Before baseball he played a couple of years for Woody Hayes at Ohio State, where he returned after his baseball days to complete his college education.

In his early days in Chicago Downing was a catching prospect who wasn't great defensively behind the plate.  For most of his 5 years in Chicago he didn't add too much at the plate either.  When he moved to the Angels in 1978 and embraced the DH and LF positions his bat came alive to the tune of .271 with 222 homers.  Downing continued to rake well into his early 40's and finished up with identical .278 seasons with the Rangers before hanging it up in 1992 at the age of 42.  In 20 seasons he never struck out more than 87 times.  His lifetime OBP of .370 was impressive.  Nobody could see how good he would be after going 13-73 in 34 games for the '73 Chisox.

Russell Earl Dent, better known as Bucky debuted for the Chisox on June 1st in a 5-3 loss to the Brewers.  12 days later in Detroit he would get his first hit.  He was sent down to AAA for more seasoning then returned for good on August 14th when he assumed the starting role at SS.  Dent was an immediate success and was hitting .284 on September 21st, but a slump during the final week of the season brought his average down to .248 on the season.  Bucky was the White Sox starting SS for the next 3 seasons, until the Yankees pried him away from the Southside of Chicago.  In New York he earned 2 championship rings and hit one of the most famous home runs in franchise history earning him the name Bucky F'in Dent in Boston.

For most of his career Bradford was the classic 4th of 5th outfielder.  He could play all 3 outfield positions and he could chip in with a hit or two here and there.  1973 marked the 2nd year of his 2nd stint in Chicago.  White Sox management liked him so much they brought him back for a 3rd time in 1976, which was the final season of an 11 year career.  Bradford was known for his solid glove and strong arm.  After being released by the Chisox he played one season in Japan (1977).

After 7 seasons as a coach/manager in the Angels system Tanner was hired by the White Sox to manage the team for the final 16 games of a very forgettable season.  In his first full season as a manager he helped the team improve by 21 games.  The following season he got them into contention and was one Bill Melton injury away from a division tittle.  Having hitched his wagon to Dick Allen Tanner saw the team drop 8 games under .500 in 1973 thanks to a broken leg that kept his superstar out of the lineup for close to 3 months.  The team made up those 8 games to finish .500 the following year.  After dropping below .500 in 1975 he was let go by the team.  In 1976 he was tapped to try to get one last playoff run out of the fading A's dynasty and came up short.  He quickly moved over to Pittsburgh where he won the 1979 World Championship with the "We Are Family" Bucs.

Baldwin spent 4 years with the Senators in the late 60's and one season with the Brewers (1970) before disappearing for 2 seasons in AAA-Hawaii.  He made one more guest appearance in the majors in the form of 3 games with the Chisox in '73.  Then it was back to the farm for another season before hanging it up.  Baldwin is in the Baseball HOF in Cooperstown...not as a player, but as an artist.  His painting "Fugue for the Pepper Players" is part of a collection of artwork on display.

Jim O'Toole's kid brother did not enjoy the same type of major league career his brother, 12 years his senior, did.  Denny was purely a fringe player who for 5 consecutive seasons had a cup of coffee on 35th street, but spent the lion share of his time down on the farm.  Sadly the brothers missed playing together in Chicago by 2 seasons with Jim's final year in the majors being 1967 and Denny's first in 1969.  Denny had no record and a 5.63 ERA in 6 relief appearances for the '73 Chisox.  He spent 2 more seasons after that in the minors and was released at the age of 26.

The light hitting Leon heard the footsteps of young Mr. Dent inching up behind him.  Leon was a sound fielder more cut out to be a utility player than a starting SS, which he was in '73 until Dent arrived.  In 127 games he hit .228 and struck out an amazing 103 times for aguy who hit only 3 homers.  My guess is that he went long ball crazy after hitting 10 dingers 3 years earlier for Cleveland.  Leon barely played over the next two seasons, one with the Chisox and the other just 1 game in the Bronx.  Two seasons in Mexico would follow before his active playing days were over.  Leon has the distinction of being drafted 3 times in the 1st round, but chose to go to college (University of Arizona) the first 2 times.  After baseball he got his degree in civil engineering.  His boyhood idol was Mickey Mantle and he grew up a Yankee fan.

Harold Andrew "Hank" Allen had the distinction of being Dick Allen's older less accomplished brother.  Many speculated that the Chisox "carried" Hank in order to "baby sit" the enigmatic Dick "Don't call me Richie" Allen.  Hank's batting average was barely on the interstate (.103), which was 40 points lower than his awful average the previous year.  His best seasons was back in 1969 with Ted Williams' Senators where he hit .277.  After being released by Chicago he signed with the Padres and spent a season in the tropical paradise of Hawaii and hit just .203 in 17 games.

1973 marked the first year in Hairston's first tour of duty on 35th Street.  Hairston hit .271 while playing both LF and 1B.  The White Sox discovered early on that he hit line drives, but would never hit for enough power to hold down a corner outfield or infield spot.  After 4 1/2 years of playing semi-regularly he was dealt to the Pirates where he hit a miserable .192 to finish off the '77 season.  For the next 4 seasons he took his bat and headed south to Mexico, then rejoined the White Sox for the 2nd half of the 1981 Strike season.  For the next 8 seasons he settled into a role of DH/PH before hanging it up after the 1989 season.

On August 15th The White Sox selected "Kitty" off of waivers from the only team he ever played for, the Minnesota Twins.  Kitty spent 15 years with Minnesota and after sarting '73 11-12, 4.41 was deemed expendable.  Chicago knew he had plenty of bullets left in his left arm and he rewarded them with consecutive 20 win seasons in '74 and '75.  He was 4-1 in his 7 starts for the Chisox in '73.  Kitty pitched until he was 44 and came up 17 wins shy of 300, which is probably the reason he's not in Cooperstown.  He won an incredible 17 straight Gold Gloves.  He pitched in 4 World Series games in 1982 for the champion Cardinals at the age of 43.

McGlothlin tragically died at the young age of 32 from leukemia, just 2 years after he threw his final major league pitch on September 28th, 1973 for the Chisox.  He appeared in 5 games and started 1 for the White Sox and had a 0-1, 3.93 record.

Keough's first at bat in the majors, in 1968, resulted in a home run off of Yankee reliever Lindy McDaniel.  In the expansion draft he was taken by the Royals where he he played for the next 4 seasons.  Chicago acquired him in the off-season and sent him to AAA-Iowa where he hit .258 with just 4 homers in 108 games.  He played in just 5 games for the parent club and went 0 for 1.

Jeter came to Chicago figuring he was going to be the starting centerfielder.  When Ken Henderson arrived from San Fran those hopes were dashed.  In 300 AB's spread among all 3 OF positions he hit .240 with 7 longballs.  1974 would find him on his 4th team (CLE) in 6 years.  He barely touched the field at the "mistake by the lake" having spent 76 games down in AAA, where he hit .285.  For the next two seasons he was out of baseball completely.  He resurfaced in 1977 in Tampico of the Mexican League and again in 1979 in Santo Domingo of the ill fated IAML.

Drafted by the White Sox in the fifth round of the 1966 Major League Baseball draft, Frailing spent seven seasons in the ChiSox farm system before his recall in the closing weeks of the 1972 season. He appeared in four games in relief that year, then ten more in 1973 during a year largely spent with the Triple-A Iowa Oaks. However, his success in the minor leagues that season — he won 11 of 14 decisions with a stellar 2.86 earned run average and was named to the official American Association All-Star Team — attracted the attention of the crosstown Cubs, who asked that Frailing be included in the blockbuster Ron Santo trade that off-season.

After hitting .409 (45 for 110) with 11 homers and 28 RBI's in August of 1972 Henderson caught the White Sox eye.  His present team, the Giants thought that this would be the best time to trade him and get equal value, so they could clear room for Gary Matthews.  The switch hitting Henderson was an above average hitter and fielder, but he had the audacity to come up short of expectations, which were simply to be the man to replace Willie Mays.  OK, nobody was Mays before Mays, and nobody has been Mays after Mays.  Simply put saying someone is going to be the next Willie Mays is like putting a curse on his career.  The White Sox had more modest goals for Henderson.  They just wanted him to be their everyday centerfielder and hit about 15 homers.  After winning the starting job in spring training things were going according to plan.  Henderson was hitting a more than acceptable .311 with 2 homers when he got injured in late May and missed well over a month of action.  He returned on July 1st and played about a month, but couldn't get healthy.  His season was done on August 7th and his final #'s were .260-6-32 in just 73 games.

Thanks to this Topps Vault photo I was able to rescue Alvarado from a horrible horizontal card where it looks like he's playing pick up ball on a crappy sandlot right next to a parking lot.  You can't even make out if it's actually him playing.  I think if you zoom in closely you can see Coach Buttermaker sitting in a '59 Caddy sipping Budweisers.  Pimba was in his 3rd season as the White Sox's primary utility infielder.  He hit .232 in what would turn out to be his last full season in Chicago before packing his bags to head to 5 different teams in 4 years.

Andrews started the season in Chicago and was one tick above the Mendoza line when the team released him on July 16th.  15 days later the defending champion Oakland A's picked him up off the scrap heap to help them with their infield woes.  This was a 29 year old Andrews, who was nothing like the sure handed 23 year old version that hit .308 for the Red Sox in the '67 Series.  This Andrews would go on to make some big errors for the A's in the Series and spark controversy when owner Charlie Finley forced him to say he was injured so he could be replaced on the active roster.  Andrews wouldn't perjure himself and the commissioner of baseball reinstated him.  That event sealed his fate with the A's and he was released minutes after the last cork was popped from championship bubbly.  After sitting out the full 1974 season he took a trip to the far east and played one sub par season for Kinetsu of the Japanese league.

Harvard grad Pete Varney was promoted from AAA-Iowa after hitting 18 homers in 350 AB's. He went 0-4 with a walk in his brief cup of Joe in Comiskey.  1974 was a repeat of 1973.  1975 saw him get 107 AB's and hit .271.  That would be the apex of his major league career.  The following season he split time between the Chisox and Atlanta's AAA-Richmond, where he spent the full '77 season.  After hitting .285 with 10 homers he was treated more like a suspect than a prospect and released.

On July 27th, 1973 Chicago's GM Stuard Holcomb resigned.  A day later the team cut Reichardt, who at the time was hitting .275.  The new GM must have had a crystal ball or something, because 7 days later his castoff was picked up by the Royals and hit just .220. The following season he would get one AB and was out of baseball.  Amazing how fast one can fall from grace in a competitive sport like baseball.  Reichardt was a huge 2 sport star at Wisconsin and even started at fullback in the Rose Bowl.  In 11 major league seasons he hit .261 with 116 homers during an offensively challenged era of the mid 60's to early 70's.

Sam Ewing was hitting .292 with 12 homers in AAA-Iowa when the big club promoted him in September.  After hitting just .150 (3-20) in 11 games it was determined that he needed more seasoning.  After 2 more successful seasons in AAA he was given another cup of Joe and again he came up short.  Chicago believed he was a classic AAAA player and left him unprotected in the expansion draft where he was selected by Toronto.  The Jays looked like geniuses when he hit .287 for them during their inaugural season, but like water mediocre players seek their level and Ewing's level was about .179, which is what he hit in 1978 before being farmed out to AAA-Syracuse.  Toronto decided to part company with the 29 year old, who took his talents to Japan for one solid season.  Hoping to catch lightning in a bottle he signed a minor league deal with his old team the White Sox who sent him back to his old Iowa stomping grounds.  In 30 games he hit a cool .337, but did not get a call to return to the windy city.

Stoney was a flop in 2 seasons in San Fran and was a throw in along with Ken Henderson in a preseason trade.  Stone went 6-11, 4.24 in 22 starts and was shipped crosstown to the Cubbies as part of the Santo deal the following season.  After 3 decent seasons on the Northside of town he wound up back on the Southside of town for two solid years.  Then it was of to Baltimore where he got to pitch for a pennant winner in 1979 and at 32 years of age in 1980 he won the AL Cy Young Award with a 25-7, 3.23 record.  The following season he hurt his arm and was out of baseball as an active player.  Stone eventually caught on with the Cubbies as Harry Caray's sidekick in the broadcast booth.