Today in White Sox History: September 20

Frank Lange sets a rookie strikeout record

1902

Nixey Callahan threw the first no-hitter in White Sox history, as he beat the Tigers. It was just the second no-hitter in American League history.

The Sox gave him all the runs he needed by scoring three in the first inning, as the Sox won it, 3-0, in Chicago. The Tigers got one runner as far as third base, but that was it for the afternoon. Callahan walked two batters on the day; the Tigers got just one runner as far as third base.

Callahan was a two-way player for a good chunk of his career (1897-03). So at the time of this no-hitter in the 1902 season, he pitched in 35 games (0.9 WAR) and played outfield in 23 others (-0.2 WAR). By 1903, he’d shift more or less full time to ... third base ... and put up a 3.0 WAR season.

1905

With White Sox spring training having made the move from Marlin Springs, Texas to New Orleans, owner Charles Comiskey ordered a houseboat built to both house and transport the team. The South Siders trained in New Orleans for just two years (1905-06) before moving on to the more land-locked Mexico City for spring training in 1907.

The White Sox have held spring training in 25 different locations in their history, but just four over the past 68 years: Tampa and Sarasota, Fla., and Tucson and Glendale, Ariz.

1908

White Sox pitcher Frank Smith tossed his second career no-hitter, beating the Philadelphia A’s, 1-0, in Chicago. The Sox scored in the ninth inning to win the game, with the run driven in by shortstop Freddy Parent.

Smith pitched that day with the little finger of his hand being stiff and sore from trying to stop a hot shot against Cleveland in his previous start.

September 20 is the only day in franchise history where multiple no-hitters have been thrown (1902 and 1908).

1910

Rookie hurler Frank Lange had a game for the ages, winning 3-0 over the New York Highlanders. He recorded a 94 game score (tied for 22nd all-time in franchise history) that ended a White Sox run of three straight shutout wins. In the process, Lange set a rookie record of 13 strikeouts that stood alone for 83 years (Jason Bere tying Lange on Sept. 8, 1993). The righthander also helped his own cause, going 1-for-3 with two RBIs in the game.

Lange’s triumph came in the middle of a nine-game winning streak and a run of 11 of 12 for the White Sox. In fact, the terrible 1910 season was almost redeemed by its final weeks: On September 13, the club was in seventh in the AL, at 51-80, but went 17-5 to end the season in sixth, with a 68-85 overall record. A minor improvement, perhaps; but given the glorious decade to come (eight of 10 winning years), perhaps it was an appropriate finish.

2005

With the White Sox struggling through eight losses in 11 games — the worst slump of what would become a rare, wire-to-wire first-place season — Joe Crede slugged a leadoff homer in the bottom of the 10th for a sayonara shot that upended second-place Cleveland, 7-6.

The White Sox had the game in hand, but rookie Bobby Jenks blew the second save of his career in the ninth, furthering the trend of the club over the past 13 days, as Cleveland shaved SIX games off of a once 9 1⁄2-game lead in the AL Central.

Chicago wasn’t out of the woods yet, as over the next few days Cleveland would trim the division lead to 1 1⁄2 games; a late kick saw the White Sox swell the lead back to its final six games, including an end-of-season sweep of the Tribe that knocked them out of the playoffs entirely. Combining the five-game winning streak to end the regular season with the 11-1 run in the playoffs, the White Sox ended 2005 winning 16 of 17 games.

The homer was Crede’s second of the contest, capping a 3-for-5, three-RBI day.