Today in White Sox History: March 16
An opera about baseball? You betcha
1900
American League president Ban Johnson unveiled a key new city for the junior circuit: Chicago. Charles Comiskey, tight with Johnson to the point of sharing office space with him in Chicago, will move his St. Paul Saints into town to join the AL.
Johnson brokers an agreement with the Chicago Orphans (Cubs) both to share the city and use the old NL nickname of White Stockings. In a hilariously strange and short-sighted concession, the NL club insists the White Stockings not use “Chicago” in their name (?).
The White Sox will win the AL’s first two pennants, in 1900 and 1901.
1903
Taking over for the successful but feisty and power-hungry Clark Griffith, Nixey Callahan was named the third manager in the four years of White Sox history. Callahan was a pitcher-turned-outfielder (he threw the first no-hitter in team history, on Sept. 20, 1902) who was a failure as a skipper. After a 60-77-1 finish in 1903 for the first losing season in White Sox history, Callahan lasted only 41 games into 1904 before resigning in order to concentrate on his duties as a player. He would return to the White Sox to manage from 1912 to 1914, but remained the first manager in White Sox history saddled with a losing record for his career.
1983
Rudy Law made a bold prediction in White Sox camp in Sarasota, Fla.:
Law was coming off of a brilliant first campaign in Chicago after being squeezed out of Los Angeles and its talent-laden roster: .318/.361/.438 with 36 steals (78.3% success rate) and 2.5 WAR while playing in three-quarters of White Sox games.
He mostly made good on his prediction, suffering a bit on offense (.283/.340/.369) but stealing a club-record 77 bases at an unbelievably 86.5% success rate. His 3.2 WAR help land him 21st in MVP voting in 1983.
2019
On the 100th anniversary of the Black Sox scandal, Minnesota Opera premieres “The Fix,” a two-act opera based taking place in 1919 and 1920.