1943
Holding a slim 5-4 lead in the top of the ninth at Fenway Park, the White Sox rallied to load the bases with two outs. With Mike Tresh at the plate, Don Kolloway broke from third base and scored before Red Sox pitcher Oscar Judd could deliver the ball home, with Luke Appling stealing third base and Joe Kuhel second. As the ball got away from catcher Roy Partee, Appling attempted to scamper home from second but was tagged out to end the inning.
The Carmines went down in order, taking the 6-4 defeat
and improving the White Sox to 15-16 on the season.
1963
With the White Sox in first place, another freak injury occurred that was reminiscent of past bizarre circumstances, costing the team dearly. First baseman Joe Cunningham, who hit .295 with 70 RBIs and 101 walks in 1962, broke his collarbone in Los Angeles running out a ground ball in the fifth inning.
Cunningham was trying to avoid stepping on Angels first baseman Charlie Dees’ foot, so he twisted and lost his balance, tripping over the bag and crashing down to the ground; a wild throw from second baseman Billy Moran that started the sequence.
Cunningham didn’t return until September. Tommy McCraw was called up to replace him, but just couldn’t fill the bill. The team’s decline set in quickly after Cunningham’s injury, even though the club finished the season in second place at 94-68, 10 ½ games behind the Yankees.
1995
After the White Sox had gone almost four years without a sayonara home run, Dave Martinez connected with a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth to win, 10-6, vs. Detroit. It was Chicago’s fourth walk-off in new Comiskey history.
Although the homer didn’t save the White Sox from a loss, as the game was tied heading into last ups, there was still drama. Lance Johnson and Tim Raines were retired, and then a two-out rally began, as Frank Thomas worked a walk from reliever Joe Boever and Mike Devereaux singled him to second. Then the decision was made to intentionally walk Robin Ventura to get to Martinez, a disrespect that apparently made Dave none too happy: On a 1-2 pitch, the right fielder ripped a screamer deep and out into the right-field stands.
It was the second straight walk-off win for the White Sox, in the middle of five other losses.
2001
Speaking of walk-offs at Sox Park, Paul Konerko crushed a three-run homer deep to left in the bottom of the 10th to spur a 9-6 win over Detroit. The South Siders fell behind, 6-0, in the eighth, before reeling off nine unanswered runs for the win.
With one out in the ninth, Chris Singleton clocked a double to tie the game, 6-6, against Detroit closer Todd Jones (Singleton was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a triple). Then, in the 10th, Herbert Perry singled with two outs against Jones, who then balked Perry to second and intentionally walked Ray Durham. Matt Anderson took over for Jones, ran the count to two balls vs. PK, then served up a center-cut, triple-digit fastball to the slugger.
The comeback fueled hope that the defending division champs could get back on track (the win got them to just 23-30 on the season, already buried deep behind Minnesota in the AL Central); alas, the Sox would get no closer than 6 ½ games all season, finishing at 83-79.
2019
With the No. 3 overall pick in the MLB draft, the White Sox picked Andrew Vaughn, a first baseman from the University of California. The slugger won the Golden Spikes Award in 2018.
It marked just the third time since 1977 (Harold Baines, first overall) that the White Sox had such a high draft pick (2013, Carlos Rodón, No. 3 overall). Vaughn took an unorthodox route to the majors, jumping in 2021 from High-A to the South Side after missing the entire 2020 season due to the pandemic. Vaughn became the first player from the 2019 draft to make the majors.
That route appears not to have worked, given Vaughn’s unorthodox route out of the majors, namely being demoted in May 2025 after a horrible start to his MLB season. In fact, over five seasons and 610 games, Vaughn registered just 0.3 WAR for the White Sox — a No. 3 overall pick whose value is of a replacement player.
2023
It was, truly, a most bizarre game.
The White Sox beat the Tigers, 2-1, at Guaranteed Rate Field — with every run in the game scoring on wild pitches! That had never happened before since the live ball (1920) was introduced to the game.
The winning run scored in the last of the 10th when Detroit pitcher Jose Cisnero’s 97 mph fastball struck home plate umpire Cory Blaser in the face mask, knocking him down and bounding away from home plate. Yoán Moncada scored on the play.
