1920
For a few days, the White Sox were members of the National League.
With many owners dissatisfied with the National Agreement (governing the game, the majors, the minors, and all baseball commerce), 11 clubs hatched a plan to form a new National League — a single league including every team. Included in this “Allied Eleven” were the White Sox.
With all 16 MLB teams gathering at the Congress Hotel in Chicago, the “Allied Eleven” met in one room and “Loyal Five” (to the American League, consisting
of Cleveland, Detroit, the Philadelphia A’s, St. Louis Browns and Washington) another, with Senators owner Clark Griffith shuttling between the two rooms as messenger. When agreement couldn’t be struck to keep the AL-NL MLB dynamic going, the White Sox, Yankees and Red Sox all resigned from the AL and joined the National League.
Cooler heads prevailed four days later, with the leagues remaining intact and the approval of Kenesaw Landis as baseball’s first commissioner was a key part of a redrawn National Agreement. The decisions and changes made at these 1920 meetings largely define the structure of baseball today, more than 100 years later.
1940
Joe Nossek, longtime White Sox coach over two stints in Chicago, was born, in Cleveland. He first joined Tony La Russa’s staff from 1984 to 1986, and returned for a much longer stint that represented his last work in the majors, from 1991-2003. Nossek was a bench coach during some of his second tenure with the White Sox, but was known as an “eye in the sky” coach, specializing in stealing signs from opponents.
Nossek honed his bird-dogging skills as a seven-year outfielder in the majors, suiting up for the Twins, A’s and Cardinals.
1977
The upstart South Side Hit Men, who led the AL West for about a third of the season and took baseball by storm in peaking at 25 games better than .500, were laid to rest with the loss of outfielder and folk hero Richie Zisk, who signed a 10-year, $2.3 million deal with the Texas Rangers.
Zisk was the lone All-Star for the White Sox in 1977, finishing seventh on the club with 2.7 WAR, and fifth among hitters. His 30 home runs were second on the team; among them one ball on the Comiskey Park roof and another in its center field bleachers, rare feats both.
Zisk duplicated his All-Star selection in Texas in 1978, but never again came close to the production he put up for the White Sox. He was out of baseball with four seasons still remaining on his contract.
Losing Zisk spotlighted the down side of owner Bill Veeck’s desperate Rent-a-Player concept, as star relievers Terry Forster and Goose Gossage had been shipped out to secure just one year of the slugger.
1999
South Carolina Rep. Jim DeMint’s resolution to honor Shoeless Joe Jackson is passed in the House of Representatives, with the author saying, “it is worthy for this body to take a few minutes to stand up for fairness, and right an old wrong.” While the resolution certainly takes its spirit from Jackson’s depiction in Field of Dreams than the outfielder’s own confession as a participant in the Black Sox scandal, but it stops short of calling for Jackson’s Hall of Fame induction.
Jackson was never listed on a Hall of Fame ballot despite being eligible for the Hall until 1991, when the decision was made that players on the permanently ineligible list cannot be eligible for induction. Due to a reversal of status by commissioner Rob Manfred, as of 2025 Jackson is again Hall-eligible.
2000
On the basis of an unexpected Central Division championship and 95-win season, White Sox skipper Jerry Manuel was named the Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America. He ran away with the award, beating out Art Howe of Oakland, 134-74. Manuel got 25 first-place votes out of a possible 28. Part of the rout stemmed from the fact that the young White Sox commanded such a paltry payroll, ranking 21st out of 30 teams.
However, Manuel wasn’t able to work any magic in the playoffs, as his pitching staff was in shambles due to injury, and they were swept out in three straight by the Mariners.
