1979 Chicago White Sox season

Major League Baseball season

The 1979 Chicago White Sox season was the team’s 80th season overall, and their 79th in Major League Baseball. The team finished in fifth place in the American League West with a record of 73 wins and 87 losses, 15 games behind the first-place California Angels.

Regular season[edit]

The team opened the season with reserve infielder Don Kessinger acting as player-manager. He was relieved of his managerial duties on August 2, with the team’s record at 46-60, at which point he also retired as a player. He was replaced by coach Tony La Russa, making his major league managerial debut. The team went 27-27 the rest of the season.

Season standings[edit]

Record vs. opponents[edit]

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	8–5	9–3	8–3	8–5	7–6	6–6	8–5	8–4	5–6	8–4	10–2	6–6	11–2
Boston	5–8	—	5–7	5–6	6–7	8–5	8–4	8–4	9–3	5–8	9–3	8–4	6–6	9–4
California	3–9	7–5	—	9–4	6–6	4–8	7–6	7–5	9–4	7–5	10–3	7–6	5–8	7–5
Chicago	3–8	6–5	4–9	—	6–6	3–9	5–8	5–7	5–8	4–8	9–4	5–8	11–2	7–5
Cleveland	5–8	7–6	6–6	6–6	—	6–6	6–6	4–9	8–4	5–8	8–4	7–5	5–7	8–5
Detroit	6–7	5–8	8–4	9–3	6–6	—	5–7	6–7	4–8	7–6	7–5	7–5	6–6	9–4
Kansas City	6–6	4–8	6–7	8–5	6–6	7–5	—	5–7	7–6	5–7	9–4	7–6	6–7	9–3
Milwaukee	5–8	4–8	5–7	7–5	9–4	7–6	7–5	—	8–4	9–4	6–6	9–3	9–3	10–3
Minnesota	4–8	3–9	4–9	8–5	4–8	8–4	6–7	4–8	—	7–5	9–4	10–3	4–9	11–1
New York	6–5	8–5	5–7	8–4	8–5	6–7	7–5	4–9	5–7	—	9–3	6–6	8–4	9–4
Oakland	4–8	3–9	3–10	4–9	4–8	5–7	4–9	6–6	4–9	3–9	—	8–5	2–11	4–8
Seattle	2–10	4–8	6–7	8–5	5–7	5–7	6–7	3–9	3–10	6–6	5–8	—	6–7	8–4
Texas	6–6	6–6	8–5	2–11	7–5	6–6	7–6	3–9	9–4	4–8	11–2	7–6	—	7–5
Toronto	2–11	4–9	5–7	5–7	5–8	4–9	3–9	3–10	1–11	4–9	8–4	4–8	5–7	—

Opening Day lineup[edit]

• Harry Chappas, SS
• Claudell Washington, RF
• Chet Lemon, CF
• Jorge Orta, DH
• Lamar Johnson, 1B
• Alan Bannister, 2B
• Ralph Garr, LF
• Eric Soderholm, 3B
• Marv Foley, C
• Ken Kravec, P

Notable transactions[edit]

Roster[edit]

Disco Demolition Night[edit]

Disco Demolition Night (also known as “Anti-Disco Night” and “Disco Sucks Night”) was a promotional event that took place on July 12, 1979, at Comiskey Park in Chicago. It was held during a scheduled twi-night doubleheader between the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers. After the first game, a throng of fans stormed the field, damaging it so badly that the second game had to be forfeited to Detroit.

Player stats[edit]

Batting[edit]

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Base on balls; SO = Strikeouts; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	SB
Alan Bannister, 2B,LF,3B,DH	136	506	71	144	28	8	2	55	43	40	.285	22
Kevin Bell, 3B	70	200	20	49	8	1	4	22	15	43	.245	2
Thad Bosley, OF	36	77	13	24	1	1	1	8	9	14	.312	4
Harry Chappas, SS	26	59	9	17	1	0	1	4	5	5	.288	1
Mike Colbern, C	32	83	5	20	5	1	0	8	4	25	.241	0
Marv Foley, C	34	97	6	24	3	0	2	10	7	5	.247	0
Ralph Garr, LF,DH	102	307	34	86	10	2	9	39	17	19	.280	2
Joe Gates, 2B	16	16	5	1	0	1	0	1	2	3	.063	1
Lamar Johnson, 1B,DH	133	479	60	148	29	1	12	74	41	56	.309	8
Don Kessinger, SS	56	110	14	22	6	0	1	7	10	12	.200	1
Rusty Kuntz, OF	5	11	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	6	.091	0
Chet Lemon, CF	148	556	79	177	44	2	17	86	56	68	.318	7
Milt May, C	65	202	23	51	13	0	7	28	14	27	.252	0
Junior Moore, LF,RF,DH	88	201	24	53	6	2	1	23	12	20	.264	0
Jim Morrison, 2B,3B	67	240	38	66	14	0	14	35	15	48	.275	11
Bill Nahorodny, C,DH	65	179	20	46	10	0	6	29	18	23	.257	0
Wayne Nordhagen, DH,RF,LF,C	78	193	20	54	15	0	7	25	13	22	.280	0
Jorge Orta, DH,2B	113	325	49	85	18	3	11	46	44	33	.262	1
Greg Pryor, SS,2B,3B	143	476	60	131	23	3	3	34	35	41	.275	3
Eric Soderholm, 3B	56	210	31	53	8	2	6	34	19	19	.252	0
Mike Squires, 1B	122	295	44	78	10	1	2	22	22	9	.264	15
Rusty Torres, OF	90	170	26	43	5	0	8	24	23	37	.253	0
Claudell Washington, RF,DH	131	471	79	132	33	5	13	66	28	93	.280	19
Team totals	160	5463	730	1505	290	33	127	680	454	668	.275	97

Pitching[edit]

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; HR = Home runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Farm system[edit]

References[edit]