This Date In Sox History 11-27

[Lip Man 1]

November 27, 1938 - Sox star pitcher Monty Stratton, an American League All Star in 1937 and one of the best young players in the game, accidentally shoots himself in the leg when his .32 caliber pistol discharges when he was replacing it in his holster. Stratton had been out hunting. Unable to get help, he crawled a half mile to a road leading into Greenville, Texas. The bullet pierced a femoral artery which stopped circulation to the limb and it had to be amputated. His four year career was ended. He eventually came back to play in a few minor league games using a wooden leg. In 1948 Hollywood made ‘The Stratton Story,’ starring Jimmy Stewart, June Allyson and former Sox manager Jimmy Dykes.

November 27, 1951 - Another one of Frank Lane’s best deals. On this date, Lane sent five players to the St. Louis Browns for three players, one of whom would be catcher Sherm Lollar. Lollar would become a three time All Star and a three time Gold Glove winner. Of the players sent to St. Louis, one of them, "Jungle" Jim Rivera, would be reacquired by the Sox that July.

November 27, 1961 - In a bizarre coincidence both "Minnie" Minoso and Joe Cunningham were at the same sports banquet in Joliet when word came that the Sox and Cardinals had made a trade. The deal was Minoso for Cunningham! Cunningham became perhaps the finest fielding first baseman in franchise history ranking right up there with Joe Kuhel and Tony Muser. In 1962 Joe would reach base 268 times and lead the Sox in walks, runs, sacrifice flies and bunts.

November 27, 1981 - It was a move criticized at the time as Sox G.M. Roland Hemond sends outfielder Chet Lemon to the Tigers for outfielder Steve Kemp. The swap of All Stars left Sox fans shaking their heads since Kemp would become a free agent after the upcoming season. He’d eventually sign a big money contract with the Yankees after knocking in 98 runs for the Sox. However what wasn’t known at the time, was that the Sox weren’t going to re-sign Lemon either after he refused to sign a contract extension that was agreed to in principal. (Lemon went into details about this scenario in his interview with White Sox Interactive.)

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Lip

[chisox77]

I remember the Lemon for Kemp deal. In many ways, it worked out well for the Sox. They got one of Kemp's last productive years, because after he signed a lucrative deal with the Yankees, he struggled. Much of that was due to injuries, but he struggled nontheless.

Meanwhile, this eventually created room in LF for Ron Kittle (especially his excellent rookie year). There was another deal, with the Dodgers, I think, that brought Rudy Law to the White Sox and gave us a short term solution to CF (base stealing ability, covered the gaps with a decent glove, decent hitter, though Law's arm was suspect).

I remember Kemp playing LF much of the time (at least it seemed that way - every game I went to in '82 I saw him play left). LeFlore was in CF, but wore out his welcome with inconsistent play. Kemp was, IMO, a hustler in the field, and a pretty good left handed hitter. That '82 team got off to a very fast start (28-13 at one point), but had streaks of good play, and bad play. The Sox were 87-75 if I remember, and it seemed like they were getting close to something.


:cool:

[Lip Man 1]

The Sox were actually 20-10 that year, best record in the majors after beating I think, Texas.

Lip

[Brian26]

A young Brian26 attended his first ever Sox game on Fan Appreciation Day in September of '82. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon at the old cathedral. The sun was shining on the empty green seats of the upper deck and the sparkling manicured grass in the outfield. Everything seemed bigger than life, especially the new scoreboard. Ribbie and Roobarb were driving around pre-game on their three-wheeler ATVs. Jay Loviglio was the starting second baseman, and Lorenzo Gray started at the hot corner. The season was essentially over, and so was Steve Kemp's pale hose career. The only bad memory I have of that day was Kemp snubbing me for an autograph in front of the picnic area. His career only went downhill after that. He hit .241 with a monstrous 12 hrs in '84 with the Yankees. :D:

[SBSoxFan]

The Sox were actually 20-10 that year, best record in the majors after beating I think, Texas.

Lip

And didn't they win their first 8 games or so? There was a 1-page article in SI called "Speaking of Streaks," with, if I recall correctly, a prominent picture of the Kemper, about the Sox start which followed a much longer article about another unbeaten team. Looking at baseballreference.com, it must have been Atlanta, which started the season 13-0.

[Lip Man 1]

Yes the Sox started the 1982 season (after the snow delay) ripping off the first eight. They won a pair in New York on opening day, swept Boston at Fenway, then came home to sweep Baltimore.

Lip

[wilburaga]

Yes the Sox started the 1982 season (after the snow delay) ripping off the first eight.

Lip

With the rookie, Salome Barojas, saving 5 of them.

W