Today in White Sox History: December 23
Arson damages the club’s first ballpark
1940
The original home of the White Sox before Comiskey Park, South Side Park III, was damaged by a late-night fire set by intruders to the property.
The ballpark, then being used by the Chicago American Giants of the Negro Leagues, did $2,000 worth of damage (about $45,000 today) to the wooden grandstands. The club decided not to rebuild the then-40 year old structure, instead moving to Comiskey Park and sharing the facility with the White Sox.
1990
White Sox fans got an early Christmas gift, as new GM Ron Schueler made one of his first and best deals.
Schueler sent outfielder Iván Calderón and pitcher Barry Jones to Montreal for All-Star left fielder and stolen base threat Tim “Rock” Raines, pitcher Jeff Carter and a player to be named later (on February 15, pitcher Mario Brito was sent to Chicago to complete the deal).
Raines would provide speed at the top of the order, swiping 143 bases in his five years with the Sox. He hit .444 in the 1993 ALCS against Toronto. His 16.6 WAR in five seasons (highlighted by a powerful 6.3 in 1992) ranks 38th all-time among White Sox hitters and 65th all-time among all players. Raines was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2017.
Carter pitched in just five career games with the White Sox in 1991, which comprised his only MLB experience. Calderon had a superb 3.3 WAR season, which actually nipped Raines’ performance by a hair in 1991, but fell off the face of the Earth after that, playing in just 130 games over the next three seasons and ending with a nine-game cameo back with the White Sox in 1993. Jones immediately began to slide, and ironically enough finished up his career, like Calderon, with a short cameo back on the 1993 White Sox.
2006
It was a risky move, but one that paid off handsomely: GM Ken Williams dealt promising starter Brandon McCarthy and minor league outfielder David Paisano to Texas for minor league southpaw John Danks, reliever Nick Masset and minor league starter Jake Rasner.
McCarthy was a godsend in the home stretch of 2005, pitching well over 12 games (10 starts), to a 1.2 WAR and 112 ERA+. He spent 2006 in the bullpen, where he was solid but unspectacular (1.1 WAR, 102 ERA+). Given McCarthy was somewhat blocked out of the major league rotation, Williams rolled the dice on Danks, who was Texas’ first round pick (No. 9 overall) in 2003. Though he had thrown just 14 unspectacular games in Triple-A, Danks broke camp with the White Sox in 2007 and started 26 games. Thus began a 10-season, 20.2-WAR career on the South Side, including a career-highlight win in shutting out Minnesota in 2008’s tiebreaker game.
He remains the 21st-best pitcher and 46th-best overall player in White Sox history. Save for the 2011-12 seasons in Oakland, McCarthy never fulfilled his great promise, ending his career with just 7.7 WAR in his post-White Sox career and 10.0 WAR overall.