Today in White Sox History: December 26
Another day, another horrible free agent signing by Chris Getz
1890
Harry Grabiner, first and longest general manager of the White Sox, was born in Chicago.
He was a 40-year employee of the team, rising literally from peanut vendor to vice president. Grabiner served under three Comiskey owners: Charles, J. Louis, and Grace. At the time, “general manager” wasn’t really a stand-alone position, so Grabiner was the club secretary, traveling secretary, GM and more, all rolled into one.
Given his 30 years at the helm, Grabiner witnessed a full range of White Sox history: The glory of a crosstown World Series win in 1906 and the 100-win title team in 1917, the shame of the Black Sox, and the withering aftermath of their banishment. In fact, over the final 25 years of Grabiner’s tenure, the White Sox were a first-division team just five times, suffering through some of what to this day stand as the franchise’s worst seasons.
Resigning due to poor health after a 71-78-1 1945 season that saw the White Sox finish sixth in the AL, Grabiner got restless by the next year and caught on with Bill Veeck, becoming part of the investment group that purchased the Cleveland franchise. A vice president with the team under Veeck, Grabiner collapsed into a coma in Veeck’s office at the end of the 1948 season and was unable to see Cleveland go on to win the World Series — which remains the most recent one in franchise history.
Grabiner died in Chicago at age 57, 13 days after Cleveland’s title.
Side note: Grabiner’s daughter, June (stage name: Travis), became an actress, discovered in Miami at age 20 while watching a White Sox exhibition game. Born right before her father ascended to the GM role with the White Sox, she would appear in movies featuring such stars as Pat O’Brien, James Cagney, and Bette Davis, was Ronald Reagan’s leading lady in his first movie, and learned parachuting for a role from none other than Amelia Earhart. She accomplished a lot in that time, spending just three years in Hollywood before returning home to Chicago. June also lived to age 93, passing away in Chicago in 2008 — one of the rare fans to be alive for the White Sox World Series win in 1917 (age three) and 2005 (91).
1947
Future Sox (Red, and White) legend Carlton Fisk was born in Bellows Falls, Vt. He played 24 years in the majors, from 1969-80 in Boston and 1981-93 in Chicago. While Fisk played more years (13 to 11) and games (1,421 to 1,078) with the White Sox, the backstop was a superior player in Boston (39.5 to 28.9 WAR) and was enshrined into the Hall of Fame in 2000 (on the second ballot!) wearing a Red Sox cap.
In 1993, Fisk set the record (since broken) for games played at catcher, with 2,226. He received MVP votes in 12 of his 24 seasons, from as young as 24 to as old as 42 years of age. Pudge’s 68.4 WAR ranks in a tie for 116th all-time in baseball history, and is fourth all-time among catchers.
In White Sox terms, Fisk ranks as the 13th-best hitter and 23rd-best player in franchise history.
1958
In the middle of a family fight involving the Comiskeys and the attempt to sell the Sox, Charlie Finley (yes, that Charlie Finley) offered $500,000 for the club. Dorothy Comiskey gave serious consideration to selling to him, because that was a gigantic amount of money for its time, and surpassed the initial offer that came from Bill Veeck’s group. However, Veeck had purchased (for $100!) an option period where he would have the first right to buy the team. Dorothy and her advisors tried to determine a fair price to buy that option back and instead sell to Finley, but were never able to pull it off.
Thanks in part to a final judicial ruling in March 1959, and because he raised his initial offer, Veeck’s group finally took control of the White Sox right before the start of the regular season.
Finley would eventually get into baseball as the controversial owner of the Kansas City and later Oakland Athletics, with whom he’d win three straight World Series from 1972-74.
2023
A late Christmas present for the White Sox turned out to be a lump of coal, as news broke that the club signed no-hit, some-field catcher Martín Maldonado to a one-year deal (the $4 million pact was made official on January 5). The move turned out to be (perhaps) the most embarrassing of GM Chris Getz’s horrific offseason en route to 121 losses in 2024, as Maldonado logged a -1.3 WAR over a mere 48 games. In a move becoming increasingly frequent in spite of owner Jerry Reinsdorf’s famed aversion to eating salary, the White Sox dumped Maldonado on July 21, eating the final $1.6 million on his deal.
Maldonado ended his brief White Sox career with a .119 batting average (16 hits, 12 of which stayed in the park) and mind-bogglingly low 11 wRC+ — one of the absolute worst offensive seasons in franchise history.