1987 Chicago White Sox season

The 1987 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 88th season. They finished with a record of 77–85, giving them fifth place in the American League West, 8 games behind of the first place Minnesota Twins. The White Sox spent most of 1987 in the cellar, occupying last place from June 9 until September 30, but won 9 of their last 10 to pass the Texas Rangers and California Angels in the season's final week.^[1]

1987 Chicago White Sox
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Comiskey Park
City	Chicago
Owners	Jerry Reinsdorf
General managers	Larry Himes
Managers	Jim Fregosi
Television	WFLD Sportsvision (Don Drysdale, Frank Messer)
Radio	WMAQ (AM) (Del Crandall, Lorn Brown) WTAQ (Frank Diaz, Jose Manuel Flores)
← 1986 Seasons 1988 →

The club introduced new uniforms, returning to button-front and belted pants for the first time since 1975. The two-tone cap (navy crown, scarlet bill) sported a cursive "C", the first time the word "SOX" was not displayed on team caps for the first time since 1950.

Offseason

• December 11, 1986 – The Chicago White Sox send Gene Nelson and Bruce Tanner to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for Donnie Hill.
• January 5, 1987: Randy Velarde was traded by the Chicago White Sox with Pete Filson to the New York Yankees for Scott Nielsen and Mike Soper (minors).^[2]
• January 21, 1987: Jerry Royster was signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox.^[3]

Regular season

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Minnesota Twins	85	77	.525	—	56‍–‍25	29‍–‍52
Kansas City Royals	83	79	.512	2	46‍–‍35	37‍–‍44
Oakland Athletics	81	81	.500	4	42‍–‍39	39‍–‍42
Seattle Mariners	78	84	.481	7	40‍–‍41	38‍–‍43
Chicago White Sox	77	85	.475	8	38‍–‍43	39‍–‍42
Texas Rangers	75	87	.463	10	43‍–‍38	32‍–‍49
California Angels	75	87	.463	10	38‍–‍43	37‍–‍44

Record vs. opponents

1987 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	1–12	9–3	8–4	7–6	4–9	9–3	2–11	5–7	3–10	7–5	4–8	7–5	1–12
Boston	12–1	—	4–8	3–9	7–6	2–11	6–6	6–7	7–5	7–6	4–8	7–5	7–5	6–7
California	3–9	8–4	—	8–5	7–5	3–9	5–8	7–5	8–5	3–9	6–7	7–6	5–8	5–7
Chicago	4–8	9–3	5–8	—	7–5	3–9	6–7	6–6	6–7	5–7	9–4	6–7	7–6	4–8
Cleveland	6–7	6–7	5–7	5–7	—	4–9	6–6	4–9	3–9	6–7	4–8	5–7	2–10	5–8
Detroit	9–4	11–2	9–3	9–3	9–4	—	5–7	6–7	8–4	5–8	5–7	7–5	8–4	7–6
Kansas City	3–9	6–6	8–5	7–6	6–6	7–5	—	4–8	8–5	5–7	5–8	9–4	7–6	8–4
Milwaukee	11–2	7–6	5–7	6–6	9–4	7–6	8–4	—	3–9	7–6	6–6	4–8	9–3	9–4
Minnesota	7–5	5–7	5–8	7–6	9–3	4–8	5–8	9–3	—	6–6	10–3	9–4	6–7	3–9
New York	10–3	6–7	9–3	7–5	7–6	8–5	7–5	6–7	6–6	—	5–7	7–5	5–7	6–7
Oakland	5–7	8–4	7–6	4–9	8–4	7–5	8–5	6–6	3–10	7–5	—	5–8	6–7	7–5
Seattle	8–4	5–7	6–7	7–6	7–5	5–7	4–9	8–4	4–9	5–7	8–5	—	9–4	2–10
Texas	5–7	5–7	8–5	6–7	10–2	4–8	6–7	3–9	7–6	7–5	7–6	4–9	—	3–9
Toronto	12–1	7–6	7–5	8–4	8–5	6–7	4–8	4–9	9–3	7–6	5–7	10–2	9–3	—

Opening Day lineup

• Gary Redus, CF
• Donnie Hill, 2B
• Harold Baines, RF
• Carlton Fisk, DH
• Greg Walker, 1B
• Iván Calderón, LF
• Tim Hulett, 2B
• Ozzie Guillén, SS
• Ron Karkovice, C
• Richard Dotson, P

Notable transactions

• June 2, 1987: 1987 Major League Baseball draft
  • Jack McDowell was drafted by the White Sox in the 1st round (5th pick). Player signed July 29, 1987.^[4]
  • Buddy Groom was drafted by the White Sox in the 12th round. Player signed June 9, 1987.^[5]
• July 13, 1987: Mike Maksudian was signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent.^[6]
• August 6, 1987: Johnnie LeMaster was signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox.^[7]
• August 26, 1987: Jerry Royster was traded by the Chicago White Sox with Mike Soper (minors) to the New York Yankees for a player to be named later and Ken Patterson. The New York Yankees sent Jeff Pries (minors) (September 19, 1987) to the Chicago White Sox to complete the trade.^[3]

Roster

1987 Chicago White Sox
Roster
Pitchers 33 Neil Allen 19,24 Floyd Bannister 53 Ralph Citarella 47 Bryan Clark 52 Joel Davis 26 José DeLeón 34 Richard Dotson 43 Bob James 38 Dave LaPoint 46 Bill Long 40 Jack McDowell 50 Joel McKeon 41 Scott Nielsen 48 John Pawlowski 43 Adam Peterson 36 Ray Searage 37 Bobby Thigpen 40,45 Jim Winn		Catchers 72 Carlton Fisk 25 Ron Hassey  5 Ron Karkovice 20 Bill Lindsey Infielders 13 Ozzie Guillén 15 Donnie Hill 32 Tim Hulett 44 Pat Keedy 12 Steve Lyons 10 Fred Manrique  1 Jerry Royster 29 Greg Walker		Outfielders  3 Harold Baines  8 Daryl Boston 22 Iván Calderón 17 Jerry Hairston 21 Gary Redus  7 Kenny Williams		Manager 16 Jim Fregosi Coaches 27 Dick Bosman 35 Ed Brinkman 54 Deron Johnson 51 Art Kusnyer 49 Dyar Miller 28 Doug Rader

Player stats

Batting

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
Harold Baines, DH, RF	132	505	59	148	26	4	20	93	46	82	.293	0
Daryl Boston, OF	103	337	51	87	21	2	10	29	25	68	.258	12
Iván Calderón, OF, DH	144	542	93	159	38	2	28	83	60	109	.293	10
Carlton Fisk, C, 1B, DH, LF	135	454	68	116	22	1	23	71	39	72	.256	1
Ozzie Guillén, SS	149	560	64	156	22	7	2	51	22	52	.279	25
Jerry Hairston, LF, DH, 1B	66	126	14	29	8	0	5	20	25	25	.230	0
Ron Hassey, C, DH	49	145	15	31	9	0	3	12	17	11	.214	0
Donnie Hill, 2B, 3B	111	410	57	98	14	6	9	46	30	35	.239	1
Tim Hulett, 3B, 2B	68	240	20	52	10	0	7	28	10	41	.217	0
Ron Karkovice, C	39	85	7	6	0	0	2	7	7	40	.071	3
Pat Keedy, 3B, 2B, 1B	17	41	6	7	1	0	2	2	2	14	.171	1
Bill Lindsey, C	9	16	2	3	0	0	0	1	0	3	.188	0
Steve Lyons, 3B, OF	76	193	26	54	11	1	1	19	12	37	.280	3
Fred Manrique, 2B, SS	115	298	30	77	13	3	4	29	19	69	.258	5
Gary Redus, OF	130	475	78	112	26	6	12	48	69	90	.236	52
Jerry Royster, 3B, LF, 2B, DH	55	154	25	37	11	0	7	23	19	28	.240	2
Greg Walker, 1B, DH	157	566	85	145	33	2	27	94	75	112	.256	2
Kenny Williams, CF, RF	116	391	48	110	18	2	11	50	10	83	.281	21
Team Totals	162	5538	748	1427	283	36	173	706	487	971	.258	138

Pitching

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

Player	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K
Neil Allen	0	7	7.07	15	10	0	49.2	74	40	39	6	26	26
Floyd Bannister	16	11	3.58	34	34	0	228.2	216	100	91	38	49	124
Ralph Citarella	0	0	7.36	5	0	0	11.0	13	9	9	4	4	33
Bryan Clark	0	0	2.41	11	0	0	18.2	19	5	5	1	8	8
Joel Davis	1	5	5.73	13	9	0	55.0	56	35	35	7	30	25
José DeLeón	11	12	4.02	33	31	0	206.0	177	106	92	24	101	153
Richard Dotson	11	12	4.17	31	31	0	211.1	201	109	98	24	88	114
Bob James	4	6	4.67	43	0	10	54.0	54	32	28	10	23	34
Dave LaPoint	6	3	2.94	14	12	0	82.2	69	29	27	7	31	43
Bill Long	8	8	4.37	29	23	1	169.0	179	85	82	20	29	72
Jack McDowell	3	0	1.93	4	4	0	28.0	16	6	6	1	6	15
Joel McKeon	1	2	9.43	13	0	0	21.0	27	22	22	8	15	14
Scott Nielsen	3	5	6.24	19	7	2	66.1	83	48	46	9	26	23
John Pawlowski	0	0	4.91	2	0	0	3.2	7	2	2	0	3	2
Adam Peterson	0	0	13.50	1	1	0	4.0	8	6	6	1	3	1
Ray Searage	2	3	4.20	58	0	2	55.2	56	28	26	9	27	33
Bobby Thigpen	7	5	2.73	51	0	16	89.0	86	30	27	10	29	52
Jim Winn	4	6	4.79	56	0	6	94.0	95	54	50	10	67	44
Team Totals	77	85	4.30	162	162	37	1447.2	1436	746	691	189	565	792

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Hawaii Islanders	Pacific Coast League	Bob Bailey
AA	Birmingham Barons	Southern League	Rico Petrocelli
A	Peninsula White Sox	Carolina League	Marv Foley
A	Daytona Beach Admirals	Florida State League	Marc Hill
Rookie	GCL White Sox	Gulf Coast League	Steve Dillard

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Birmingham^[8]