1976 Chicago White Sox
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkComiskey Park
CityChicago
OwnersBill Veeck
General managersRoland Hemond
ManagersPaul Richards
TelevisionWSNS-TV
RadioWMAQ (AM)
(Harry Caray, Lorn Brown)
← 1975 Seasons 1977 →

The 1976 Chicago White Sox season was the team's 76th season in Major League Baseball, and its 77th season overall. They finished at 64–97 (.398), the worst record in the 12-team American League. They were 25½ games behind the Kansas City Royals, champions of the American League West.

Offseason

New ownership

In 1975, White Sox owner John Allyn was broke and placed under enormous pressure from fellow owners to sell his club to Seattle interests and undercut a lawsuit which Seattle had against them.[1] The Seattle lawsuit was directly related to the American League owners' approval of moving the Seattle Pilots franchise to Milwaukee. The AL owners also planned to appease Oakland Athletics owner Charlie Finley by making Chicago available to his A's.[1] Charlie wanted out of Oakland and had years earlier tried to buy the Sox. Everyone was lined up against John Allyn and Chicago's Sox fans.

As fall turned to winter in 1975, Bill Veeck emerged as leader of the sole investment group intent on saving the club for Chicago and its Sox fans.[1] The AL owners reluctantly agreed to his offer and later voted to expand the league to include an expansion franchise in Seattle, Washington. Veeck purchased 80% of the White Sox, effective December 18, 1975.

Notable transactions

Regular season

With the new ownership, the White Sox changed team colors from red to navy and the uniform style was modified early twentieth century, with collared, untucked jerseys.[6] The AstroTurf infield (1969–1975) at Comiskey Park was removed and replaced with natural grass.

Season standings

AL West 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Kansas City Royals 90 72 0.556 — 49–32 41–40
Oakland Athletics 87 74 0.540 2½ 51–30 36–44
Minnesota Twins 85 77 0.525 5 44–37 41–40
Texas Rangers 76 86 0.469 14 39–42 37–44
California Angels 76 86 0.469 14 38–43 38–43
Chicago White Sox 64 97 0.398 25½ 35–45 29–52

Record vs. opponents

1976 American League record

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


Opening Day lineup

Notable transactions

Roster

1976 Chicago White Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

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
Alan Bannister, OF,SS,2B 73 145 19 36 6 2 0 8 14 21 .248 12
Kevin Bell, 3B 68 230 24 57 7 6 5 20 18 56 .248 2
Buddy Bradford, RF 55 160 20 35 5 2 4 14 19 37 .219 6
Ken Brett, PH 12 12 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .083 0
Jack Brohamer, 2B 119 354 33 89 12 2 7 40 44 28 .251 1
Rich Coggins, OF 32 96 4 15 2 0 0 5 6 15 .156 3
Bucky Dent, SS 158 562 44 138 18 4 2 52 43 45 .246 3
Brian Downing, C,DH 104 317 38 81 14 0 3 30 40 55 .256 7
George Enright, C 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
Jim Essian, C 78 199 20 49 7 0 0 21 23 28 .246 2
Sam Ewing, DH 19 41 3 9 2 1 0 2 2 8 .220 0
Ralph Garr, RF,LF,CF,DH 136 527 63 158 22 6 4 36 17 41 .300 14
Jerry Hairston, RF 44 119 20 27 2 2 0 10 24 19 .227 1
Lamar Johnson, 1B,DH 82 222 29 71 11 1 4 33 19 37 .320 2
Cleon Jones, LF,DH 12 40 2 8 1 0 0 3 5 5 .200 0
Pat Kelly, DH,LF,RF 107 311 42 79 20 3 5 34 45 45 .254 15
Chet Lemon, CF 132 451 46 111 15 5 4 38 28 65 .246 13
Carlos May, DH,LF 20 63 7 11 2 0 0 3 9 5 .175 4
Minnie Miñoso, DH 3 8 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .125 0
Wayne Nordhagen, RF,DH,C 22 53 6 10 2 0 0 5 4 12 .189 0
Nyls Nyman, LF 8 15 2 2 1 0 0 1 0 3 .133 1
Jorge Orta, LF,3B,DH,RF 158 636 74 174 29 8 14 72 38 77 .274 24
Phil Roof, C 4 9 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 .111 0
Jim Spencer, 1B 150 518 53 131 13 2 14 70 49 52 .253 6
Bill Stein, 2B,3B 117 392 32 105 15 2 4 36 22 67 .268 4
Pete Varney, C 14 41 5 10 2 0 3 5 2 9 .244 0
Hugh Yancy, 2B 3 10 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 .100 0
Team Totals
 161 5532 586 1410 209 46 73 538 471 739 .255 120

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
Francisco Barrios 5 9 4.32 35 14 3 141.2 136 72 68 13 49 81
Ken Brett 10 12 3.32 27 26 1 200.2 171 82 74 5 79 91
Clay Carroll 4 4 2.56 29 0 6 77.1 67 26 22 1 26 38
Terry Forster 2 12 4.37 29 16 1 111.1 126 61 54 7 45 70
Goose Gossage 9 17 3.94 31 29 1 224.0 214 104 98 16 93 135
Dave Hamilton 6 6 3.59 45 1 10 90.1 81 38 36 4 51 62
Jesse Jefferson 2 5 8.52 19 9 0 62.1 86 62 59 4 42 30
Bart Johnson 9 16 4.73 32 32 0 211.1 231 115 111 19 63 91
Larry Monroe 0 1 4.15 8 2 0 21.2 23 11 10 0 13 9
Chris Knapp 3 1 4.82 11 6 0 52.1 54 31 28 5 33 41
Ken Kravec 1 5 4.89 9 8 0 49.2 49 28 27 3 32 38
Jack Kucek 0 0 9.64 2 0 0 4.2 9 5 5 2 4 2
Blue Moon Odom 2 2 5.79 8 4 0 28.0 31 21 18 2 20 18
Jim Otten 0 0 4.50 2 0 0 6.0 9 6 3 0 2 3
Pete Vuckovich 7 4 4.65 33 7 0 110.1 122 59 57 3 64 62
Wilbur Wood 4 3 2.24 7 7 0 56.1 51 24 14 3 11 31
Team Totals
 64 97 4.25 161 161 22 1448.0 1460 745 684 87 627 802

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Iowa Oaks American Association Loren Babe
AA Knoxville Knox Sox Southern League Gordon Lund
A Appleton Foxes Midwest League Jim Napier
Rookie GCL White Sox Gulf Coast League Joe Jones

Source:[20]

References

  1. ^ a b c "WSI's FLYINGSOCK.COM. Chicago White Sox coverage with totally biased attitude!". Archived from the original on December 22, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  2. ^ Jim Kaat at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ a b Larvell Blanks at Baseball-Reference
  4. ^ Rich Hinton[permanent dead link] at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Lee Richard at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ Radom, Todd (August 24, 2015). "The White Sox are busting out their 1976 throwback uniforms; shorts will not be worn". Sporting News. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  7. ^ "Keeping cool in style". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). (photo). August 9, 1976. p. 13.
  8. ^ "On short end in garb but not score". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (AP photo). August 9, 1976. p. 1D.
  9. ^ "Baseball uniforms through the years". Sports Illustrated. August 11, 2009. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  10. ^ "White Sox are showing". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. August 9, 1976. p. 16.
  11. ^ Merron, Jeff. "The List: Biggest sports busts". ESPN. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
  12. ^ Jeff Holly at Baseball Reference
  13. ^ Steve Trout at Baseball Reference
  14. ^ Willie McGee at Baseball Reference
  15. ^ Lorenzo Gray at Baseball Reference
  16. ^ Blue Moon Odom at Baseball Reference
  17. ^ Wayne Nordhagen at Baseball Reference
  18. ^ Phil Roof at Baseball Reference
  19. ^ Minnie Miñoso at Baseball Reference
  20. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997

External links

1976 MLB season by team
Chicago White Sox
Categories