The 1990 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 91st season. They finished with a record of 94–68, good enough for second place in the American League West, 9 games behind of the first place Oakland Athletics, as the White Sox played their final season at the aging Comiskey Park before moving to the new US Cellular Field the next season.

Regular season

In the summer of 1990, Michael Jordan took batting practice at Comiskey Park.^[1] The following year, Upper Deck created a baseball card of Michael Jordan and it was numbered SP1.^[2]

The White Sox and Texas Rangers were involved in the longest rain delay in baseball history at 7 hours and 23 minutes at Comiskey Park on August 12. Behind the delay's length was the White Sox's insistence that the game be rescheduled at Comiskey four days later when both teams were idle and not at Arlington Stadium the subsequent weekend, which was rejected by the Rangers. The gamesmanship between the two sides resulted in the contest eventually played as part of a twi-night doubleheader at Arlington on August 17.^[3]

Bobby Thigpen had the best season of his career in 1990, setting the major league record of 57 saves. He also maintained a 1.83 ERA and was named to the AL All-Star team. He also blew eight saves that season, including two three-run leads.

In anticipation of the move to new Comiskey Park, the White Sox on July 2 unveiled new team colors of black and silver and uniforms based on the ones worn in 1959 and the early-1970s featuring a return of pinstripes to the home version.^[4] The uniform ensemble was originally scheduled to debut the following season, but its popularity with the fans resulted in the White Sox officially making the change beginning with the opening game of its final homestand of the campaign on September 25.^[5] The ballclub instantly jumped to the top of MLB merchandise sales.

Season standings

v t e AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	103	59	0.636	—	51–30	52–29
Chicago White Sox	94	68	0.580	9	49–31	45–37
Texas Rangers	83	79	0.512	20	47–35	36–44
California Angels	80	82	0.494	23	42–39	38–43
Seattle Mariners	77	85	0.475	26	38–43	39–42
Kansas City Royals	75	86	0.466	27½	45–36	30–50
Minnesota Twins	74	88	0.457	29	41–40	33–48

Record vs. opponents

1990 American League record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	4–9	7–5	6–6	6–7	6–7	8–3	7–6	6–6	6–7	4–8	3–9	8–4	5–8
Boston	9–4	—	7–5	6–6	9–4	8–5	4–8	5–8	4–8	9–4	4–8	8–4	5–7	10–3
California	5–7	5–7	—	5–8	7–5	5–7	7–6	7–5	9–4	6–6	4–9	5–8	8–5	7–5
Chicago	6–6	6–6	8–5	—	5–7	5–7	9–4	10–2	7–6	10–2	8–5	8–5	7–6	5–7
Cleveland	7–6	4–9	5–7	7–5	—	5–8	6–6	9–4	7–5	5–8	4–8	7–5	7–5	4–9
Detroit	7–6	5–8	7–5	7–5	8–5	—	5–7	3–10	6–6	7–6	6–6	7–5	6–6	5–8
Kansas City	3–8	8–4	6–7	4–9	6–6	7–5	—	4–8	8–5	8–4	4–9	7–6	5–8	5–7
Milwaukee	6–7	8–5	5–7	2–10	4–9	10–3	8–4	—	4–8	6–7	5–7	4–8	5–7	7–6
Minnesota	6–6	8–4	4–9	6–7	5–7	6–6	5–8	8–4	—	6–6	6–7	6–7	5–8	3–9
New York	7–6	4–9	6–6	2–10	8–5	6–7	4–8	7–6	6–6	—	0–12	9–3	3–9	5–8
Oakland	8–4	8–4	9–4	5–8	8–4	6–6	9–4	7–5	7–6	12–0	—	9–4	8–5	7–5
Seattle	9–3	4–8	8–5	5–8	5–7	5–7	6–7	8–4	7–6	3–9	4–9	—	7–6	6–6
Texas	4–8	7–5	5–8	6–7	5–7	6–6	8–5	7–5	8–5	9–3	5–8	6–7	—	7–5
Toronto	8–5	3–10	5–7	7–5	9–4	8–5	7–5	6–7	9–3	8–5	5–7	6–6	5–7	—

1990 Opening Day lineup

Notable transactions

June 4, 1990: Alex Fernandez was drafted by the White Sox in the 1st round of the 1990 amateur draft.^[6]
June 4, 1990: Bob Wickman was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 2nd round of the 1990 amateur draft. Player signed June 6, 1990.^[7]
June 4, 1990: Ray Durham was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 5th round of the 1990 amateur draft. Player signed June 5, 1990.^[8]
June 4, 1990: Jason Bere was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 36th round of the 1990 amateur draft. Player signed June 6, 1990.^[9]
July 30, 1990: Phil Bradley was traded by the Baltimore Orioles to the Chicago White Sox for Ron Kittle.^[10]

No Hitter

July 1, 1990 – New York Yankees pitcher Andy Hawkins threw a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox and lost the game. A scoreless game until the bottom of the 8th inning, Sammy Sosa started the rally by hitting a ground ball that Yankee third basemen Mike Blowers bobbled. Initially it was ruled a hit. Yankee manager Stump Merrill was standing on the top of the dugout steps barking up in the direction of the press box. Quickly the play was changed to an error on Blowers. Sosa then stole second base. Ozzie Guillén and Lance Johnson both then drew walks to load the bases. The next batter, Robin Ventura hit a fly ball that eluded Yankees left fielder Jim Leyritz allowing three unearned runs to score. The next batter, Iván Calderón, then lifted a fly ball to right field that was dropped by Jesse Barfield making the score 4-0.

Line Score

July 1, Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	3
Chicago	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	x	4	0	2
W: Barry Jones (10-1) L: Andy Hawkins (1-5)
Attendance: 30,642 Time: 2:34

Batting

New York Yankees	AB	H	Chicago White Sox	AB	R
Kelly, cf	4	0	Johnson, cf	3	1
Sax, 2b	4	0	Ventura, 3b	4	1
Mattingly, 1b	4	0	Calderon, dh	3	0
Balboni, dh	4	0	Pasqua, lf	4	0
Tolleson, pr, dh	0	0	Gallagher, lf	0	0
Barfield, rf	4	1	Kittle, 1b	3	0
Leyritz, lf	3	1	Lyons, 1b	0	0
Blowers, 3b	3	0	Karkovice, c	2	0
Geren, c	3	1	Fletcher, 2b	2	0
Espinoza, ss	2	1	Sosa, rf	3	1
NONE	0	0	Guillen, ss	2	1
Totals	31	4	Totals	26	4

Pitching

New York Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Hawkins, L (1-5)	8.0	0	4	0	5	3

Chicago White Sox	IP	H	SO
Hibbard	7.0	4	4
Jones W (10-1)	1.0	0	1
Radinsky	1.0	0	0

Turn Back the Clock Day

On July 11, 1990, as part of the celebration of Comiskey Park, the White Sox played a Turn Back the Clock game against the Milwaukee Brewers. The White Sox wore their 1917 home uniforms. This was the first Turn Back the Clock game in the major leagues and started what has become a popular promotion. The club turned off the electronic scoreboards and public address system. They constructed a special manually operated scoreboard in center field for the day and even the grounds-crew wore period costume. General admission tickets were sold for $0.50, popcorn was a nickel, and the stadium organ was shut down for the game.

Line Score

July 11, Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	R	H	E
Milwaukee	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	0	3	12	15	1
Chicago	4	0	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	13	0
W: Dan Plesac (1-3) L: Donn Pall (0-3)
Home Runs: Yount (8) Attendance: 40,666 Time: 4:44

Batting

Milwaukee Brewers	AB	R	H	RBI	Chicago White Sox	AB	R	H	RBI
Gantner, 2b	7	1	3	2	Johnson, cf	7	1	2	0
Sheffield, 3b	5	2	3	0	Ventura, 3b	5	0	0	0
Yount, cf	4	2	2	3	Gallagher, ph	1	0	0	0
Parker,dh	5	1	1	0	Grebeck, 3b	0	0	0	0
Brock, 1b	3	0	0	0	Calderon, dh	6	1	2	1
Deer, ph, 1b	2	1	0	1	Kittle, 1b	6	1	1	0
Vaughn, lf	4	1	2	2	Fisk, c	4	2	1	0
Felder, lf	2	1	1	0	Lyons, lf	6	0	1	1
Surhoff, c	5	2	1	2	Fletcher, 2b	6	2	3	2
Hamilton, rf	6	1	2	2	Sosa, rf	6	2	2	3
Spiers, ss	4	0	0	0	Guillen, ss	6	0	1	1
Sveum, ph, ss	2	0	0	0	NONE	0	0	0	0
Diaz, ss	0	0	0	0	NONE	0	0	0	0
Totals	49	12	15	12	Totals	53	9	13	8

Roster

1990 Chicago White Sox

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

21 Matt Stark

Manager

10 Jeff Torborg

Coaches

18 Terry Bevington (Third Base)
5 Ron Clark (First Base)
32 Sammy Ellis (Pitching)
? Barry Foote (Bullpen Catcher)
6 Walt Hriniak (Hitting)
53 Dave LaRoche (Bullpen)
? Joe Nossek (Bench)

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
Daryl Boston, RF	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	1
Phil Bradley, OF,DH	45	133	20	30	5	1	0	5	20	26	.226	7
Iván Calderón, LF	158	607	85	166	44	2	14	74	51	79	.273	32
Carlton Fisk, C	137	452	65	129	21	0	18	65	61	73	.285	7
Scott Fletcher, 2B	151	509	54	123	18	3	4	56	45	63	.242	1
Dave Gallagher, OF	45	75	5	21	3	1	0	5	3	9	.280	0
Craig Grebeck, 3B,SS,2B	59	119	7	20	3	1	1	9	8	24	.168	0
Ozzie Guillén, SS	160	516	61	144	21	4	1	58	26	37	.279	13
Lance Johnson, CF	151	541	76	154	18	9	1	51	33	45	.285	36
Ron Karkovice, C	68	183	30	45	10	0	6	20	16	52	.246	2
Ron Kittle, DH,1B	83	277	29	68	14	0	16	43	24	77	.245	0
Steve Lyons, 1B,2B,OF	94	146	22	28	6	1	1	11	10	41	.192	1
Carlos Martinez, 1B	92	272	18	61	6	5	4	24	10	40	.224	0
Rodney McCray, OF	32	6	8	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	.000	6
Dan Pasqua, DH,OF	112	325	43	89	27	3	13	58	37	66	.274	1
Sammy Sosa, RF	153	532	72	124	26	10	15	70	33	150	.233	32
Matt Stark, DH	8	16	0	4	1	0	0	3	1	6	.250	0
Frank Thomas, 1B,DH	60	191	39	63	11	3	7	31	44	54	.330	1
Robin Ventura, 3B	150	493	48	123	17	1	5	54	55	53	.249	1
Greg Walker, 1B,DH	2	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.200	0
Jerry Willard, C	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000	0
Team Totals	162	5402	682	1393	251	44	106	637	478	903	.258	140

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
Wayne Edwards	5	3	3.22	42	5	2	95.0	81	39	34	6	43	63
Alex Fernandez	5	5	3.80	13	13	0	87.2	89	40	37	6	34	61
Greg Hibbard	14	9	3.16	33	33	0	211.0	202	80	74	11	57	92
Shawn Hillegas	0	0	0.79	7	0	0	11.1	4	1	1	0	6	5
Barry Jones	11	4	2.31	65	0	1	74.0	62	20	19	2	40	45
Eric King	12	4	3.28	25	25	0	151.0	135	59	55	10	40	70
Jerry Kutzler	2	1	6.03	7	7	0	31.1	38	23	21	2	15	21
Bill Long	0	1	6.35	4	0	0	5.2	6	5	4	2	2	2
Steve Lyons	0	0	4.50	1	0	0	2.0	2	1	1	0	4	1
Jack McDowell	14	9	3.82	33	33	0	205.0	189	93	87	20	77	165
Donn Pall	3	5	3.32	56	0	2	76.0	63	33	28	7	30	39
Ken Patterson	2	1	3.39	43	0	2	66.1	58	27	25	6	35	40
Mélido Pérez	13	14	4.61	35	35	0	197.0	177	111	101	14	87	161
Adam Peterson	2	5	4.55	20	11	0	85.0	90	46	43	12	26	29
Scott Radinsky	6	1	4.82	62	0	4	52.1	47	29	28	1	37	46
Steve Rosenberg	1	0	5.40	6	0	0	10.0	10	6	6	2	5	4
Bobby Thigpen	4	6	1.83	77	0	57	88.2	60	20	18	5	35	70
Team Totals	94	68	3.61	162	162	68	1449.1	1313	633	581	106	575	914

Awards and honors

Bobby Thigpen, Major League Record, 57 saves in one season
Bobby Thigpen, MLB All-Star Game, reserve
Jeff Torborg, Associated Press Manager of the Year

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Vancouver Canadians	Pacific Coast League	Marv Foley
AA	Birmingham Barons	Southern League	Ken Berry
A	Sarasota White Sox	Florida State League	Tony Franklin
A	South Bend White Sox	Midwest League	Rick Patterson
A-Short Season	Utica Blue Sox	New York–Penn League	Tommy Thompson
Rookie	GCL White Sox	Gulf Coast League	Mike Gellinger

References

External links

1990 MLB season by team

AL East	Baltimore Boston Cleveland Detroit Milwaukee New York Toronto
AL West	California Chicago Kansas City Minnesota Oakland Seattle Texas

NL East	Chicago Montréal New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis
NL West	Atlanta Cincinnati Houston Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco

Chicago White Sox

Established in 1900
Based in Chicago, Illinois

Franchise

Ballparks

Culture

Lore

Rivalries

Key personnel

Chairman: Jerry Reinsdorf
General Manager: Chris Getz
Special Assistant to the GM: Jim Thome
Manager: Pedro Grifol

World Series
championships (3)

American League
championships (6)

Division championships (6)

West: 1983
1993
Central: 2000
2005
2008
2021

Wild Card berths (1)

2020

Minor league
affiliates

Charlotte Knights (Triple-A)
Birmingham Barons (Double-A)
Winston-Salem Dash (High-A)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (Single-A)
ACL White Sox (Rookie)
DSL White Sox (Rookie)

Media

Seasons (123)
1900s	1900 · 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910s	1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920s	1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930s	1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940s	1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020s	2020 2021 2022 2023