The Chicago White Sox, trailing 4-0 after the first inning, stormed back for a 14-7 victory over the host Kansas City Royals in the season opener Thursday, March 28. It was a barrage of six home runs by the Sox that did the trick.
Three home runs by the Sox Matt Davidson, two by Tim Anderson, and one by José Abreu, gave the victory to Sox starter James Shields who settled down after the unsettling first inning.
Davidson and Anderson joined “Minnie” Minoso, Sammy Sosa, Jim Thome, and Alejandro De Aza, on the list of White Sox players with multiple home runs on opening day. The Minoso story is most interesting.
A favorite of Sox fans during the 1950s, Minoso was traded to the Cleveland Indians after the 1957 season, for pitcher Early Wynn and outfielder Al Smith. Wynn won both 22 games for The Sox and the Cy Young Award in 1959 when the Sox captured the American League pennant. The Sox took the championship over Minoso and the Indians, rather than the perennially powerful New York Yankees in the pennant race.
In the 1960 season opener, Minoso drove in six runs with a grand slam and a walk-off home run to give the Sox a 10-9 victory over visiting Kansas City in his first game back in another trade.
Minoso did his part in 1960. He batted .311, hit 20 home runs, and drove in 105 runs. Minoso’s verve and style made Chicago an attraction and the club led the American League in attendance with 1,644,460 in 1960. The Sox finished in third place the AL race.
Three Sox scheduled games in Kansas City last weekend resulted in two victories and a postponement because of bad weather. Weather permitting, the White Sox will be host to the Tigers in their home opener at 3:10 p.m. Thursday, April 5. Through Monday, the White Sox led the Al Central with a 2-1 record
Near the end of April last year, the White Sox sported a 13-9 record, yet, few were fooled! The final tally for the White Sox ended last year with a 67-95 record, for fourth place in the five-team AL Central Division, three games in front of the last-place Detroit Tigers.