Name: Joe DeSa

Rank: 322

Position: 1B

Year With White Sox: 1985

Joe DeSa joined the White Sox organization following the 1983 season.  After a strong spring training in 1985, he broke camp with the big league club.  With Greg Walker established at first base, DeSa was soon optioned back to Triple A Buffalo in order to get regular playing time.  He got another chance in August when Walker strained a knee and it became clear that Oscar Gamble’s usefulness to the team had run its course.  “I liked what Oscar did for the team,” manager Tony La Russa said.  “But he became the odd man out. Plus, DeSa has earned his shot.”

DeSa returned to Buffalo in 1986 and had another good year, being named the team MVP, but he was unable to make it back to the major leagues even with Greg Walker sidelined for half the year with a wrist injury, having been passed by Russ Morman and Bobby Bonilla.  Following the season, DeSa was released.

Sadly, DeSa would never get another chance to make it to the major leagues.  While participating in the Puerto Rican Winter League that December, DeSa died in a car accident.

DeSa’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

Career Batting

BA	At Bats	Runs	Hits	RBI	Walks	Strike Outs	Doubles	Triples	HR	SB	GIDP	Errors	Games
0.000	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
0.182	44	5	8	7	3	6	2	0	2	0	0	0	28