Last summer, the White Sox fell victim to Clayton Kershaw’s 3000th career strikeout and I decided to take a look back at the historic games I’ve attended over the years. Here is part three, featuring another six games where an individual hit a career plateau or a team clinched a pennant.
April 11, 2011 – A’s 2, White Sox 1
In the bottom of the fifth inning of a scoreless tie at US Cellular Field, the slugging Brent Lillibridge, he with the 19 career home runs, launched the first pitch he saw from Dallas Braden into the bleachers for the 10,000th home run in White Sox franchise history.
May 9, 2015 – Reds 10, White Sox 4
With the White Sox trailing the Reds 3-0 in the bottom of the 7th in the first game of a double header, Alexei Ramirez took the first pitch from Johnny Cueto and deposited it into the left field stands for his 100th career home run.
September 5, 2015 – Blue Jays 5, Orioles 1
Filling in for the injured Mark Buehrle, David Price scattered three hits and struck out eight in seven innings to beat the Orioles at Rogers Centre for his 100th career victory. The win increased Toronto’s lead to 1 1/2 games in the AL East.
October 21, 2015 – Mets 8, Cubs 3
With an 8-3 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field, the Mets, in their first post-season appearance in nearly a decade, completed the sweep and won the NL pennant for the first time since 2000. They would go on to lose the World Series in five games to the Royals.
October 22, 2016 – Cubs 5, Dodgers 0
For the first time since 1945, the Cubs won the National League pennant after defeating the Dodgers 5-0 in game 6 of the NLCS. Behind a two hitter from Kyle Hendricks, the Cubs put to rest the painful memories of the collapse of 1969, the failure to win one of three in San Diego in 1984, and the Steve Bartman-fueled fiasco of 2003. They would go on to face the Indians in the World Series, winning their first championship since 1908.
September 9, 2017 – White Sox 13, Giants 1
Jose Abreu hit for the cycle in the White Sox victory over the Giants, going 4-5 with 3 RBIs. Abreu started with a home run in the first inning and a double in the third against starter Jeff Samardzija. In the seventh, he singled against Josh Osich and, in the eighth, he finished things off with a triple to the right field corner against Roberto Gómez. He became the first White Sox player to get the cycle since José Valentín in 2000.
Bill Madlock essentially replaced two of the Cubs biggest stars of the 1960s when he joined the team for his rookie season in 1974. Acquired for future Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins, Madlock took the spot of Hall of Famer Ron Santo at the hot corner. If he felt any pressure, he didn’t show it, hitting .313 with 9 home runs, good enough for a third place finish in Rookie of the Year voting. In 1975, he broke out in a big way, earning his first All Star nod on his way to a batting title. In 1976, Madlock repeated as batting champion, hitting .339 and beating out Ken Griffey Sr. on the final day of the season. With the dawn of free agency on the horizon, Madlock asked the Cubs for a multi-year contract with a salary of $200,000, more than double what he had earned in 1976. Team owner Phillip K. Wrigley had other ideas, announcing that Madlock would be traded “to anyone foolish enough to want him.” In February of 1977, that so-called foolish team turned out to be the Giants, who sent Bobby Murcer and Steve Ontiveros, among others, to the Cubs. In July of 2016, this would be ranked as one of the five worst trades in Cub history.