Tag / Shawn Hillegas

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#207 – Cory Snyder

30ebeb65e2762775597c9ab7e1ebe22eName: Cory Snyder

Rank: 207

Position: 1B/OF

Year With White Sox: 1991

Former Olympian Cory Snyder joined the White Sox on December 4, 1990 via a trade with the Indians in exchange for pitchers Shawn Hillegas and Eric King.  Things did not go smoothly for Snyder in Chicago, as he clashed with manager Jeff Torborg over playing time and with hitting coach Walt Hriniak over his approach at the plate.

“I was a power guy who had some strikeouts but I drove in runs,” Snyder would say years later.  “I wasn’t a line drive hitter. The Sox organization expected me to work with him. He was a lot different from Charlie Lau. Basically it was Walt’s way or the highway.”

On July 15, Snyder was hitting .188 and had only 3 home runs and 11 RBI.  Wi

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#229 – Eric King

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Name: Eric King

Rank: 229

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 1989-1990

Eric King came to the White Sox towards the end of spring training in 1989 in the trade that sent future GM Kenny Williams to the Tigers.  King joined the rotation and pitched well, starting 25 games and finishing with a 9-10 record and a 3.39 ERA for a White Sox team that finished 29 games out of first place.

In 1990, the final season at old Comiskey Park, King helped the White Sox achieve an epic turnaround from the year before, as the team improved their record by 25 wins.  His record improved to 12-4 in 25 starts and he finished the year with a career-low 3.28 ERA.

Following the season, the White Sox packaged King with fellow pitcher Shawn Hillegas in a trade to the Indians that would bring slugger Cory Snyder to the south side.

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

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#256 – Ricky Horton

51TAName: Ricky Horton

Rank: 256

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 1988

After months of rumors and speculation, the White Sox and Cardinals finally consummated the trade that sent Ricky Horton and Lance Johnson to the south side in exchange for Jose DeLeon on February 9, 1988.  GM Larry Himes planned on plugging Horton in to the starting rotation, saying, “He was a key pitcher for Cardinals with the way they used him. Now he gets the opportunity to take the ball every five days for us.”  Hopes were so high that manager Jim Fregosi tabbed Horton to take the mound on opening day.

After compiling a 3-6 record in his first nine starts, however, Horton was moved back to the bullpen, where things went from bad to worse for the next two months.  “I tried to think of the season as two halves,” Horton said.  “I put the first half out of my mind and tried to start over fresh in the second half.”  Horton turned his season around, becoming the most consistent lefty in the pen for the White Sox until August 31st, when he was shipped to the Dodgers in exchange for pitcher Shawn Hillegas.

Horton’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

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#286 – Shawn Hillegas

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Name: Shawn Hillegas

Rank: 286

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 1988-1990

Shawn Hillegas joined the White Sox on August 30, 1988 from the Dodgers in exchange for Ricky Horton.  He made his White Sox debut on September 6, taking the place of an injured Jack McDowell in the starting rotation.  Hillegas ended up starting six games that September, going 3-2 with a 3.15 ERA.

Hillegas broke camp in 1989 as part of the starting rotation, but he struggled early, going 1-6 by May.  Hillegas went to manager Jeff Torborg and asked to be used in relief.  “I told him I didn’t feel like I was doing the job starting,” Hillegas told the Chicago Tribune. “I’m putting the team behind in the game.”  Hillegas moved to the bullpen, where he made 37 appearances, and finished the year with an ERA of 4.74.

Hillegas spent most of 1990 at Triple A Vancouver, only making 7 appearances for the big league club.  That December, he was packaged, along with fellow pitcher Eric King, to the Indians in exchange for Cory Snyder.

Hillegas’ numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

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