Tag / Britt Burns

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Throwback Thursday – Pitching Leaders Of The 1980s

Our Throwback Thursday feature continues, as we once again point the wayback machine back to the 1980s, finally putting our focus on the defensive leaders of that decade.  As a reminder, I’ve identified a mere 14 games that I attended during this time period, when I would have been ages 5 through 14.

Wins

Name Total
14 tied with 1

Losses

Name Total
Tom Seaver 2
12 tied with 1

ERA (> 6 IP)

Name Total
Floyd Bannister 0.00
Mark Langston 0.00
Dwight Gooden 0.00
Scott McGregpr 1.00
Bud Black 1.23

Strikeouts

Name Total
Britt Burns 12
Tom Seaver 10
Tim Lollar 9
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Against The Red Sox All Time Leaders – Through 2021

redsoxIn the past, we’ve looked at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. This offseason, we will take our first ever look at those leaders against all 30 clubs. We continue things today with the Boston Red Sox.

I’ve seen the Red Sox play 32 times at 4 different stadiums, first in the White Sox home opener in 1985, through the 2005 ALDS, and, most recently, this past September.  The game total would have been 2 higher, if the corona virus hadn’t put the kibosh on my April 2000 weekend trip to Fenway Park.

Home Runs

Name Total
Paul Konerko 5
Jermaine Dye 5
Tadahito Iguchi 3
Jim Thome 3
Carlos Quentin 3
A.J. Pierzynski 3

Hits

Name Total
Paul Konerko 18
Scott Podsednik 18
A.J. Pierzynski 13

Runs

Name Total
Paul Konerko 10
Scott Podsednik 7
A.J. Pierzynski 7
Jermaine Dye 7

RBI

Name Total
Paul Konerko 15
A.J. Pierzynski 9
Jermaine Dye 9

Doubles

Name Total
Paul Konerko 4
Jermaine Dye 4
Luis Robert 3

Triples Continue reading →

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#45 – Britt Burns

Name: Britt Burns

Rank: 45

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 1978-1985

Britt Burns was selected by the White Sox in the third round of the 1978 draft.  Less than 2 months later, Burns made his major league debut, going 5 innings in a losing start against the Tigers in Detroit.  He made one other start, another loss, before returning to the minor leagues.  He finished the year 0-2 with a 12.91 ERA.

Burns spent most of 1979 starting in Double A, before getting promoted to Triple A and then, briefly, back to Chicago.  He made 6 relief appearances, giving up 10 hits in only 5 innings and finishing with a 5.40 ERA.

Burns found himself in the major leagues to stay in 1980 as he moved in to the rotation for the White Sox.  He found his first bit of success at the big league level, going 15-13 with a 2.84 ERA in 34 appearances, 32 of them starts.  He finished 5th in Rookie of the Year voting, earning 4 first place votes.

1981 saw Burns putting up a repeat performance, despite the strike that split the season.  He earned his first, and only, All Star nod and tied for 7th in Cy Young Award voting.  He finished the year 10-6 with a 2.64 ERA.

Burns regressed a bit in 1982.  His record held steady at 13-5, but his ERA rose to 4.04 in only 28 starts.

In 1983, Burns went 10-11 with a 3.58 ERA as the White Sox ran away with the AL West, earning their first division title.  Burns took the mound in game 4 of the ALCS, with the Orioles looking to clinch the series, and threw the game of his life.  Burns threw 9 scoreless innings, but Oriole pitchers Storm Davis and Tippy Martinez stymied the White Sox offense.  With one out in the 10th, Burns gave up a solo home run to Tito Landrum.  He was replaced and the Orioles tacked on 2 additional runs, ending the White Sox season.

Injuries and ineffectiveness led Burns to split time between the rotation and bullpen in 1984.  He went 4-12 with a 5.00 ERA in 34 appearances, 16 of them starts.  He also earned the only 3 saves of his career.

After an offseason conditioning program improved his physical state, Burns bounced back in 1985.  He 18-11 with a 3.96 ERA in 36 appearances, 34 of them starts, both career highs.  He finished tied for 7th in Cy Young Award voting.  Following the year, he was traded to the Yankees, along with 2 minor leaguers, for Joe Cowley and Ron Hassey.

Burns returned to the White Sox organization in 2013 as pitching coach for Double A Birmingham, a position he held through 2015.

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

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#67 – Richard Dotson

dotsonName: Richard Dotson

Rank: 67

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 1979-1987, 1989

Richard Dotson joined the White Sox organization, along with Bobby Bonds and Thad Bosley, in a December 5, 1977 trade that sent Brian Downing, Dave Frost, and Chris Knapp to the Angels.  He made his major league debut on September 4, 1979 against those same Angels, going 1 and 1/3 innings and giving up 5 earned runs, leaving him with a 33.75 ERA after 1 start.  He made 4 more starts over the final month of the season, giving up just 5 additional earned runs and finishing with a 2-0 record with a 3.70 ERA.

Dotson moved into the rotation full time for the White Sox in 1980.  He finished second on the team with 12 wins, finishing 12-10 with a 4.27 ERA.  He ended up placing 7th in Rookie of the Year voting, behind winner Joe Charboneau and teammate Britt Burns.

Dotson saw improvement in the strike-shortened 1981 season.  He finished with a 9-8 record and improved his ERA to 3.77 in 24 starts, leading the league with 4 shutouts.

1982 was a disappointing season for Dotson and the White Sox.  He finished with a losing record for the first time and gave up more hits than innings pitched, yet still ended the season with a 3.84 ERA.

Dotson had his breakout season in 1983, as he helped lead the White Sox to their first division title.  He finished the regular season 22-7 with a 3.23 ERA, good enough to place 4th in Cy Young Award voting and 20th in MVP consideration.  Unfortunately, he wasn’t as successful in the ALCS, giving up 6 runs in 5 innings and earning the loss in Game 3 against the Orioles.

1984 was another good year for Dotson, as he earned his first All Star Game nod, throwing 2 scoreless innings in the mid-summer classic at Candlestick Park.  He finished with a losing record for the disappointing White Sox team, going 14-15 with a 3.59 ERA in a career high 245 2/3 innings pitched.

An injury derailed Dotson’s 1985 campaign, as he started only 9 games before undergoing surgery for a career-threatening circulatory problem in his upper chest near the right shoulder.  He returned in 1986 and was the only White Sox starter to not miss a turn in the rotation.  His results, unfortunately, were not as encouraging as he went 10-17 with a 5.48 ERA.

Dotson bounced back a little in 1987.  He went 11-12 with a 4.17 ERA for a White Sox team that finished with a losing record for the second straight year.  Following the season, he was traded, along with Scott Nielson, to the Yankees for Dan Pasqua, Steve Rosenberg, and Mark Salas.

After being released by the Yankees at the end of June in 1989, Dotson rejoined the White Sox for the last 3 months of a season in which they would lose over 90 games.  Appearing in 17 games, Dotson went 3-7 with a respectable 3.88 ERA.  At the end of the season, Dotson became a free agent and left the White Sox for good.  After retiring, Dotson rejoined the White Sox organization as a coach and has spent the last 10 seasons as pitching coach for the Charlotte Knights, the team’s Triple A affiliate.

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

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#125 – Ron Hassey

hassey

Name: Ron Hassey

Rank: 125

Position: C/DH

Years With White Sox: 1986-1987

Ron Hassey was originally acquired by the White Sox, along with Joe Cowley, in a December 1985 trade with the Yankees for Britt Burns and some minor leaguers.  Two months later, just as pitchers and catchers were about to report to spring training, he was traded back to the Yankees, along with Matt Winters and 2 other minor leaguers, for Neil Allen, Scott Bradley, a minor leaguer, and cash.  5 months later, at the trade deadline, he was acquired again by the White Sox, along with Carlos Martinez and a player to be named later, for Ron Kittle, Joel Skinner, and Wayne Tolleson.  Hassey put up good numbers over the last 2 months of 1986, hitting .353 in 49 games, driving in 22 runs and scoring 20 himself.

Following off-season knee surgery, Hassey was limited in 1987.  He once again appeared in 49 games for the White Sox, but this time saw his average fall to .214.  Once the season came to an unsatisfactory end, for both Hassey and the White Sox, he became a free agent.

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

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#143 – Joe Cowley

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Name: Joe Cowley

Rank: 143

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 1986

Joe Cowley joined the White Sox, along with Ron Hassey, in the December, 1985 that sent Britt Burns a couple of minor leaguers to the Yankees.  Cowley stepped in to the rotation and put together a .500 record with a 3.88 ERA.  The highlight of his season came of September 19, when he threw one of the ugliest no-hitters in major league history.  While he held the Angels hitless, he walked 7 and gave up a run on a sacrifice fly.  Cowley also goes down in history as the only pitcher to throw a no hitter in his final major league victory.

The following spring, Cowley was traded to the Phillies, in exchange for Gary Redus, ending his brief White Sox career.

Cowley’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

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