Things You Don't Know About Chicago White Sox Hall of Famers

The Chicago White Sox have had one Hall of Fame player on their roster within the last 20 years, Carlton Fisk, who retired with them in 1993. Prior to Fisk however the Chicago White Sox list of Hall of Fame ballplayers was long and filled with some of the game's greats, especially in the early part of the last century. More recent Chicago White Sox Hall of Famers include men such as Goose Gossage, who was with them in the early portion of his career, and Nellie Fox, the American League's MVP in 1959. Luke Appling is another revered name in Chicago, a Hall of Fame shortstop during the 1930s and 1940s. Here are some things you may find hard to believe about some White Sox Hall of Fame players.

1. Luke Appling knocked in 128 runs in 1936, with only 6 homers!

1936 was Appling's career year, as he batted .388 and had all those runs batted in. His total is one of the highest ever for a player that failed to hit double-digit home runs, made more impressive by the fact that he was a shortstop. Appling, who only fanned about 500 times in almost 9,000 at-bats, came in second to Lou Gehrig in the MVP voting that season. He never had another 100 RBI campaign; '36 was the only time he knocked in more than 85 runs.

2. Nellie Fox was named MVP in 1959 with 2 homers and 70 RBI!

The White Sox won their first pennant since the 1919 Black Sox team in 1959, with second baseman Fox being named the MVP despite his pedestrian numbers. Fox was part of a wonderful double play combo with shortstop Luis Aparicio. Indeed, Luis came second in the MVP balloting to Fox, with White Sox hurler Early Wynn third. Boston manager's Terry Francona's dad Tito was fifth in the MVP chase, behind Cleveland's Rocky Colavito, who slugged 42 homers for the year. Fox didn't even have the most RBI on the club, as catcher Sherm Lollar knocked in 85 runs.

3. Carlton Fisk only had a pair of 100 RBI seasons!

Fisk's first came with Boston during the 1977 season and his last was in 1985 with the White Sox. Fisk played for 24 seasons, but his total number of runs batted in was "only" 1,330, for an average of 56 per campaign. In all, the Hall of Fame catcher had just 4 seasons in which he collected more than 74 RBI. The career .269 batter did clobber 376 home runs and at one time held the mark for the most round trippers by a catcher until Mike Piazza broke it.

4. Carlton Fisk played for 24 seasons, but appeared in less than 100 games in 9 of them!

He broke in with the Bosox in 1969 at the age of 21 and played sparingly over his first couple of years, so sparingly that he was eligible to be named the AL Rookie of the Year in 1971, which he was. But Fisk was always battling the injuries that come with the catcher's position, missing major action in 1974 and 1975 with Boston and then again in the 1980s on a couple of occasions with Chicago. In all he played in 2,499 games, the vast majority of those behind home plate. His inability to stay on the field limited those RBI totals previously mentioned.

5. Goose Gossage was a starter in 1976, going 9-17!

White Sox manager Paul Richards, an astute baseball man otherwise, used Gossage as a starter in 29 of his 31 appearances in '76. Goose actually pitched 15 complete games on his way to his poor record, and was dealt to the Pirates the next season. He never started another game again on his way to the Hall of Fame, finishing his career with 301 saves and a 3.01 earned run average, which was hurt considerably by his disastrous 1976 adventures.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHW/hof.shtml