1979 Chicago White Sox season
The 1979 Chicago White Sox season was the team's 80th season overall, and their 79th in Major League Baseball. They finished with a record 73-87, good enough for fifth place in the American League West, 15 games behind the first-place California Angels.
Regular season
The team opened the season with reserve infielder Don Kessinger acting as player-manager. He was relieved of his managerial duties on August 2, with the team's record at 46-60, at which point he also retired as a player. He was replaced by coach Tony La Russa, making his major league managerial debut. The team went 27-27 the rest of the season.Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Opening Day lineup
- Harry Chappas, SS
- Claudell Washington, RF
- Chet Lemon, CF
- Jorge Orta, DH
- Lamar Johnson, 1B
- Alan Bannister, 2B
- Ralph Garr, LF
- Eric Soderholm, 3B
- Marv Foley, C
- Ken Kravec, P
Notable transactions
- May 16, 1979: Nardi Contreras was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.
- June 5, 1979: 1979 Major League Baseball Draft
- *Ricky Seilheimer was drafted by the White Sox in the 1st round.
- *Fran Mullins was drafted by the White Sox in the 3rd round.
- *Jimmy Key was drafted by the White Sox in the 10th round, but did not sign.
- June 15, 1979: Eric Soderholm was traded by the White Sox to the Texas Rangers for Ed Farmer and Gary Holle.
- July 6, 1979: Rich Hinton was traded by the White Sox to the Seattle Mariners for Juan Bernhardt.
Roster
Disco Demolition Night
Disco Demolition Night was a promotional event that took place on July 12, 1979, at Comiskey Park in Chicago. It was held during a scheduled twi-night doubleheader between the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers. After the first game, a throng of fans stormed the field, damaging it so badly that the second game had to be forfeited to Detroit.Player stats
Batting
Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Base on balls; SO = Strikeouts; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases| Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | SB |
| Alan Bannister, 2B,LF,3B,DH | 136 | 506 | 71 | 144 | 28 | 8 | 2 | 55 | 43 | 40 | .285 | 22 |
| Kevin Bell, 3B | 70 | 200 | 20 | 49 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 22 | 15 | 43 | .245 | 2 |
| Thad Bosley, OF | 36 | 77 | 13 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 14 | .312 | 4 |
| Harry Chappas, SS | 26 | 59 | 9 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | .288 | 1 |
| Mike Colbern, C | 32 | 83 | 5 | 20 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 25 | .241 | 0 |
| Marv Foley, C | 34 | 97 | 6 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 5 | .247 | 0 |
| Ralph Garr, LF,DH | 102 | 307 | 34 | 86 | 10 | 2 | 9 | 39 | 17 | 19 | .280 | 2 |
| Joe Gates, 2B | 16 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | .063 | 1 |
| Lamar Johnson, 1B,DH | 133 | 479 | 60 | 148 | 29 | 1 | 12 | 74 | 41 | 56 | .309 | 8 |
| Don Kessinger, SS | 56 | 110 | 14 | 22 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 12 | .200 | 1 |
| Rusty Kuntz, OF | 5 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | .091 | 0 |
| Chet Lemon, CF | 148 | 556 | 79 | 177 | 44 | 2 | 17 | 86 | 56 | 68 | .318 | 7 |
| Milt May, C | 65 | 202 | 23 | 51 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 28 | 14 | 27 | .252 | 0 |
| Junior Moore, LF,RF,DH | 88 | 201 | 24 | 53 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 12 | 20 | .264 | 0 |
| Jim Morrison, 2B,3B | 67 | 240 | 38 | 66 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 35 | 15 | 48 | .275 | 11 |
| Bill Nahorodny, C,DH | 65 | 179 | 20 | 46 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 29 | 18 | 23 | .257 | 0 |
| Wayne Nordhagen, DH,RF,LF,C | 78 | 193 | 20 | 54 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 25 | 13 | 22 | .280 | 0 |
| Jorge Orta, DH,2B | 113 | 325 | 49 | 85 | 18 | 3 | 11 | 46 | 44 | 33 | .262 | 1 |
| Greg Pryor, SS,2B,3B | 143 | 476 | 60 | 131 | 23 | 3 | 3 | 34 | 35 | 41 | .275 | 3 |
| Eric Soderholm, 3B | 56 | 210 | 31 | 53 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 34 | 19 | 19 | .252 | 0 |
| Mike Squires, 1B | 122 | 295 | 44 | 78 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 22 | 22 | 9 | .264 | 15 |
| Rusty Torres, OF | 90 | 170 | 26 | 43 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 24 | 23 | 37 | .253 | 0 |
| Claudell Washington, RF,DH | 131 | 471 | 79 | 132 | 33 | 5 | 13 | 66 | 28 | 93 | .280 | 19 |
| 160 | 5463 | 730 | 1505 | 290 | 33 | 127 | 680 | 454 | 668 | .275 | 97 |
Pitching
Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; HR = Home runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts| Player | W | L | ERA | G | GS | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | K |
| Francisco Barrios | 8 | 3 | 3.61 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 94.2 | 88 | 49 | 38 | 9 | 34 | 28 |
| Ross Baumgarten | 13 | 8 | 3.54 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 190.2 | 175 | 82 | 75 | 18 | 84 | 72 |
| Britt Burns | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Richard Dotson | 2 | 0 | 3.70 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 24.1 | 28 | 13 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 13 |
| Mark Esser | 0 | 0 | 16.20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Ed Farmer | 3 | 7 | 2.43 | 42 | 3 | 14 | 81.1 | 66 | 36 | 22 | 2 | 42 | 48 |
| Rich Hinton | 1 | 2 | 6.05 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 41.2 | 57 | 30 | 28 | 4 | 9 | 27 |
| Guy Hoffman | 0 | 5 | 5.34 | 24 | 0 | 2 | 30.1 | 30 | 18 | 18 | 0 | 28 | 18 |
| Fred Howard | 1 | 5 | 3.57 | 28 | 6 | 0 | 68.0 | 73 | 34 | 27 | 5 | 34 | 36 |
| LaMarr Hoyt | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ken Kravec | 15 | 13 | 3.74 | 36 | 35 | 1 | 250.0 | 208 | 115 | 104 | 20 | 114 | 132 |
| Jack Kucek | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Lerrin LaGrow | 0 | 3 | 9.17 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 17.2 | 27 | 21 | 18 | 2 | 17 | 9 |
| Wayne Nordhagen | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Mike Proly | 3 | 8 | 3.87 | 38 | 6 | 9 | 88.1 | 89 | 43 | 38 | 6 | 47 | 32 |
| Dewey Robinson | 0 | 1 | 6.28 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 14.1 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 5 |
| Gil Rondón | 0 | 0 | 3.72 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9.2 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 3 |
| Randy Scarbery | 2 | 8 | 4.62 | 45 | 5 | 4 | 101.1 | 102 | 56 | 52 | 9 | 37 | 45 |
| Ron Schueler | 0 | 1 | 7.32 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 19.2 | 19 | 16 | 16 | 3 | 14 | 6 |
| Pablo Torrealba | 0 | 0 | 1.59 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Steve Trout | 11 | 8 | 3.89 | 34 | 18 | 4 | 155.0 | 165 | 77 | 67 | 10 | 64 | 76 |
| Rich Wortham | 14 | 14 | 4.90 | 34 | 33 | 0 | 204.0 | 195 | 126 | 111 | 21 | 103 | 119 |
| 73 | 86 | 4.10 | 160 | 159 | 37 | 1409.0 | 1365 | 748 | 642 | 114 | 661 | 675 |