1958
Future White Sox hurling star Juan Pizarro set a record by recording 17 strikeouts in the Caribbean Series opener.
The game was a culmination of Pizarro’s greatest Puerto Rican Winter League season, winning the PRWL MVP as he became the second of now-four pitchers to win its pitching Triple Crown: 14-5 with a 1.32 ERA, 183 Ks and 94 hits in 170⅓ innings. Pizarro set two regular season marks as well: Topping Satchel Paige’s record by striking out 19 batters in a game against the Ponce Leones, and tossing nine shutouts on the season. And just two starts after his 19-strikeout game, Pizarro no-hit the Mayagüez Indios. Pizarro’s Criollos de Caguas went on to represent Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Series, and in their series opener on this day the southpaw tossed a two-hitter to go along with 17 Ks in an 8-0 win over Panama’s Carta Vieja Yankees.
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Two seasons later, Bill Veeck maneuvered a three-way deal with Pizarro’s Milwaukee and the Cincinnati Reds to acquire Pizarro for the White Sox. “Terín” blossomed into a star, winning 61 games over his first four seasons in Chicago and putting up 3.05 ERA and 12.9 WAR in his White Sox career.
Combining the majors, Mexican League and Puerto Rican Winter League, Pizarro won 392 regular season games in his career. He remains the 36th-best pitcher in White Sox history.
1976
Trailblazing White Sox starter Jim Parque was born, in Norwalk, Calif.
It might seem more of an afterthought today, but when Parque made his MLB debut on May 26, 1998, he may have been the first pitcher of Asian descent ever to start for the White Sox (Parque is Vietnamese-American).
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As an extremely undersized high-schooler (his team didn’t have a jersey small enough for the 5´1´´ newcomer), Parque was mentored by fellow southpaw and former White Sox hurler Jerry Reuss. Selected in the 50th round by the Dodgers in 1994, Parque instead opted for UCLA, where he led the Bruins to the College World Series. The White Sox picked him in the first round in 1997.
His time on the South Side ended up brief, with just two full seasons and parts of three others. However, his career encompassed the “Kids Can Play” era and 2000 Central Division winners; that year was Parque’s zenith, with a 13-6 record and 2.9 WAR.
2021
While it appeared that a full season schedule would be played after the pandemic-shortened 2020 slate, MLB and the MLBPA agreed to modifications to the season to protect the health of players and fans. Most prominent was the move to seven-inning doubleheaders and the Manfred Man runner on second base to start each extra inning.
For some reason, while nine-inning games in doubleheaders shortly returned to baseball, the Manfred Man still persists.
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