The 1994 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 94th season in the major leagues, and their 95th season overall. They led the American League Central, 1 game ahead of the second place Cleveland Indians with a record of 67–46, when the season was cut short by the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike.

Michael Jordan After retiring from the National Basketball Association, Michael Jordan surprised the sports world by signing a contract with the Chicago White Sox. He was invited to spring training and was sent to the Birmingham Barons on March 31, 1994. Jordan has stated this decision was made to pursue the dream of his late father, who had always envisioned his son as a Major League Baseball player.

Offseason October 13, 1993: George Bell was released by the Chicago White Sox. December 15, 1993: Julio Franco was signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox.Julio Franco Statistics Baseball-Reference.com December 22, 1993: Tim Raines signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox.Tim Raines Statistics Baseball-Reference.com December 28, 1993: Ron Coomer was traded by the Chicago White Sox to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Isidro Marquez. February 8, 1994: Carlos Lee was signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent.Carlos Lee Statistics Baseball-Reference.com January 26, 1994: Dane Johnson was signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox. March 1, 1994: Scott Sanderson was signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox.Scott Sanderson Statistics Baseball-Reference.com March 21, 1994: Paul Assenmacher was traded by the New York Yankees to the Chicago White Sox for Brian Boehringer. March 29, 1994: Mike Huff was traded by the Chicago White Sox to the Toronto Blue Jays for Domingo Martínez.Mike Huff Statistics Baseball-Reference.com

Regular season July 15, 1994: During a game against the White Sox, Indians outfielder Albert Belle's bat was confiscated by umpire Dave Phillips. It was the result of White Sox manager Gene Lamont believing that the bat was corked. During the game, Indians pitcher Jason Grimsley removed a ceiling tile in his manager's office and clambered on top of an cinder block. He replaced the corked bat with a conventional bat but the bat had Paul Sorrento's name on it. Belle was suspended for seven games.

By Friday, August 12, the White Sox had compiled a 67–46 record through 113 games. They were leading the AL Central Division and had scored 633 runs (5.60 per game) and allowed 498 runs (4.41 per game). Their hitters had also struck out just 568 times: the fewest in the Majors. While their pitchers combined for just 20 saves, they did have 9 shutouts, tying the Oakland Athletics for the most in the Majors, and hit only 17 batters: the fewest among all 28 teams.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day lineup Tim Raines, LF Joey Cora, 2B Frank Thomas, 1B Julio Franco, DH Robin Ventura, 3B Darrin Jackson, RF Lance Johnson, CF Ron Karkovice, C Ozzie Guillén, SS Jack McDowell, P

Notable transactions April 4, 1994: Pete Rose Jr. was signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox.Pete Rose Statistics Baseball-Reference.com April 12, 1994: Atlee Hammaker was signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox. April 21, 1994: Steve Sax was released by the Chicago White Sox.Steve Sax Statistics Baseball-Reference.com

Roster 1994 Chicago White Sox Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Coaches (first base) (pitching) (hitting) (third base) (bench) (bullpen)

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 Joey Cora, 2B 90 312 55 86 13 4 2 30 38 32 .276 8 Julio Franco, 3B, 1B 112 433 72 138 19 2 20 98 62 75 .319 8 Craig Grebeck, 2B, SS, 3B 35 97 17 30 5 0 0 5 12 5 .309 0 Ozzie Guillén, SS 100 365 46 105 9 5 1 39 14 35 .288 5 Joe Hall, OF 17 28 6 11 3 0 1 5 2 4 .393 0 Dann Howitt, OF, 1B 10 14 4 5 3 0 0 0 1 7 .357 0 Darrin Jackson, RF, CF 104 369 43 115 17 3 10 51 27 56 .312 7 Lance Johnson, CF 106 412 56 114 11 14 3 54 26 23 .277 26 Ron Karkovice, C 77 207 33 44 9 1 11 29 36 68 .213 0 Mike LaValliere, C 59 139 6 39 4 0 1 24 20 15 .281 0 Norberto Martin, 2B, SS, 3B 45 131 19 36 7 1 1 16 9 16 .275 4 Bob Melvin, C 11 19 3 3 0 0 0 1 1 4 .158 0 Warren Newson, RF, LF 63 102 16 26 5 0 2 7 14 23 .255 1 Dan Pasqua, OF, 1B 11 23 2 5 2 0 2 4 0 9 .217 0 Tim Raines, LF 101 384 80 102 15 5 10 52 61 43 .266 13 Frank Thomas, 1B 113 399 106 141 34 1 38 101 109 61 .353 2 Ron Tingley, C 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 0 Robin Ventura, 3B 109 401 57 113 15 1 18 78 61 69 .282 3 Bob Zupcic, OF, 3B 32 88 10 18 4 1 1 8 4 16 .205 0 113 3942 633 1133 175 39 121 602 497 568 .287 77

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 Wilson Álvarez 12 8 3.45 24 24 0 161.2 147 72 62 16 63 108 Paul Assenmacher 1 2 3.55 44 0 1 33.0 26 13 13 2 15 29 Jason Bere 12 2 3.81 24 24 0 141.2 119 65 60 17 80 127 Dennis Cook 3 1 3.55 38 0 0 33.0 29 17 13 4 17 26 José DeLeón 3 2 3.36 42 0 2 67.0 48 28 25 5 36 67 Alex Fernandez 11 7 3.86 24 24 0 170.1 163 83 73 25 54 122 Atlee Hammaker 0 0 0.00 2 0 0 1.1 1 0 0 0 0 1 Roberto Hernández 4 4 4.91 45 0 14 47.2 44 29 26 5 20 50 Dane Johnson 2 1 6.57 15 0 0 12.1 16 9 9 2 12 7 Kirk McCaskill 1 4 3.42 40 0 3 52.2 51 22 20 6 26 37 Jack McDowell 10 9 3.73 25 25 0 181.0 186 82 75 12 44 127 Scott Ruffcorn 0 2 12.79 2 2 0 6.1 15 11 9 1 5 3 Scott Sanderson 8 4 5.09 18 14 0 92.0 110 57 52 20 13 36 Jeff Schwarz 0 0 6.35 9 0 0 11.1 9 10 8 0 16 14 67 46 3.96 113 113 20 1011.1 964 498 445 115 401 754

Awards and records Lance Johnson, American League record, Led American League in triples for four consecutive seasons (1991–1994)Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.95, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, Frank Thomas, Most Valuable Player, Silver Slugger Award

Farm system

Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997

Notes

References 1994 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Reference