The 1991 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 92nd season. They finished with a record of 87–75, good enough for second place in the American League West, 8 games behind of the first place Minnesota Twins, as the club opened the new Comiskey Park on April 18.

Offseason November 30, 1990: Jerry Willard was released by the White Sox.Jerry Willard at Baseball-Reference December 3, 1990: Buddy Groom was drafted from the White Sox by the Detroit Tigers in the 1990 minor league draft.Buddy Groom at Baseball-Reference December 4, 1990: Shawn Hillegas and Eric King were traded by the White Sox to the Cleveland Indians for Cory Snyder and Lindsay Foster (minors).Shawn Hillegas at Baseball-Reference December 12, 1990: Charlie Hough was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.Charlie Hough at Baseball-Reference December 23, 1990: Iván Calderón and Barry Jones were traded by the White Sox to the Montreal Expos for Tim Raines, Jeff Carter and a player to be named later. The Expos completed the deal by sending Mario Brito (minors) to the White Sox on February 15.Tim Raines at Baseball-Reference March 18, 1991: Ron Coomer was signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox. March 31, 1991: Joe Borowski was traded by the White Sox to the Baltimore Orioles for Pete Rose Jr.Pete Rose, Jr. at Baseball-Reference

Regular season Frank Thomas led the Major Leagues in on-base percentage with .457. He became the 38th player in history to reach base at least 300 times in one season.

New Comiskey Park

The White Sox started the season at new Comiskey Park. The park opened for the 1991 season, after the White Sox had spent 80 years at Comiskey Park. The new park was completed at a cost of US$167 million. The stadium was the first new sports venue built in Chicago since 1929, when Chicago Stadium was built. It was also the first baseball-only park since Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) opened in 1973, and the last built before the recent wave of new "retro-classic" stadiums. However, a few design features from the old park were retained. Most notable among them is the "exploding scoreboard", which is a replica of the one installed by Bill Veeck at the old park in 1960. Keeping up with tradition, after a White Sox player hits a home run, and eventually, at the beginning of all games, as well as after a White Sox victory, the scoreboard lights up in color and fireworks explode in the sky. The ballpark, as well as its entrance has several exterior arched windows. The Sox Shower, located in left-center field, is a place where fans can cool off during hot gamedays. The first game at new Comiskey was on April 18, 1991, against the Detroit Tigers. Despite starting the season on the road with a 6–1 record, the White Sox lost the game by a score of 16–0.

First Game at New Comiskey

Scorecard April 18, New Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois Team123456789RHEDetroit006100000016190Chicago000000000071W: Frank Tanana (1-1)  L: Jack McDowell (2–1)  HRs: Cecil Fielder (1), Rob Deer 2 (1, 2), Tony Phillips (2), Umpires: HP–Steve Palermo, 1B–Mike Reilly, 2B–Larry Young, 3B–Rich Garcia. Time 3:11. Attendance 42,191.

Batting Detroit TigersABRHRBIChicago White SoxABRHRBIPhillips, dh, ss6243Raines, dh4010Trammell, ss5342Johnson, cf4010Tanana, p1000Ventura, 3b4020Whitaker, 2b3230Thomas, 1b4010Bernazard, 2b2010Fisk, c2010Fielder, 1b3224Merullo, c2000Bergman, 1b2000Sosa, rf4000Incaviglia, lf3001Snyder, lf3000Cuyler, cf2010Guillen, ss1000Tettleton c, rf6212Grebeck, ph, ss2000Deer, rf5224Fletcher 2b1000Allanson, c0000Cora, ph,2b2010Shelby, cf, lf5110McDowell, p0000Fryman, 3b1200Drahman, p0000de los Santos, 3b2000Patterson, p0000Radinsky, p0000Pall, p0000Thigpen, p0000Totals46161916Totals33070

Pitching Chicago White SoxIPHRERBBSOMcDowell, L (2–1)2.256630Drahman0.255510Patterson2.275412Radinsky1.010002Pall1.010002Thigpen 1.000000Totals8.0169937

Detroit TigersIPHRERBBSOTanana, W (1-1)9.070003Totals9.070003

1991 Opening Day lineup Tim Raines, DH Lance Johnson, CF Robin Ventura, 3B Frank Thomas, 1B Carlton Fisk, C Cory Snyder, LF Sammy Sosa, RF Ozzie Guillén, SS Scott Fletcher, 2B Jack McDowell, P

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 3, 1991: Bo Jackson was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.Bo Jackson at Baseball-Reference April 12, 1991: Danny Heep was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.Danny Heep at Baseball-Reference April 13, 1991: Steve Lyons was released by the White Sox.Steve Lyons at Baseball-Reference May 18, 1991: Magglio Ordóñez was signed as an amateur free agent by the White Sox.Magglio Ordóñez at Baseball-Reference July 12, 1991: Mike Huff was selected off waivers by the White Sox from the Cleveland Indians.Mike Huff at Baseball-Reference July 14, 1991: Cory Snyder was traded by the White Sox to the Toronto Blue Jays for Shawn Jeter and a player to be named later. The Blue Jays completed the deal by sending Steve Wapnick to the White Sox on September 4.Cory Snyder at Baseball-Reference

Roster 1991 Chicago White Sox Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches (Third Base) (Pitching) (First Base) (Hitting) (Bullpen) (Bench) (Bullpen Catcher)

Player stats

= Indicates league leader

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 Esteban Beltre, SS 8 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .167 1 Joey Cora, 2B 100 228 37 55 2 3 0 18 20 21 .241 18 Carlton Fisk, C 134 460 42 111 25 0 18 74 32 86 .241 1 Scott Fletcher, 2B 90 248 14 51 10 1 1 28 17 26 .206 0 Craig Grebeck, 2B, 3B, SS 107 224 37 63 16 3 6 31 38 40 .281 1 Ozzie Guillén, SS 154 524 52 143 20 3 3 49 11 38 .273 21 Mike Huff, OF 51 97 14 26 4 1 1 15 12 18 .268 3 Bo Jackson, DH 23 71 8 16 4 0 3 14 12 25 .225 0 Lance Johnson, CF 159 588 72 161 14 13 0 49 26 58 .274 26 Ron Karkovice, C 75 167 25 41 13 0 5 22 15 42 .246 0 Ron Kittle, 1B 17 47 7 9 0 0 2 7 5 9 .191 0 Rodney McCray, OF 17 7 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 .286 1 Matt Merullo, C, 1B, DH 80 140 8 32 1 0 5 21 9 18 .229 0 Warren Newson, OF 71 132 20 39 5 0 4 25 28 34 .295 2 Dan Pasqua, 1B, OF, DH 134 417 71 108 22 5 18 66 62 86 .259 0 Tim Raines, LF 155 609 102 163 20 6 5 50 83 68 .268 51 Sammy Sosa, RF, CF 116 316 39 64 10 1 10 33 14 98 .203 13 Cory Snyder, OF, 1B 50 117 10 22 4 0 3 11 6 41 .188 0 Frank Thomas, DH, 1B 158 559 104 178 31 2 32 109138 112 .318 1 Robin Ventura, 3B, 1B 157 606 92 172 25 1 23 100 80 67 .284 2 Don Wakamatsu, C 18 31 2 7 0 0 0 0 1 6 .226 0 162 5594 758 1464 226 39 139 722 610 896 .262 134

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 3 2 3.51 10 9 0 56.1 47 26 22 9 29 32 Jeff Carter 0 1 5.25 5 2 0 12.0 8 8 7 1 5 2 Brian Drahman 3 2 3.23 28 0 0 30.2 21 12 11 4 14 18 Tom Drees 0 0 12.27 4 0 0 7.1 10 10 10 4 6 2 Wayne Edwards 0 2 3.86 13 0 0 23.1 22 14 10 2 20 12 Alex Fernandez 9 13 4.51 34 32 0 191.2 186 100 96 16 90 145 Ramón García 4 4 5.40 16 15 0 78.1 79 50 47 13 33 40 Roberto Hernández 1 0 7.80 9 3 0 15.0 18 15 13 1 7 6 Greg Hibbard 11 11 4.31 32 29 0 194.0 196 107 93 23 58 71 Charlie Hough 9 10 4.02 31 29 0 199.1 167 98 89 21 94 107 Jack McDowell 17 10 3.41 35 35 0 253.2 212 97 96 19 84 191 Donn Pall 7 2 2.41 51 0 0 71.0 59 22 19 7 23 40 Ken Patterson 3 0 2.83 43 0 1 63.2 48 22 20 5 36 32 Mélido Pérez 8 7 5.25 49 8 1 135.2 111 49 47 15 52 128 Scott Radinsky 5 5 2.02 67 0 8 71.1 53 18 16 4 25 49 Bobby Thigpen 7 5 3.49 67 0 30 69.2 63 32 27 10 46 47 Steve Wapnick 0 1 1.80 6 0 0 5.0 2 1 1 0 4 1 87 75 3.79 162 162 40 1478.0 1302 681 622 154 626 923

Awards and honors Frank Thomas – Major League Baseball Leader, On-Base Percentage (.457) All-Star Game Jack McDowell, pitcher, reserve Carlton Fisk, catcher, reserve Ozzie Guillén, shortstop, reserve

Farm system

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

References

External links 1991 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Reference 1991 Chicago White Sox team page at www.baseball-almanac.com