The 1990 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 91st season. The team finished with a record of 94–68, placing them second in the American League West, nine games behind the first-place Oakland Athletics. The White Sox played their final season at the aging Comiskey Park in 1990, before moving to the new Comiskey Park the next season.

Regular season In the summer of 1990, Michael Jordan took batting practice at Comiskey Park.20th Century Chicago: 100 Years, 100 Voices By Chicago Sun-Times, p.119, Chicago sun-times, Adrienne Drell, Published 2000, Sports Publishing LLC, The following year, Upper Deck created a baseball card of Jordan, numbered SP1.1991 Upper Deck #SP1 – Michael Jordan CheckOutMyCards.com

The White Sox and Texas Rangers were involved in the longest rain delay in baseball history, at seven hours and 23 minutes, at Comiskey Park on August 12. Factoring into the delay's length was the White Sox's insistence that the game be rescheduled at Comiskey four days later when both teams were idle and not at Arlington Stadium the subsequent weekend, which was rejected by the Rangers. The gamesmanship between the two sides resulted in the contest eventually being played as part of a twi-night doubleheader at Arlington on August 17.Muskat, Carrie. "The game between the Chicago White Sox and Texas...," United Press International (UPI), Sunday, August 12, 1990. Retrieved May 15, 2023.

Bobby Thigpen had the best season of his career with the White Sox in 1990, setting a major league record of 57 saves. He also maintained a 1.83 ERA and was named to the AL All-Star team. He also blew eight saves that season, including two three-run leads.

On July 2, in anticipation of the team's upcoming move to new Comiskey Park, the White Sox unveiled new team colors of black and silver with uniforms based on the ones worn between 1959 and the early 1970s, featuring a return of pinstripes to the home version.Murphy, Robert J. "White Sox unveil new look," United Press International (UPI), Monday, July 2, 1990. Retrieved May 16, 2023. The new uniforms were originally scheduled to debut the following season, but its popularity with fans resulted in the White Sox officially making the change beginning with the first game of the final homestand of the 1990 campaign on September 25."White Sox to unveil '91 uniform," United Press International (UPI), Wednesday, September 5, 1990. Retrieved May 16, 2023. The team instantly jumped to the top of MLB merchandise sales.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

1990 Opening Day lineup Lance Johnson, CF Scott Fletcher, 2B Iván Calderón, LF Greg Walker, DH Carlton Fisk, C Carlos Martínez, 1B Robin Ventura, 3B Sammy Sosa, RF Ozzie Guillén, SS Mélido Pérez, P

Notable transactions June 4, 1990: Alex Fernandez was drafted by the White Sox in the first round of the 1990 amateur draft.Baseball Draft: 1st Round of the 1990 June Draft Baseball-Reference.com June 4, 1990: Bob Wickman was drafted by the White Sox in the second round of the 1990 amateur draft; he was signed to the team on June 6, 1990.Bob Wickman Statistics Baseball-Reference.com June 4, 1990: Ray Durham was drafted by the White Sox in the fifth round of the 1990 amateur draft; he was signed to the team on June 5, 1990. June 4, 1990: Jason Bere was drafted by the White Sox in the 36th round of the 1990 amateur draft; he was signed to the team on June 6, 1990. July 30, 1990: Phil Bradley was traded by the Baltimore Orioles to the White Sox for Ron Kittle.Phil Bradley Statistics Baseball-Reference.com

No Hitter July 1, 1990 – New York Yankees pitcher Andy Hawkins threw a no-hitter against the White Sox and lost the game. A scoreless game until the bottom of the eighth inning, Sammy Sosa started the rally by hitting a ground ball that Yankee third basemen Mike Blowers bobbled. Initially it was ruled a hit. Yankee manager Stump Merrill was standing on the top of the dugout steps barking up in the direction of the press box. The play was quickly changed to an error on Blowers. Sosa then stole second base. Ozzie Guillén and Lance Johnson both then drew walks to load the bases. The next batter, Robin Ventura, hit a fly ball that eluded Yankees left fielder Jim Leyritz, allowing three unearned runs to score. The next batter, Iván Calderón, then lifted a fly ball to right field that was dropped by Jesse Barfield, making the score 4–0.

Line Score July 1, Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois Team123456789RHENew York000000000043Chicago00000004x402W: Barry Jones (10–1)  L: Andy Hawkins (1–5)  Attendance: 30,642 Time: 2:34

Batting New York YankeesABRHRBIChicago White SoxABRHRBIKelly, cf4000Johnson, cf3100Sax, 2b4000Ventura, 3b4100Mattingly, 1b4000Calderon, dh3000Balboni, dh4000Pasqua, lf4000Tolleson, pr, dh0000Gallagher, lf0000Barfield, rf4010Kittle, 1b3000Leyritz, lf3010Lyons, 1b0000Blowers, 3b3000Karkovice, c2000Geren, c3010Fletcher, 2b2000Espinoza, ss2010Sosa, rf3100NONE0000Guillen, ss2100Totals31040Totals26400

Pitching New York YankeesIPHRERBBSOHawkins, L (1–5)8.004053

Chicago White SoxIPHRERBBSOHibbard7.040004Jones W (10–1)1.000001Radinsky1.000000

Turn Back the Clock Day On July 11, 1990, as part of the celebration of Comiskey Park, the White Sox played a Turn Back the Clock game against the Milwaukee Brewers. The White Sox wore their 1917 home uniforms. This was the first Turn Back the Clock game in the major leagues and started what has become a popular promotion. The club turned off the electronic scoreboards and public address system. They constructed a special manually operated scoreboard in center field for the day and even the grounds-crew wore period costume. General admission tickets were sold for $0.50, popcorn was a nickel, and the stadium organ was shut down for the game.

Line Score July 11, Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois Team12345678910111213RHEMilwaukee003000060000312151Chicago40302000000009130W: Dan Plesac (1–3)  L: Donn Pall (0–3)  Home Runs: Yount (8) Attendance: 40,666 Time: 4:44

Batting Milwaukee BrewersABRHRBIChicago White SoxABRHRBIGantner, 2b7132Johnson, cf7120Sheffield, 3b5230Ventura, 3b5000Yount, cf4223Gallagher, ph1000Parker, dh5110Grebeck, 3b0000Brock, 1b3000Calderon, dh6121Deer, ph, 1b2101Kittle, 1b611 0Vaughn, lf4122Fisk, c4210Felder, lf2110Lyons, lf6011Surhoff, c5212Fletcher, 2b6232Hamilton, rf6122Sosa, rf6223Spiers, ss4000Guillen, ss6011Sveum, ph, ss2000NONE0000Diaz, ss0000NONE0000Totals49121512Totals539138

Roster 1990 Chicago White Sox Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

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

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 Daryl Boston, RF 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 1 Phil Bradley, OF, DH 45 133 20 30 5 1 0 5 20 26 .226 7 Iván Calderón, LF 158 607 85 166 44 2 14 74 51 79 .273 32 Carlton Fisk, C 137 452 65 129 21 0 18 65 61 73 .285 7 Scott Fletcher, 2B 151 509 54 123 18 3 4 56 45 63 .242 1 Dave Gallagher, OF 45 75 5 21 3 1 0 5 3 9 .280 0 Craig Grebeck, 3B, SS, 2B 59 119 7 20 3 1 1 9 8 24 .168 0 Ozzie Guillén, SS 160 516 61 144 21 4 1 58 26 37 .279 13 Lance Johnson, CF 151 541 76 154 18 9 1 51 33 45 .285 36 Ron Karkovice, C 68 183 30 45 10 0 6 20 16 52 .246 2 Ron Kittle, DH, 1B 83 277 29 68 14 0 16 43 24 77 .245 0 Steve Lyons, 1B, 2B, OF 94 146 22 28 6 1 1 11 10 41 .192 1 Carlos Martinez, 1B 92 272 18 61 6 5 4 24 10 40 .224 0 Rodney McCray, OF 32 6 8 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 .000 6 Dan Pasqua, DH, OF 112 325 43 89 27 3 13 58 37 66 .274 1 Sammy Sosa, RF 153 532 72 124 26 10 15 70 33 150 .233 32 Matt Stark, DH 8 16 0 4 1 0 0 3 1 6 .250 0 Frank Thomas, 1B, DH 60 191 39 63 11 3 7 31 44 54 .330 1 Robin Ventura, 3B 150 493 48 123 17 1 5 54 55 53 .249 1 Greg Walker, 1B, DH 2 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .200 0 Jerry Willard, C 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 0 162 5402 682 1393 251 44 106 637 478 903 .258 140

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 Wayne Edwards 5 3 3.22 42 5 2 95.0 81 39 34 6 43 63 Alex Fernandez 5 5 3.80 13 13 0 87.2 89 40 37 6 34 61 Greg Hibbard 14 9 3.16 33 33 0 211.0 202 80 74 11 57 92 Shawn Hillegas 0 0 0.79 7 0 0 11.1 4 1 1 0 6 5 Barry Jones 11 4 2.31 65 0 1 74.0 62 20 19 2 40 45 Eric King 12 4 3.28 25 25 0 151.0 135 59 55 10 40 70 Jerry Kutzler 2 1 6.03 7 7 0 31.1 38 23 21 2 15 21 Bill Long 0 1 6.35 4 0 0 5.2 6 5 4 2 2 2 Steve Lyons 0 0 4.50 1 0 0 2.0 2 1 1 0 4 1 Jack McDowell 14 9 3.82 33 33 0 205.0 189 93 87 20 77 165 Donn Pall 3 5 3.32 56 0 2 76.0 63 33 28 7 30 39 Ken Patterson 2 1 3.39 43 0 2 66.1 58 27 25 6 35 40 Mélido Pérez 13 14 4.61 35 35 0 197.0 177 111 101 14 87 161 Adam Peterson 2 5 4.55 20 11 0 85.0 90 46 43 12 26 29 Scott Radinsky 6 1 4.82 62 0 4 52.1 47 29 28 1 37 46 Steve Rosenberg 1 0 5.40 6 0 0 10.0 10 6 6 2 5 4 Bobby Thigpen 4 6 1.83 77 0 57 88.2 60 20 18 5 35 70 94 68 3.61 162 162 68 1449.1 1313 633 581 106 575 914

Awards and honors Bobby Thigpen, Major League Record, 57 saves in one season Bobby Thigpen, MLB All-Star Game, reserve Jeff Torborg, MLB All-Star Game, bench coach Jeff Torborg, Associated Press Manager of the Year

Farm system

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

References

External links 1990 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Reference 1990 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Almanac Last Comiskey, a 2023 documentary about the 1990 Chicago White Sox, on