The 1981 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 81st season in the major leagues, and their 82nd season overall. They finished with a record of 54–52, good enough for third place in the American League West, 8.5 games behind the first place Oakland Athletics. However, due to a player's strike, the Athletics would play the 50-53 Kansas City Royals, who had finished behind the White Sox.

Owner Bill Veeck attempted to sell the club to Ed DeBartolo, but the offer was turned down by the other owners. Veeck was then forced to sell to a different investment group headed by Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn.

Offseason October 6, 1980: Minnie Miñoso was released by the White Sox. November 26, 1980: Ron LeFlore was signed as a free agent by the White Sox. March 18, 1981: Carlton Fisk was signed as a free agent by the White Sox. March 28, 1981: Ken Kravec was traded by the White Sox to the Chicago Cubs for Dennis Lamp. March 30, 1981: Greg Luzinski purchased from Philadelphia Phillies.

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day lineup Ron LeFlore, LF Mike Squires, 1B Carlton Fisk, C Greg Luzinski, DH Chet Lemon, CF Harold Baines, RF Jim Morrison, 3B Tony Bernazard, 2B Bill Almon, SS Britt Burns, P

Notable transactions April 1, 1981: Thad Bosley was traded by the White Sox to the Milwaukee Brewers for John Poff. July 18, 1981: George Riley was signed as a free agent by the White Sox. August 30, 1981: Ivan Mesa (minors), Ronnie Perry (minors), a player to be named later, and cash were traded by the White Sox to the Minnesota Twins for Jerry Koosman. The White Sox completed the deal by sending Randy Johnson to the Twins on September 2.

Roster 1981 Chicago White Sox Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team 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 Bill Almon, SS 103 349 46 105 10 2 4 41 21 60 .301 16 Harold Baines, RF 82 280 42 80 11 7 10 41 12 41 .286 6 Tony Bernazard, 2B 106384 53 106 14 4 6 34 54 66 .276 4 Jim Essian, C 27 52 6 16 3 0 0 5 4 5 .308 0 Carlton Fisk, C 96 338 44 89 12 0 7 45 38 37 .263 3 Jerry Hairston, OF 9 25 5 7 1 0 1 6 2 4 .280 0 Marc Hill, C 16 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 0 Lamar Johnson, 1B, DH 41 134 10 37 7 0 1 15 5 14 .276 0 Rusty Kuntz, OF, DH 67 55 15 14 2 0 0 4 6 8 .255 1 Ron LeFlore, LF, CF 82 337 46 83 10 4 0 24 28 70 .24636 Chet Lemon, CF 94 328 50 9923 6 9 50 33 48 .302 5 Jay Loviglio, 3B, 2B 14 15 5 4 0 0 0 2 1 1 .267 2 Greg Luzinski, DH 104 37855 100 15 1 21625880 .265 0 Bob Molinaro, OF, DH 47 42 7 11 1 1 1 9 8 1 .262 1 Jim Morrison, 3B 90 290 27 68 8 1 10 34 10 29 .234 3 Wayne Nordhagen, OF 65 208 19 64 8 1 6 33 10 25 .308 0 Greg Pryor, 3B, SS, 2B 47 76 4 17 1 0 0 6 6 8 .281 0 Mike Squires, 1B 92 294 35 78 9 0 0 25 22 17 .265 7 Leo Sutherland, OF 11 12 6 2 0 0 0 0 3 1 .167 2 Jerry Turner, RF 10 12 1 2 0 0 0 2 1 2 .167 0 106 3615 476 982 135 27 76 438 322 518 .272 86

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 Juan Agosto 0 0 4.76 2 0 0 5.2 5 3 3 1 0 3 Francisco Barrios 1 3 3.96 8 7 0 36.1 45 23 16 3 15 12 Ross Baumgarten 5 9 4.07 19 19 0 101.2 101 56 46 9 43 52 Britt Burns 10 6 2.64 24 23 0156.2 139 52 461450108 Richard Dotson 9 8 3.77 2424 0 141.01456759 13 49 73 Ed Farmer 3 3 4.61 42 010 52.2 53 33 27 5 35 42 Kevin Hickey 0 2 3.65 41 0 3 44.1 38 22 18 3 23 17 LaMarr Hoyt 9 3 3.57 43 110 90.2 80 40 36 10 29 60 Jerry Koosman 1 4 3.33 8 3 0 27.0 27 10 10 2 7 21 Dennis Lamp 7 62.41 27 10 0 127.0 103 41 34 4 44 71 Lynn McGlothen 0 0 4.15 11 0 0 21.2 14 10 10 0 10 12 Reggie Patterson 0 1 13.50 6 1 0 7.1 14 11 11 1 6 2 Dewey Robinson 1 0 4.50 4 0 0 4.0 5 2 2 1 4 2 Steve Trout 8 7 3.47 20 18 0 124.2 122 53 48 7 38 54 54 52 3.47 106 106 23 940.2 891 423 363 73 353 529

Farm system

Notes

References

1981 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Reference