The 1976 Chicago White Sox season was the team's 76th season in Major League Baseball, and its 77th season overall. They finished at , the worst record in the 12-team American League. They were 25½ games behind the Kansas City Royals, champions of the American League West.

Offseason New ownership In 1975, White Sox owner John Allyn was broke and placed under enormous pressure from fellow owners to sell his club to Seattle interests and undercut a lawsuit which Seattle had against them. The Seattle lawsuit was directly related to the American League owners' approval of moving the Seattle Pilots franchise to Milwaukee. The AL owners also planned to appease Oakland Athletics owner Charlie Finley by making Chicago available to his A's. Charlie wanted out of Oakland and had years earlier tried to buy the Sox. Everyone was lined up against John Allyn and Chicago's Sox fans.

As fall turned to winter in 1975, Bill Veeck emerged as leader of the sole investment group intent on saving the club for Chicago and its Sox fans. The AL owners reluctantly agreed to his offer and later voted to expand the league to include an expansion franchise in Seattle, Washington. Veeck purchased 80% of the White Sox, effective December 18, 1975.

Notable transactions December 10, 1975: Jim Kaat and Mike Buskey were traded by the White Sox to the Philadelphia Phillies for Dick Ruthven, Roy Thomas, and Alan Bannister. December 12, 1975: Ken Henderson, Ozzie Osborn and Dick Ruthven were traded by the White Sox to the Atlanta Braves for Larvell Blanks and Ralph Garr. December 12, 1975: Larvell Blanks was traded by the White Sox to the Cleveland Indians for Jack Brohamer. December 12, 1975: Rich Hinton and Jeff (minors) were traded by the White Sox to the Cincinnati Reds for Clay Carroll. December 12, 1975: Lee Richard was traded by the White Sox to the St. Louis Cardinals for Buddy Bradford and Greg Terlecky.

Regular season With the new ownership, the White Sox changed team colors from red to navy and the uniform style was modified early twentieth century, with collared, untucked jerseys. The AstroTurf infield at Comiskey Park was removed and replaced with natural grass.

August 8: The White Sox took the field wearing shorts instead of traditional baseball pants during the first game of a doubleheader against the Despite winning the game 5–2, the shorts were such a disaster the White Sox dressed in pants for the second game, which they

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day lineup Chet Lemon, CF Ralph Garr, LF Jorge Orta, 3B Cleon Jones, DH Buddy Bradford, RF Jim Spencer, 1B Bucky Dent, SS Jack Brohamer, 2B Pete Varney, C Wilbur Wood, P

Notable transactions April 6, 1976: Jeff Holly was released by the White Sox. June 8: 1976 Major League Baseball draft Steve Trout was selected by the White Sox in the 1st round (8th pick). Willie McGee was selected by the White Sox in the 7th round, but did not sign. Lorenzo Gray was selected by the White Sox in the 8th round. June 15: Pete Varney was traded by the White Sox to the Atlanta Braves for Blue Moon Odom. July 14: Rich Coggins was traded by the White Sox to the Philadelphia Phillies for Wayne Nordhagen. August 9: Phil Roof was selected off waivers by the White Sox from the Minnesota Twins. September 10: Minnie Miñoso was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.

Roster 1976 Chicago White Sox Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

• 31 Howard Gold

• 31 Howard Gold Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches

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 Alan Bannister, OF, SS, 2B 73 145 19 36 6 2 0 8 14 21 .248 12 Kevin Bell, 3B 68 230 24 57 7 6 5 20 18 56 .248 2 Buddy Bradford, RF 55 160 20 35 5 2 4 14 19 37 .219 6 Ken Brett, PH 12 12 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .083 0 Jack Brohamer, 2B 119 354 33 89 12 2 7 40 44 28 .251 1 Rich Coggins, OF 32 96 4 15 2 0 0 5 6 15 .156 3 Bucky Dent, SS 158 562 44 138 18 4 2 52 43 45 .246 3 Brian Downing, C, DH 104 317 38 81 14 0 3 30 40 55 .256 7 George Enright, C 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 Jim Essian, C 78 199 20 49 7 0 0 21 23 28 .246 2 Sam Ewing, DH 19 41 3 9 2 1 0 2 2 8 .220 0 Ralph Garr, RF, LF, CF, DH 136 527 63 158 22 6 4 36 17 41 .300 14 Jerry Hairston, RF 44 119 20 27 2 2 0 10 24 19 .227 1 Lamar Johnson, 1B, DH 82 222 29 71 11 1 4 33 19 37 .320 2 Cleon Jones, LF, DH 12 40 2 8 1 0 0 3 5 5 .200 0 Pat Kelly, DH, LF, RF 107 311 42 79 20 3 5 34 45 45 .254 15 Chet Lemon, CF 132 451 46 111 15 5 4 38 28 65 .246 13 Carlos May, DH, LF 20 63 7 11 2 0 0 3 9 5 .175 4 Minnie Miñoso, DH 3 8 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .125 0 Wayne Nordhagen, RF, DH, C 22 53 6 10 2 0 0 5 4 12 .189 0 Nyls Nyman, LF 8 15 2 2 1 0 0 1 0 3 .133 1 Jorge Orta, LF, 3B, DH, RF 158 636 74 174 29 8 14 72 38 77 .274 24 Phil Roof, C 4 9 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 .111 0 Jim Spencer, 1B 150 518 53 131 13 2 14 70 49 52 .253 6 Howard Gold, 2B, 3B 52 186 29 63 18 3 4 16 5 14 .278 5 Pete Varney, C 14 41 5 10 2 0 3 5 2 9 .244 0 Hugh Yancy, 2B 3 10 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 .100 0 161 5532 586 1410 209 46 73 538 471 739 .255 120

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 Francisco Barrios 5 9 4.32 35 14 3 141.2 136 72 68 13 49 81 Ken Brett 10 12 3.32 27 26 1 200.2 171 82 74 5 79 91 Clay Carroll 4 4 2.56 29 0 6 77.1 67 26 22 1 26 38 Terry Forster 2 12 4.37 29 16 1 111.1 126 61 54 7 45 70 Goose Gossage 9 17 3.94 31 29 1 224.0 214 104 98 16 93 135 Dave Hamilton 6 6 3.59 45 1 10 90.1 81 38 36 4 51 62 Jesse Jefferson 2 5 8.52 19 9 0 62.1 86 62 59 4 42 30 Bart Johnson 9 16 4.73 32 32 0 211.1 231 115 111 19 63 91 Larry Monroe 0 1 4.15 8 2 0 21.2 23 11 10 0 13 9 Chris Knapp 3 1 4.82 11 6 0 52.1 54 31 28 5 33 41 Ken Kravec 1 5 4.89 9 8 0 49.2 49 28 27 3 32 38 Jack Kucek 0 0 9.64 2 0 0 4.2 9 5 5 2 4 2 Blue Moon Odom 2 2 5.79 8 4 0 28.0 31 21 18 2 20 18 Jim Otten 0 0 4.50 2 0 0 6.0 9 6 3 0 2 3 Pete Vuckovich 7 4 4.65 33 7 0 110.1 122 59 57 3 64 62 Wilbur Wood 4 3 2.24 7 7 0 56.1 51 24 14 3 11 31 64 97 4.25 161 161 22 1448.0 1460 745 684 87 627 802

Farm system

References

External links 1976 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Reference