The 2012 Chicago White Sox season was the club's 113th season in Chicago and 112th in the American League. On October 6, 2011, Robin Ventura was designated to be the new manager. This would be the White Sox's last winning season until 2020.
Offseason White Sox GM Kenny Williams called the 2012 season a "rebuilding" year. In doing so, the Sox made some big moves in the offseason by trading away or letting big name free agents leave. Mark Buehrle became a free agent and decided to follow his former manager, Ozzie Guillén, and sign with the Miami Marlins. The White Sox closer during the 2011 season, Sergio Santos, was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays. Left fielder Juan Pierre became a free agent and signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. Power hitting right fielder Carlos Quentin, was traded to the San Diego Padres. The White Sox did however sign or acquire young talent, including players like José Quintana, Néstor Molina, Simón Castro, Pedro Hernández, Jhan Mariñez, Héctor Giménez, Damaso Espino, Erik Morrison and Osvaldo Martínez. The White Sox signed former Cub and Indian, Kosuke Fukudome, to be the team's fourth outfielder.
Offseason additions and subtractions Subtractions Additions Players LHP Mark Buehrle (signed with Marlins) RHP Sergio Santos (traded to Blue Jays) RHP Jason Frasor (traded to Blue Jays) RHP Josh Kinney (signed with Mariners) C Ramón Castro (free agent) C Donny Lucy (retired) INF Omar Vizquel (signed with Blue Jays) OF Juan Pierre (signed with Phillies) OF Carlos Quentin (traded to Padres) OF Lastings Milledge (signed with NPB Tokyo Yakult Swallows)LHP Donnie Veal* (Minor League free agent) LHP José Quintana* (Minor League free agent) LHP Eric Stults** (Minor League free agent) RHP Néstor Molina* (traded from Blue Jays) RHP Simón Castro* (traded from Padres) LHP Pedro Hernández* (traded from Padres) RHP Myles Jaye* (traded from Blue Jays) RHP Daniel Webb* (traded from Blue Jays) LHP Scott Olsen* (Minor League free agent) RHP Jhan Mariñez* (compensation from Marlins) C Héctor Giménez** (Minor League free agent) C Damaso Espino** (Minor League free agent) 1B Dan Johnson** (Minor League free agent) 2B Erik Morrison* (Minor League free agent) SS Osvaldo Martínez (compensation from Marlins) INF Ray Olmedo** (Minor League free agent) INF Corey Smith* (Minor League free agent) OF Delwyn Young** (Minor League free agent) OF Kosuke Fukudome (free agent) Personnel Manager Ozzie Guillén† (released) Bench coach Joey Cora† (released) Hitting coach Greg Walker (released) Third base coach Jeff Cox (released)Manager Robin Ventura Bench coach Mark Parent Hitting coach Jeff Manto Third base coach Joe McEwing †Player released during 2011 season *Player spent entire 2011 season in Minor Leagues **Player was non-roster invitee to Spring training (not on 40-man roster)
2012 top prospects # Player Position Top 100 rank MLB rank 2012 Starting team (level) 1 Addison Reed Right-handed pitcher 66 92 Majors 2 Néstor Molina Right-handed pitcher - - AA 3 Simón Castro Right-handed pitcher - - AA 4 Trayce Thompson Outfielder - - High A 5 Jacob Petricka Right-handed pitcher - - High A 6 Keenyn Walker Outfielder - - Low A 7 Jhan Mariñez Right-handed pitcher - - AAA 8 Tyler Saladino Shortstop - - AA 9 Juan Silverio Third baseman - - High A 10 Osvaldo Martínez Shortstop - - AAA * According to Baseball America Top 100 Prospects
* According to 2012 Prospect Watch
* Top 10 White Sox prospects via Baseball America
Transactions 03/25/12 – OF Greg Golson traded from the Kansas City Royals to the White Sox for cash. 04/03/12 – Traded OF Christian Marrero to the Atlanta Braves for cash. 04/06/12 – Signed RHP Kip Wells to a minor league deal. but subsequently agreed to a mutual release on April 16, 2012 04/10/12 – Acquired INF Jose Castro from the Cincinnati Reds for cash. 05/17/12 – Eric Stults claimed off waivers by the San Diego Padres. 05/19/12 – Signed free agent 2B Orlando Hudson. 06/24/12 – Acquired 3B Kevin Youkilis from the Boston Red Sox for UT Brent Lillibridge and RHP Zach Stewart. 06/26/12 – Released OF Kosuke Fukudome. 07/03/12 – Released LHP Will Ohman. 07/21/12 – Acquired RHP Brett Myers from the Houston Astros and cash for minor league prospects RHP Matthew Heidenreich and LHP Blair Walters. 07/28/12 – Acquired LHP Francisco Liriano from the Minnesota Twins for Eduardo Escobar and Pedro Hernández. 08/03/12 – Signed free agent DeWayne Wise to a minor league contract.
Regular season
Season standings
American League Central
American League Wild Card
Record vs. opponents
Detailed records and runs scored/allowed Opponent Home Away Total Pct. Runs scored Runs allowed AL East Baltimore Orioles 1–3 1–3 2–6 31 35 Boston Red Sox 1–3 1–3 2–6 20 45 New York Yankees 3–0 2–2 5–2 38 28 Tampa Bay Rays 1–3 3–0 4–3 24 26 Toronto Blue Jays 3–3 3–1 6–4 45 41 9–12 10–9 19–21 158 175 AL Central Cleveland Indians 5–4 6–3 11–7 120 73 Detroit Tigers 5–4 1–8 6–12 69 84 Kansas City Royals 3–6 3–6 6–12 52 78 Minnesota Twins 7–2 7–2 14–4 113 77 20–16 17–19 37–35 364 310 AL West Los Angeles Angels 2–1 1–4 3–5 30 36 Oakland Athletics 2–1 1–2 3–3 26 22 Seattle Mariners 5–1 3–0 8–1 55 38 Texas Rangers 3–0 3–3 6–3 46 27 12–3 8–9 20–12 157 123 Interleague Chicago Cubs 1–2 3–0 4–2 27 20 Houston Astros 1–2 0–0 1–2 22 20 Los Angeles Dodgers 0–0 1–2 1–2 12 13 Milwaukee Brewers 2–1 0–0 2–1 9 7 St. Louis Cardinals 0–0 1–2 1–2 9 7 4–5 5–4 9–9 79 67
Season summary
Composite inning summary
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Runs scored 105 64 73 76 100 126 69 83 60 7 0 1 0 3 Runs allowed 80 75 100 50 77 96 60 69 66 11 1 4 0 3
Opening Day lineup Alejandro De Aza CF Brent Morel 3B Adam Dunn DH Paul Konerko 1B A. J. Pierzynski C Alex Ríos RF Alexei Ramírez SS Dayán Viciedo LF Gordon Beckham 2B John Danks P
Monthly summaries
April The White Sox started the season with their new manager Robin Ventura. In Ventura's first game managed on April 5, the Sox lost 3–2 at Texas. Ventura didn't have to wait long for his first MLB victory as the next day the Sox won 4-3 thanks to a 9th-inning home run by Alex Ríos. Then the Sox lost their first series of the season by dropping the finale to the Rangers 5–0. They went to Cleveland for a two-game series, but three games was scheduled to play, but one game was postponed due to rain. The Sox swept the Indians there. On April 13, the Sox played their first home game of the season against the Tigers and won that game 5-2 and went on to take two out of three to win their first home series of the season. The Sox hosted the Orioles when they dropped three of four to finish their first homestand with a 3–4 record. Then they embark on their west coast trip for six games, three for each city. The Sox swept the Mariners and lost two of three to the Athletics. On April 21 during the second game of the series in Seattle, Philip Humber threw the 21st perfect game in MLB history with 96 pitches thrown with 9 strikeouts in the 4–0 win. In the final game of the series in Oakland on April 25, Paul Konerko hit milestone home run number 400. The Sox travelled back home to host the Red Sox and dropped their first three of a four-game set. The Sox avoided the sweep by beating the Red Sox 4–1 behind a great performance by Gavin Floyd. Konerko had a great first month of the season as he batted .383 with 5 home runs and 15 RBI while winning Player of the Week from April 23 through April 29. The White Sox lost five of their last six games to close out April but finished the month with a record of 11-11 and outscored their opponents 85–82.
May The White Sox started the month of May losing two of three against the Indians, losing two of three to the Tigers and then lost a doubleheader in Cleveland on May 7. The Sox then came back and won the next two games against Cleveland to split the four games series. The White Sox came home from May 11–15, they lost two of three to the Royals and split a two-games series with the Tigers. Then the White Sox travelled to Los Angeles for a two games series against the Angels. The Sox lost the first game of the series and at that point, through May 16, the White Sox had an overall record of 17-21 and were four and a half games back from the first place Indians. The Sox then beat the Angels in the second game and split the two-game series. The Sox then came back to Chicago for a road series against the Cubs at Wrigley Field for the Crosstown Classic. In the first game of the series, Paul Konerko hit a home run in his first at bat off of Jeff Samardzija. The next time Konerko came up, Samardzija hit Konerko in the face with a pitch and knocked him out for the rest of the series. Samardzija stated that it was not intentional and a breaking ball just got away from him. A few innings later, Sox pitcher Philip Humber threw a pitch behind the Cubs first baseman Bryan LaHair. Both teams were warned and no other problems came about during the series. The Sox went on the sweep the Cubs winning 2–1, 7-4 and 6–0. It was the third time the White Sox had sweep the Cubs and the second time they did it at Wrigley Field. The Sox then lost the first game of a three games series against the Twins. The Sox took the next two games against the Twins to win the series. The Sox then swept the Indians at home by the scores of 9–3, 14-7 and 12–6. The Sox then traveled to Tampa Bay to face the Rays for three games. On May 28, in the first game of that series, the Sox won 2–1 as Chris Sale struck out 15 Rays which tied him with Eddie Cicotte, Ed Walsh and Jim Scott for second most strikeouts in a single game in franchise history. Jack Harshman holds the team record with 16 strikeouts in a single game. The Sox swept the Rays and finished the month on an 8-game winning streak and won 12 of their last 13 games to finish the month of May. The White Sox went from four and a half games back on May 17 to first place and a game and a half over the Indians by the end of the month. The Sox finished the month with a good record of 18-11 and outscored their opponents 156–122.
June