1972 Chicago White Sox Replay

SERIES #33. FOUR GAMES, WON THREE OUT OF FOUR. TEXAS AT CHICAGO

The White Sox dropped the August 4th opener, 8-6, then won, 7-2 on August 5th and swept an August 6th doubleheader, 2-0 and 7-6; all against the Texas Rangers.

Game one: Chicago led by a run, 5-4, when Texas scored four runs in the top of the eighth, on the way to an 8-6 victory. Dave Nelson scored three runs and stole two bases and Ted Ford homered for the Rangers. Vincente Romo(3-3) was the one who gagged it in relief. His pitching sequence went: Out, walk, single, single, hit by pitch, single. Jay Johnstone hit his(4th) homerun and Luis Alvarado, his (1st) in defeat.

Game two: This one was pretty much all Chicago. Dick Allen(26) had a big game in the White Sox’ 7-2 win. In addition to the homer, he had a pair of singles and a walk, also scoring twice. Ed Spiezio had two hits and three runs batted in. Jay Johnstone had two hits and three runs scored, while Pat Kelly singled twice and scored twice. Stan Bahnsen(10-4) reaches double digit wins.

Game three: Wilbur Wood(9-7) tossed an absolute gem in the first game of the August 6th twinbill. He added a three hit, shutout, to his resume, out dueling Pete Broberg, 2-0. Wood fanned five and walked three, but no Texas base runner got further than second base. Mike Andrews and Alvarado drove in Chicago’s only runs.

Game four: This was a “snatch victory from defeat” type of game. Starter, Tom Bradley had yet another shaky start, leaving after just four and a third innings, trailing 3-0. After Texas scored a run in the top of the ninth, to take a 4-2 lead, the White Sox plated two runs in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extras. Goose Gossage(5-1) gave up two runs in the top of the tenth(both unearned). In fact, each team committed three errors. Once again, the Rangers were on the cusp of a win, but their bullpen would implode again. Rich Hinton surrendered a double to Carlos May; a single to Spiezio; then an rbi single to Andrews, before Jim Panther took over. He walked Ed Herrmann, loading the bases, then walked Rich Morales, forcing in another run. He retired pinch hitter, Jim Lyttle, for the first out of the tenth. However, Panther issued his third base on balls of the inning to Kelly, for a 7-6, “walk” off, win! Allen(27) clubbed a solo homer in this game.

The White Sox are idle on August 7th, then head out on the road, first facing the California Angels in a short series on the 8th and 9th. Oakland lost three out of four to Minnesota, so Chicago has closed the gap in the West to just one game.

American League West Standings(August 7th, 1972)

Oakland/104/61/43/.587/—

Chicago/102/59/43/.578/1

Minnesota/100/56/44/.560/3

Kansas City/102/52/50/.510/8

California/103/44/59/.427/16.5

Texas/104/43/61/.413/18