There are some things you just can’t make up. ESPN failing to acknowledge the Chicago White Sox continues to be one of them.
In a new 30 for 30 on Sunday night titled Long Gone Summer, the network chronicled the early careers of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, with a particular focus falling on the 1998 home run race. There was just one detail that the documentary left out in their chronology.
That’s right, we’ve got another thing to add to the already monstrously long list of times ESPN has overlooked the White Sox. Don’t get me wrong, the focus of this program wasn’t to highlight Sammy’s time with the White Sox in excruciating detail, nor should it have been. However, it’s still a part of his career that at the very least, deserves to be mentioned.
Sosa entered the league on June 16, 1989, with the Texas Rangers – the franchise whom he began and ended his career with. In an interesting turn of events, Sammy would spend just a little over a month with the club before being dealt to who else but the White Sox. Many fans still probably remember the trade that sent him to the South Side, for good reasons or bad. He, along with Wilson Alvarez and Scott Fletcher, were exchanged by the Rangers for Harold Baines and Fred Manrique.
In his first game with the new club, Sosa had quite the day at the plate. He went 3-for-3 with a bomb, two walks, and a pair of singles against the rival Twins at the Metrodome. The home run turned out to be one of two Sammy would hit to finish out his 1989 rookie campaign, owning a slash of .273/.351/.414 since joining Chicago.
The following year, Sosa would break a franchise record. He became the youngest player in team history to hit 15 homers and steal 15 bases in the same season. He finished with 32 stolen bases while hitting .233 and driving in 70.
In 1991, Opening Day appeared to be an indication that things were about to trend in a more positive direction. Sosa became the second player in White Sox history to homer twice in a season opener, joining some good company in Minnie Minoso. He ended the game 3-for-4, and was responsible for driving in five of the team’s nine runs.
Later in the year on May 7th, Sammy delivered one of his most memorable Sox moments. A walk-off home run off of the Brewers’ Mark Lee to become the fourth-youngest player in club history to accomplish the feat. Unfortunately, the rest of ’91 didn’t provide much to write home about. Sosa would slump mightily to end his Sox career with a total of just 28 long balls, 113 RBI, and a less than impressive .227/.276/.383 line over two and a half seasons.
Prior to 1992, the White Sox sent Sammy packing to the North Side with Ken Patterson for outfielder George Bell. We all know how the story goes from there.
The point of this? Sammy himself mentioned how the city of Chicago was such a big part of his life in the documentary and to skip over a chapter of his story seems to be a bit careless on the part of the doc’s production team. While it’s not the worst way the White Sox have been overlooked by any means, it’s still disappointing and frustrating to see little to no change in how the team is presented by national networks.
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