1920 Chicago White Sox season explained

Chicago White Sox
Season:	1920
League:	American League
Ballpark:	Comiskey Park
City:	Chicago, Illinois
Owners:	Charles Comiskey
Managers:	Kid Gleason

The 1920 Chicago White Sox season was a season in American baseball.

The team was in contention to defend their American League pennant going into the final week of the season. However, for all intents and purposes, the season ended on September 26, when news of the Black Sox Scandal became public.

Black Sox Scandal

Owner Charles Comiskey suspended the five players who were still active (the sixth, ringleader Chick Gandil, opted to retire after the 1919 season).^[1]

At that time, the White Sox were only a half-game behind the Cleveland Indians, but went 2–2 over their last four games to finish two games out.

They would not finish in the first division again until 1936.^[2]

Historic Record in 1920

The 1920 White Sox are one of only two teams in baseball history (The other being the 1971 Baltimore Orioles) to have four 20-game winners: Red Faber, Lefty Williams, Eddie Cicotte, and Dickie Kerr. (The '20 White Sox went one better than the '71 Orioles, in that they had four 21+ game winners.) ^[3]

Regular season

Shoeless Joe Jackson finished third in AL batting average, and Eddie Collins was fifth. Along with the St. Louis Browns, the team was the first in major league history to have three players with at least 200 hits each: Jackson, Collins, and Buck Weaver.^[4]

Roster

1920 Chicago White Sox
Roster
Pitchers		CatchersInfielders		Outfielders		Manager

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C		151	485	131	.270	1	61
1B		133	495	150	.303	1	63
2B		153	602	224	.372	3	76
3B		151	629	208	.331	2	75
SS		126	458	122	.266	2	65
LF		146	570	218	.382	12	121
CF		142	556	188	.338	14	115
RF		108	413	91	.220	1	28

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
	53	188	45	.239	1	16
	48	150	36	.240	0	8
	46	127	25	.197	0	13
	58	118	40	.339	0	19
	16	25	8	.320	0	3
	10	18	6	.333	0	5
	17	17	5	.294	0	2
	5	5	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
	40	319.0	23	13	2.99	108
	37	303.1	21	10	3.26	87
	39	299.0	22	14	3.91	128

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
	45	253.2	21	9	3.37	72
	34	145.0	7	9	4.03	30
	4	19.2	1	1	2.29	5
	2	4.2	0	1	15.43	1

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
	12	1	1	0	5.46	7
	4	0	0	0	15.43	0
	3	0	0	0	6.75	0

The White Sox became the first team to have four 20-game winners in the same pitching rotation.^[5]

League leaders

Happy Felsch

• #4 in AL in home runs (14)

Shoeless Joe Jackson

• #3 in AL in batting average (.382)
• #3 in AL in slugging percentage (.589)
• #4 in AL in runs batted in (121)
• #4 in AL in on-base percentage (.444)

Lefty Williams

• #2 in AL in strikeouts (128)

References

• 1920 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Reference

Notes and References

1. Web site: The New York Times: This Day in Sports. The New York Times.
2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHW/ Chicago White Sox Team History & Encyclopedia
3. Web site: 1920 Chicago White Sox Pitching Statistics.
4. Letters to the Editor. Baseball Digest. March 2001. 60. 3. 11.
5. Web site: Stuckmeyer . Luke . Do the 2018 Cubs have the best starting rotation in Chicago baseball history? . www.nbcsports.com . 11 March 2019.