Even as I am fed up with the futility of this year's White Sox team, they stink, I am still a Sox fan and on July 23 two major pitching gems occurred in Sox history.
Both of them I remember very well.
JULY 23, 1968
White Sox relief pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm appeared at both ends of a double header against the Red Sox at Comiskey Park (it is still Comiskey Park to me). The future Hall of Famer set the record for most appearances by a pitcher and broke Cy Young's record of 905 games. "Old Tilt" would appear in a staggering 1,070 games before he retired.
Chicago split the two games with Boston.
In Wilhelm's six years with the Sox, he won 41 games and saved 98 others, while producing some astonishing low ERAs considering he threw the knuckleball, a very slow-moving baseball. His highest ERA between 1963 and 968 was 2.64. Every other season he was below 2.00!!
Clearly, he was the top relief pitcher of the 1960s.
I remember he taught Sox pitcher Wilbur Wood how to throw the knuckleball and Woods went on to be impressive as well.
That Hoyt! What a Pitcher. --CootKnuck
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