Sunday, February 19, 2012

February 19

1903 Sporting Life (W600) #678 - Doc White

On this day in 1969, Guy Harris "Doc" White died.

Before the 1903 season Doc jumped from the Philadelphia Phillies to the Chicago White Sox, where he stayed until the 1913 season. The Phillies and White Sox got into a bidding war over White, with the Sox initially offering more money. When Doc accepted, the Phillies stepped in and tried to offer three times what Chicago did, but the League offices rejected the counter-proposal and awarded the Sox the pitcher.

Before starting with the White Sox, White completed his dentistry degree and opened up a private practice, hence the nickname "Doc".

While with the Sox, Doc set a record for consecutive shutouts in 1904 with five, which stood until 1968, when Don Drysdale broke the mark. An 89 year old White send Drysdale a congratulatory telegram upon tying the record. Doc's mark of 65 1/3 innings without issuing a walk in 1907 still stands as an American League record. The streak was broken by an intentional walk.

During his time with the White Sox, Doc also became a published composer of numerous songs, including the bestselling, "Little Puff Of Smoke, Good Night".
After a down year in 1913, White played in the Pacific Coast League until 1915.



White Sox February 19th birthdays:

1890 - Larry Chappell
1894 - Ernie Cox
1900 - John Kane
1943 - Gail Hopkins
1982 - Chris Stewart

1 comment:

BASEBALL DAD said...

Interesting sideline with the music. I'm always searching flea markets and antique shops for old baseball related sheet music.( haven't found any yet !)

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