March 15

1983 Fleer #240 Jim Kern

On this day in 1949, Jim Kern was born.

Jim came to the White Sox through a trade with the Cincinnati Reds on August 23, 1982. Kern showed enough promise with the Sox that he was back the next season, but one angry pitch on April 5, 1983, against the Texas Rangers, resulted in a season ending elbow injury.

"The doctor (White Sox physician Richard Corzatt)," Kern said, "told me I did some unusual things. I tore a couple tendons right off the bone. Usually, that takes some bone with it, but that didn't happen with me. I also tore one ligament right in half. From my shoulder to my wrist there was nothing but blood clots. It was scary to look at. He performed some radical surgery, and he told me, 'You're either going to wind up stronger than you ever were, or it just won't work.' Now I'm about ready to go out and see if it works. If it doesn't, there's nothing I can do about it. I made up my mind that if I couldn't throw 88, I'd hang it up." - Jim Kern (June 1984)



White Sox March 15th birthdays:

1876 - Bill Hallman
1885 - Rube Peters
1889 - Charlie Mullen
1938 - Bob Locker
1944 - Wayne Granger
1946 - Bobby Bonds
1949 - Jim Kern
1959 - Harold Baines
1979 - Kevin Youkilis
1991 - Trayce Thompson