November 6 has not always been kind to the White Sox, and a few of the names tied to this date tell that story in very different ways.
The earliest entry reaches back to 1925, when shortstop Hervey McClellan died at 30 of cancer. McClellan had debuted for the White Sox in 1919 and went on to spend five seasons with the club.
His illness first showed itself on April 27, 1924, when he nearly passed out on the field in what was believed to be “acute indigestion.” A week later, he had stomach surgery, though he somehow was not told he had stomach cancer.
Even so, he fought his way back after Independence Day and appeared in 24 more games that season, including a short stint back in the starting lineup.
McClellan arrived at Spring Training in California in 1925 hoping to open the year as the White Sox’s shortstop, but he was too weak to make it to the regular season. He went back under the knife in June, this time to remove gallstones. Five months after leaving the hospital in July, the popular teammate known as “Little Mac” was gone.
A decade later, another former White Sox player wrapped up a long major league run. In 1935, “Sad” Sam Jones retired after 22 seasons with a 229-217 record, a 3.84 ERA and 39.7 WAR, which ranks 180th all-time among pitchers.
Jones spent his final four seasons on the South Side after earlier stops with Cleveland, Boston, New York, St. Louis and Washington.
Jones built his reputation as a curveball specialist and, while he was never a steady superstar, he had some big years. He finished fifth in the American League in WAR in 1921 with 7.2 and seventh in 1928 with 6.2.
Even at age 40 in Chicago, he still produced 3.8 WAR over 25 starts. He played on four pennant winners and won three titles, then went 0-2 with a 2.05 ERA in World Series play.
His nickname came not from sadness, but from the way he stared down runners at first base to keep them from stealing. When he retired at 43, he was the oldest player in the majors, and his 22 straight years in one league remains a record he shares with Herb Pennock, Early Wynn, Red Ruffing and Steve Carlton.
Jones also worked as a writer and photographer and was an avid basketball player who likely would have gone pro on the hardwood if the NBA had existed in the 1910s.
In 1943, the White Sox took a shot on Hal Trosky, buying the first baseman from Cleveland after he had missed two seasons because of severe migraine headaches. His return produced modest numbers - .241/.327/.374 with a 102 OPS+ and 0.5 WAR - and he sat out 1945 as he dealt with his health again.
Trosky did come back for one final White Sox season in 1946. It was a difficult ending for a player who had once looked like a borderline superstar in Cleveland, where he drew MVP votes in four seasons and had two years with at least 5.0 WAR.
Then there was the 1976 trade that sent second baseman Hugh Yancy to the Reds for outfielder Tom Spencer. Yancy had appeared in just seven games across three White Sox seasons and posted a -0.3 WAR, which sounds a little less harsh until you scale it to a full season.
He never reached the majors again, spending three Triple-A seasons in the Cincinnati and Cleveland systems. Spencer, though, was even less productive.
He spent all of 1977 in Triple-A, then put up big numbers in 1978 after a demotion to Double-A and earned his only major league call in July. With the White Sox, he managed only 12 hits, hit .185 and slugged .200, finishing at -0.6 WAR before ending his pro career in the Houston system.
The most modern entry on the date came in 2009, when GM Ken Williams made another move that fit his reputation for chasing players he wanted - though usually those were veteran stars well past their prime. This time, the White Sox acquired Mark Teahen from the Royals for Josh Fields and Chris Getz.
Teahen had broken out in 2006 with 3.7 WAR and an .874 OPS, good for a 122 OPS+, in just 109 games, then followed with a solid 2007. Williams saw him as a possible answer at third base, and a month after the trade he doubled down by giving the 28-year-old a three-year, $14 million extension through 2012.
It did not work out. Teahen was awful in 2008-09, posting -1.4 WAR over 293 games.
Williams’ decision to buy out the arbitration years and commit three more seasons looked bold at the time, but the move aged badly. Teahen finished with -1.1 WAR for the 2010 White Sox and never played another major league game after that contract ran out.
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