Today in White Sox History: June 30
1988
After years of saying that the original Comiskey Park was outdated, White Sox owners Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn came very close to moving the team to St. Petersburg, Fla. At the stroke of midnight, the Illinois General Assembly passed a bill allowing the construction of a new stadium, thus saving the Sox. Technically it was midnight but Illinois Governor Jim Thompson actually stopped the clock, because no bills could be passed after that time period.
Meanwhile, Florida baseball fans were stunned as they realized they had been used as a pawn to get a new facility by the power brokers and politicians of Chicago.
2008
White Sox outfielder Nick Swisher became only the second player in franchise history to homer from both sides of the plate twice in the same season, when he hit two in a 9-7 win over Cleveland. Swisher accomplished the feat the first time a few weeks earlier, in a game against the Twins. Only José Valentin had ever done that before, and he did it three times between 2000 and 2003.
2015
When Chris Sale struck out Jhonny Peralta in the sixth inning of a game the Sox would eventually win 2-1 in 11 innings at St. Louis, it marked the eighth consecutive start that he fanned 10 or more hitters. That tied Sale with Pedro Martinez for the longest streak in baseball history. The stretch for Sale started on May 23 against the Twins. Even though Sale was overpowering, the White Sox offense was so weak that his record in those eight starts was three wins, three losses and two no-decisions.