Today in White Sox History: May 16

1953
White Sox pitcher Tommy Byrne, who was knocked out of the game in an eventual win against the Yankees two days earlier, was sent up to pinch-hit in the ninth inning with the bases loaded and the Sox trailing, 3-1. Byrne slammed a 2-2 pitch from Ewell “The Whip” Blackwell into the lower deck in right field at Yankee Stadium for the only pinch-hit grand slam by a pitcher in team history! The Sox would win the game, 5-3, scoring all of their runs in the ninth inning.

1978
With the White Sox getting off to a dismal 9-20 start and knowing that there was no way he was going to be able to afford to re-sign him after the season, owner Bill Veeck traded slugger Bobby Bonds to the Texas Rangers for Claudell Washington and Rusty Torres. Bonds would only play in 26 games for the Sox, with two home runs and eight RBIs.

The trade was initially easy to pan, as to get Bonds the previous December Veeck traded three players, including future All-Star Brian Downing, to acquire Bonds. Washington would become the target of fan displeasure because of his tendency to take it easy on the field while with the team. One fan made up a banner, hung over the right field wall, which expressed that sentiment “Washington slept here.”

But the White Sox also acquired California's first-round pick in 1977, 18-year-old Richard Dotson, in the deal. Dotson would be a key cog in the stellar 1983 starting rotation and put up 17.4 bWAR in his 10-year White Sox career. It didn't match what Downing produced for California, but it help soothe some of the sting.

Torres' claim to fame (and this is a great trivia question) was that he was on the field for all of the forfeited games in baseball during the 1970’s. Torres was with the Yankees when the final game in Washington was forfeited when fans rushed the field in 1971, he was in Cleveland for the nickel beer night fiasco in 1974 and was with the Sox during the “Disco Demolition” forfeit in 1979.

In 2014, Torres was convicted of five counts of first-degree sexual abuse and sentenced to three years in prison.

1984
Carlton Fisk had one of his finest games as he became the third player in franchise history to hit for the cycle. It came against the Royals at Comiskey Park. Despite Fisk’s efforts, the Sox would lose, 7-6. Carlton went 4-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs in the game.