OAKLAND, Calif. — From opening day to the postseason, the Chicago White Sox have experienced a little bit of everything at the Oakland Coliseum.
With the Athletics gearing up to play in Sacramento next season, the Sox began what will likely be their final series at the Oakland Coliseum on Monday. They arrived after suffering their 20th consecutive defeat Sunday against the Minnesota Twins, which matched the third-longest losing streak in major-league history since 1901.
With more history on the line in Oakland, here are some standout moments from previous Sox visits to the ballpark the A’s have called home since 1968.
Opening the season with two wins: April 7, 1971
The Sox opened the season with not one, but two games against the A’s.
They swept the doubleheader, winning 6-5 in Game 1 and 12-4 in Game 2.
“Playing twice on opening day is unique in itself,” Richard Dozer wrote in the April 8 edition of the Tribune. “So is the bold act of defeating the Athletics.”
The Sox hit five home runs that day. Bill Melton homered once in each game, one of which was a grand slam. He finished with six RBIs.
Walt Williams, Jay Johnstone and Mike Andrews also homered. Carlos May had to settle for what was scored a triple after he didn’t touch home plate on what would have been a home run in the first inning of Game 2.
“I reached for (Rick) Reichardt’s hand instead of the plate,” May said, according to the Tribune article.
It’s the most recent scheduled opening day doubleheader in the majors.
The Sox also played on opening day at the Oakland Coliseum — single games — in 1969 (a 5-2 loss), 1975 (a 3-2 loss) and 2016 (a 4-3 victory).
Playing 19: Aug. 10, 1972
This meeting between the teams was “halted by curfew after 17 innings,” Dozer wrote in the Aug. 12 edition of the Tribune.
The game resumed on Aug. 11, with the Sox falling 5-3 in 19 innings.
“Joe Rudi’s two-run homer off Stan Bahnsen put an end to the curfew contest less than a half hour after it resumed in the twilight,” Dozer wrote.
“Ironically, it was the only homer of the prolonged struggle which required 24 hours on the clock and 5:31 playing time.”
The wrong end of a no-no: Sept. 29, 1983
The “Winning Ugly” Sox went 22-6 in September 1983.
There was some history tied to what turned out to be their final loss of the regular season when Mike Warren pitched a no-hitter in a 3-0 A’s victory.
The right-hander walked three batters and struck out five while facing just two batters over the minimum.
“There were no spectacular plays made in Warren’s behalf,” Mike Kiley wrote in the Sept. 30 edition of the Tribune. “Pinch-hitter Mike Squires smacked a ball deep to right field that was caught on the warning track in the eighth inning.”
It was the first time the Sox had been held hitless since Boston’s Bill Monbouquette accomplished the feat on Aug. 1, 1962.
A pair of home run milestones: Aug. 7, 1999, and April 25, 2012
The Sox were pummeled 11-1 in the Aug. 7, 1999, game. The only scoring for the Sox came via a home run by Frank Thomas, the 300th of his career.
“It’s another home run, but I’m happy to get it,” Thomas said in an Aug. 8 Tribune story by Teddy Greenstein. “I’ve been trying to get it for a couple of weeks.”
The article noted that Thomas hadn’t homered since July 23.
“Since then he had been 15 for 55 (.272) with just three extra-base hits,” Greenstein wrote.
“That was really big for him and the team,” manager Jerry Manuel was quoted in the article. “He has been pressing to reach that mark. Hopefully we can get back to concentrating on winning games now.”
Paul Konerko hit the 400th home run of his career during the April 25, 2012, game, a 5-4 loss in 14 innings.
The home run in the ninth knotted the game at 2-2.
“Everybody likes the round numbers, but when it comes to that kind of stuff, when I’m done playing and look back, that’s when it might hit home more,” Konerko said in the April 26 story by Mark Gonzales. “But when you are … grinding every day and working, you tend not to think about that stuff and you probably shouldn’t.”
The return to the postseason: Sept. 29, 2020
Lucas Giolito flirted with perfection during Game 1 of the American League wild-card series, the franchise’s first postseason appearance since 2008.
Giolito took a perfect game into the seventh, where Tommy La Stella singled to center to start the inning. Giolito allowed one run on two hits in seven-plus stellar innings as the Sox defeated the A’s 4-1. Giolito struck out eight and walked one.
“As the game went on, started to find the rhythm, find the groove, and at that point it did feel like playing catch with just different grips,” Giolito said that day. “It ended up being pretty solid.”
The Sox went on to lose the best-of-three series 2-1. Game 3 featured a 487-foot home run by Luis Robert Jr.
Robert is one of the few remaining players from that squad on the 2024 roster who has had to navigate through a franchise-record skid.
“It’s very difficult,” Robert said, through an interpreter, of the losing streak after Sunday’s 13-7 defeat at Target Field. “But there’s nothing else we can do, just come here every day as we’ve been doing and try to win games.”
White Sox leaders at the Oakland Coliseum
- Home runs: Frank Thomas (16)
- Games played: Ozzie Guillén (74)
- Doubles: Harold Baines (16)
- Hits: Baines and Thomas (77)
- Triples: Lance Johnson (5)
- RBIs: Thomas (56)
- Average: Thomas (.304)
- Runs: Thomas (45)
- Wins: Wilbur Wood (6)
- Saves: Roberto Hernández (9)
- Innings pitched: Wood (109 1/3)
- Strikeouts: Jack McDowell (60)
- Starts: Mark Buehrle (13)
- Appearances: Wood (24)
