Good morning!
I know it's likely difficult to imagine, but the White Sox made a specific kind of good history this past week: they had two starting pitchers making their career debuts and they both went well. As it turns out, this was the first time in franchise history that the White Sox had two rookie starters pitch at least five innings and give up two or fewer runs within the same week. They've had guys do this within the same year (1912, 1928, 1969, and 1985) but those were separated by months rather than two days.
That particular element of the pitching line has not happened often over the existence of the franchise. Just 32 guys meet the bar for today's quiz, and there's a decent mix of names you'll know and names you might not: how many can you get? Good luck!
Quiz Parameters
- To reiterate: this is first career game and as a starting pitcher; 5 IP, 2 or fewer runs. So, for example, Mark Buehrle doesn't make the cut because his first career appearance came out of the bullpen.
- I've allotted 15 minutes for completion attempts.
- For hints, I've provided the date of the game and the IP and runs allowed.
Useless information to amaze, annoy, confuse, and/or confound your friends and family:
- The White Sox are 20-11-1 in such games.
- Unfortunately, the last three have been against the Kansas Royals --that juggernaut the franchise both strives to emulate and cannot conquer-- and the White Sox have gone winless.
- Detroit is the most common opponent with 6 head-to-heads, (4-2 record).
- The oldest player to debut on this list is 32 years, 120 days. (4/26/82)
- The youngest player to debut on this list is 19 years, 248 days. (9/8/69)
- 8 of these starts came on either the front or back-end of a doubleheader.
All data from stathead.com
