# 1987 Chicago White Sox season

The 1987 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 88th season. They finished with a record of 77–85, giving them fifth place in the American League West, 8 games behind of the first place Minnesota Twins. The White Sox spent most of 1987 in the cellar, occupying last place from June 9 until September 30, but won 9 of their last 10 to pass the Texas Rangers and California Angels in the season's final week.
The club introduced new uniforms, returning to button-front and belted pants for the first time since 1975. The two-tone cap (navy crown, scarlet bill) sported a cursive "C", the first time the word "SOX" was not displayed on team caps for the first time since 1950.

## Offseason

* December 11, 1986 – The Chicago White Sox send Gene Nelson and Bruce Tanner to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for Donnie Hill.
* January 5, 1987: Randy Velarde was traded by the Chicago White Sox with Pete Filson to the New York Yankees for Scott Nielsen and Mike Soper (minors).
* January 21, 1987: Jerry Royster was signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Minnesota Twins | 85 | 77 | .525 | — | 56‍–‍25 | 29‍–‍52 |
| Kansas City Royals | 83 | 79 | .512 | 2 | 46‍–‍35 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Oakland Athletics | 81 | 81 | .500 | 4 | 42‍–‍39 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Seattle Mariners | 78 | 84 | .481 | 7 | 40‍–‍41 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Chicago White Sox | 77 | 85 | .475 | 8 | 38‍–‍43 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Texas Rangers | 75 | 87 | .463 | 10 | 43‍–‍38 | 32‍–‍49 |
| California Angels | 75 | 87 | .463 | 10 | 38‍–‍43 | 37‍–‍44 |

### Record vs. opponents

1987 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 1–12 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 9–3 | 2–11 | 5–7 | 3–10 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 1–12 |
| Boston | 12–1 | — | 4–8 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 2–11 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 |
| California | 3–9 | 8–4 | — | 8–5 | 7–5 | 3–9 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 3–9 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 5–7 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | 9–3 | 5–8 | — | 7–5 | 3–9 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 4–8 |
| Cleveland | 6–7 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–7 | — | 4–9 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 2–10 | 5–8 |
| Detroit | 9–4 | 11–2 | 9–3 | 9–3 | 9–4 | — | 5–7 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 7–6 |
| Kansas City | 3–9 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | — | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 8–4 |
| Milwaukee | 11–2 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 8–4 | — | 3–9 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 9–3 | 9–4 |
| Minnesota | 7–5 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 7–6 | 9–3 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 9–3 | — | 6–6 | 10–3 | 9–4 | 6–7 | 3–9 |
| New York | 10–3 | 6–7 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | — | 5–7 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 6–7 |
| Oakland | 5–7 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 3–10 | 7–5 | — | 5–8 | 6–7 | 7–5 |
| Seattle | 8–4 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 8–5 | — | 9–4 | 2–10 |
| Texas | 5–7 | 5–7 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 10–2 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 4–9 | — | 3–9 |
| Toronto | 12–1 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 4–9 | 9–3 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 10–2 | 9–3 | — |

### Opening Day lineup

* Gary Redus, CF
* Donnie Hill, 2B
* Harold Baines, RF
* Carlton Fisk, DH
* Greg Walker, 1B
* Iván Calderón, LF
* Tim Hulett, 2B
* Ozzie Guillén, SS
* Ron Karkovice, C
* Richard Dotson, P

### Notable transactions

* June 2, 1987: 1987 Major League Baseball draft
** Jack McDowell was drafted by the White Sox in the 1st round (5th pick). Player signed July 29, 1987.
** Buddy Groom was drafted by the White Sox in the 12th round. Player signed June 9, 1987.
* July 13, 1987: Mike Maksudian was signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent.
* August 6, 1987: Johnnie LeMaster was signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox.
* August 26, 1987: Jerry Royster was traded by the Chicago White Sox with Mike Soper (minors) to the New York Yankees for a player to be named later and Ken Patterson. The New York Yankees sent Jeff Pries (minors) (September 19, 1987) to the Chicago White Sox to complete the trade.

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Base on balls; SO = Strikeouts; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases
| Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | SB |
| Harold Baines, DH,RF | 132 | 505 | 59 | 148 | 26 | 4 | 20 | 93 | 46 | 82 | .293 | 0 |
| Daryl Boston, OF | 103 | 337 | 51 | 87 | 21 | 2 | 10 | 29 | 25 | 68 | .258 | 12 |
| Iván Calderón, OF,DH | 144 | 542 | 93 | 159 | 38 | 2 | 28 | 83 | 60 | 109 | .293 | 10 |
| Carlton Fisk, C,1B,DH,LF | 135 | 454 | 68 | 116 | 22 | 1 | 23 | 71 | 39 | 72 | .256 | 1 |
| Ozzie Guillén, SS | 149 | 560 | 64 | 156 | 22 | 7 | 2 | 51 | 22 | 52 | .279 | 25 |
| Jerry Hairston, LF,DH,1B | 66 | 126 | 14 | 29 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 20 | 25 | 25 | .230 | 0 |
| Ron Hassey, C,DH | 49 | 145 | 15 | 31 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 17 | 11 | .214 | 0 |
| Donnie Hill, 2B,3B | 111 | 410 | 57 | 98 | 14 | 6 | 9 | 46 | 30 | 35 | .239 | 1 |
| Tim Hulett, 3B,2B | 68 | 240 | 20 | 52 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 28 | 10 | 41 | .217 | 0 |
| Ron Karkovice, C | 39 | 85 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 40 | .071 | 3 |
| Pat Keedy, 3B,2B,1B | 17 | 41 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 14 | .171 | 1 |
| Bill Lindsey, C | 9 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .188 | 0 |
| Steve Lyons, 3B,OF | 76 | 193 | 26 | 54 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 12 | 37 | .280 | 3 |
| Fred Manrique, 2B,SS | 115 | 298 | 30 | 77 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 29 | 19 | 69 | .258 | 5 |
| Gary Redus, OF | 130 | 475 | 78 | 112 | 26 | 6 | 12 | 48 | 69 | 90 | .236 | 52 |
| Jerry Royster, 3B,LF,2B,DH | 55 | 154 | 25 | 37 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 23 | 19 | 28 | .240 | 2 |
| Greg Walker, 1B,DH | 157 | 566 | 85 | 145 | 33 | 2 | 27 | 94 | 75 | 112 | .256 | 2 |
| Kenny Williams, CF,RF | 116 | 391 | 48 | 110 | 18 | 2 | 11 | 50 | 10 | 83 | .281 | 21 |
| Team Totals | 162 | 5538 | 748 | 1427 | 283 | 36 | 173 | 706 | 487 | 971 | .258 | 138 |

### Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; HR = Home runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts
| Player | W | L | ERA | G | GS | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | K |
| Neil Allen | 0 | 7 | 7.07 | 15 | 10 | 0 | 49.2 | 74 | 40 | 39 | 6 | 26 | 26 |
| Floyd Bannister | 16 | 11 | 3.58 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 228.2 | 216 | 100 | 91 | 38 | 49 | 124 |
| Ralph Citarella | 0 | 0 | 7.36 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 11.0 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 33 |
| Bryan Clark | 0 | 0 | 2.41 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 18.2 | 19 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 8 |
| Joel Davis | 1 | 5 | 5.73 | 13 | 9 | 0 | 55.0 | 56 | 35 | 35 | 7 | 30 | 25 |
| José DeLeón | 11 | 12 | 4.02 | 33 | 31 | 0 | 206.0 | 177 | 106 | 92 | 24 | 101 | 153 |
| Richard Dotson | 11 | 12 | 4.17 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 211.1 | 201 | 109 | 98 | 24 | 88 | 114 |
| Bob James | 4 | 6 | 4.67 | 43 | 0 | 10 | 54.0 | 54 | 32 | 28 | 10 | 23 | 34 |
| Dave LaPoint | 6 | 3 | 2.94 | 14 | 12 | 0 | 82.2 | 69 | 29 | 27 | 7 | 31 | 43 |
| Bill Long | 8 | 8 | 4.37 | 29 | 23 | 1 | 169.0 | 179 | 85 | 82 | 20 | 29 | 72 |
| Jack McDowell | 3 | 0 | 1.93 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 28.0 | 16 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 15 |
| Joel McKeon | 1 | 2 | 9.43 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 21.0 | 27 | 22 | 22 | 8 | 15 | 14 |
| Scott Nielsen | 3 | 5 | 6.24 | 19 | 7 | 2 | 66.1 | 83 | 48 | 46 | 9 | 26 | 23 |
| John Pawlowski | 0 | 0 | 4.91 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.2 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Adam Peterson | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.0 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Ray Searage | 2 | 3 | 4.20 | 58 | 0 | 2 | 55.2 | 56 | 28 | 26 | 9 | 27 | 33 |
| Bobby Thigpen | 7 | 5 | 2.73 | 51 | 0 | 16 | 89.0 | 86 | 30 | 27 | 10 | 29 | 52 |
| Jim Winn | 4 | 6 | 4.79 | 56 | 0 | 6 | 94.0 | 95 | 54 | 50 | 10 | 67 | 44 |
| Team Totals | 77 | 85 | 4.30 | 162 | 162 | 37 | 1447.2 | 1436 | 746 | 691 | 189 | 565 | 792 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Hawaii Islanders | Pacific Coast League | Bob Bailey |
| AA | Birmingham Barons | Southern League | Rico Petrocelli |
| A | Peninsula White Sox | Carolina League | Marv Foley |
| A | Daytona Beach Admirals | Florida State League | Marc Hill |
| Rookie | GCL White Sox | Gulf Coast League | Steve Dillard |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Birmingham