# 1981 Chicago White Sox season

The 1981 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 81st season in the major leagues, and their 82nd season overall. They finished with a record of 54-52, good enough for third place in the American League West, 8.5 games behind the first place Oakland Athletics. However, due to a player's strike, the Athletics would play the 50-53 Kansas City Royals, who had finished behind the White Sox.
Owner Bill Veeck attempted to sell the club to Ed DeBartolo, but the offer was turned down by the other owners. Veeck was then forced to sell to a different investment group headed by Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn.

## Offseason

* October 6, 1980: Minnie Miñoso was released by the White Sox.
* November 26, 1980: Ron LeFlore was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.
* March 18, 1981: Carlton Fisk was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.
* March 28, 1981: Ken Kravec was traded by the White Sox to the Chicago Cubs for Dennis Lamp.
* March 30, 1981: Greg Luzinski purchased from Philadelphia Phillies.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Oakland Athletics | 64 | 45 | .587 | — | 35‍–‍21 | 29‍–‍24 |
| Texas Rangers | 57 | 48 | .543 | 5 | 32‍–‍24 | 25‍–‍24 |
| Chicago White Sox | 54 | 52 | .509 | 8½ | 25‍–‍24 | 29‍–‍28 |
| Kansas City Royals | 50 | 53 | .485 | 11 | 19‍–‍28 | 31‍–‍25 |
| California Angels | 51 | 59 | .464 | 13½ | 26‍–‍28 | 25‍–‍31 |
| Seattle Mariners | 44 | 65 | .404 | 20 | 20‍–‍37 | 24‍–‍28 |
| Minnesota Twins | 41 | 68 | .376 | 23 | 24‍–‍36 | 17‍–‍32 |
| AL West First Half Standings | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| Oakland Athletics | 37 | 23 | .617 | — |
| Texas Rangers | 33 | 22 | .600 | 1+1⁄2 |
| Chicago White Sox | 31 | 22 | .585 | 2+1⁄2 |
| California Angels | 31 | 29 | .517 | 6 |
| Kansas City Royals | 20 | 30 | .400 | 12 |
| Seattle Mariners | 21 | 36 | .368 | 14+1⁄2 |
| Minnesota Twins | 17 | 39 | .304 | 18 |
| AL West Second Half Standings | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| Kansas City Royals | 30 | 23 | .566 | — |
| Oakland Athletics | 27 | 22 | .551 | 1 |
| Texas Rangers | 24 | 26 | .480 | 4+1⁄2 |
| Minnesota Twins | 24 | 29 | .453 | 6 |
| Seattle Mariners | 23 | 29 | .442 | 6+1⁄2 |
| Chicago White Sox | 23 | 30 | .434 | 7 |
| California Angels | 20 | 30 | .400 | 8+1⁄2 |

### Record vs. opponents

1981 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 2–2 | 6–6 | 3–6 | 4–2 | 6–7 | 5–3 | 2–4 | 6–0 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 5–2 |
| Boston | 2–2 | — | 2–4 | 5–4 | 7–6 | 6–1 | 3–3 | 6–7 | 2–5 | 3–3 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 3–6 | 4–0 |
| California | 6–6 | 4–2 | — | 6–7 | 7–5 | 3–3 | 0–6 | 4–3 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 2–8 | 6–4 | 2–4 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 6–3 | 4–5 | 7–6 | — | 2–5 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–4 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 2–4 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–2 | — | 1–5 | 4–4 | 3–6 | 2–1 | 7–5 | 3–2 | 8–4 | 2–2 | 4–2 |
| Detroit | 7–6 | 1–6 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 5–1 | — | 3–2 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 3–7 | 1–2 | 5–1 | 9–3 | 6–4 |
| Kansas City | 3–5 | 3–3 | 6–0 | 0–2 | 4–4 | 2–3 | — | 4–5 | 9–4 | 2–10 | 3–3 | 6–7 | 3–4 | 5–3 |
| Milwaukee | 4–2 | 7–6 | 3–4 | 1–4 | 6–3 | 8–5 | 5–4 | — | 9–3 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 4–5 | 6–4 |
| Minnesota | 0–6 | 5–2 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 3–9 | 4–9 | 3–9 | — | 3–3 | 2–8 | 3–6–1 | 5–8 | 5–1 |
| New York | 6–7 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 7–3 | 10–2 | 3–3 | 3–3 | — | 4–3 | 2–3 | 5–4 | 2–3 |
| Oakland | 5–7 | 5–7 | 8–2 | 6–7 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 8–2 | 3–4 | — | 6–1 | 4–2 | 10–2 |
| Seattle | 2–4 | 3–9 | 4–6 | 3–3 | 4–8 | 1–5 | 7–6 | 2–2 | 6–3–1 | 3–2 | 1–6 | — | 5–8 | 3–3 |
| Texas | 1–2 | 6–3 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 3–9 | 4–3 | 5–4 | 8–5 | 4–5 | 2–4 | 8–5 | — | 6–2 |
| Toronto | 2–5 | 0–4 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 2–4 | 4–6 | 3–5 | 4–6 | 1–5 | 3–2 | 2–10 | 3–3 | 2–6 | — |

### Opening Day lineup

* Ron LeFlore, LF
* Mike Squires, 1B
* Carlton Fisk, C
* Greg Luzinski, DH
* Chet Lemon, CF
* Harold Baines, RF
* Jim Morrison, 3B
* Tony Bernazard, 2B
* Bill Almon, SS
* Britt Burns, P

### Notable transactions

* April 1, 1981: Thad Bosley was traded by the White Sox to the Milwaukee Brewers for John Poff.
* July 18, 1981: George Riley was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.
* August 30, 1981: Ivan Mesa (minors), Ronnie Perry (minors), a player to be named later, and cash were traded by the White Sox to the Minnesota Twins for Jerry Koosman. The White Sox completed the deal by sending Randy Johnson to the Twins on September 2.

### 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 |
| Bill Almon, SS | 103 | 349 | 46 | 105 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 41 | 21 | 60 | .301 | 16 |
| Harold Baines, RF | 82 | 280 | 42 | 80 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 41 | 12 | 41 | .286 | 6 |
| Tony Bernazard, 2B | 106 | 384 | 53 | 106 | 14 | 4 | 6 | 34 | 54 | 66 | .276 | 4 |
| Jim Essian, C | 27 | 52 | 6 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 5 | .308 | 0 |
| Carlton Fisk, C | 96 | 338 | 44 | 89 | 12 | 0 | 7 | 45 | 38 | 37 | .263 | 3 |
| Jerry Hairston, OF | 9 | 25 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 4 | .280 | 0 |
| Marc Hill, C | 16 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 |
| Lamar Johnson, 1B, DH | 41 | 134 | 10 | 37 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 5 | 14 | .276 | 0 |
| Rusty Kuntz, OF, DH | 67 | 55 | 15 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 8 | .255 | 1 |
| Ron LeFlore, LF, CF | 82 | 337 | 46 | 83 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 24 | 28 | 70 | .246 | 36 |
| Chet Lemon, CF | 94 | 328 | 50 | 99 | 23 | 6 | 9 | 50 | 33 | 48 | .302 | 5 |
| Jay Loviglio, 3B,2B | 14 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .267 | 2 |
| Greg Luzinski, DH | 104 | 378 | 55 | 100 | 15 | 1 | 21 | 62 | 58 | 80 | .265 | 0 |
| Bob Molinaro, OF, DH | 47 | 42 | 7 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 1 | .262 | 1 |
| Jim Morrison, 3B | 90 | 290 | 27 | 68 | 8 | 1 | 10 | 34 | 10 | 29 | .234 | 3 |
| Wayne Nordhagen, OF | 65 | 208 | 19 | 64 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 33 | 10 | 25 | .308 | 0 |
| Greg Pryor, 3B, SS, 2B | 47 | 76 | 4 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 8 | .281 | 0 |
| Mike Squires, 1B | 92 | 294 | 35 | 78 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 22 | 17 | .265 | 7 |
| Leo Sutherland, OF | 11 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | .167 | 2 |
| Jerry Turner, RF | 10 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | .167 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 106 | 3615 | 476 | 982 | 135 | 27 | 76 | 438 | 322 | 518 | .272 | 86 |

### 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 |
| Juan Agosto | 0 | 0 | 4.76 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5.2 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Francisco Barrios | 1 | 3 | 3.96 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 36.1 | 45 | 23 | 16 | 3 | 15 | 12 |
| Ross Baumgarten | 5 | 9 | 4.07 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 101.2 | 101 | 56 | 46 | 9 | 43 | 52 |
| Britt Burns | 10 | 6 | 2.64 | 24 | 23 | 0 | 156.2 | 139 | 52 | 46 | 14 | 50 | 108 |
| Richard Dotson | 9 | 8 | 3.77 | 24 | 24 | 0 | 141.0 | 145 | 67 | 59 | 13 | 49 | 73 |
| Ed Farmer | 3 | 3 | 4.61 | 42 | 0 | 10 | 52.2 | 53 | 33 | 27 | 5 | 35 | 42 |
| Kevin Hickey | 0 | 2 | 3.65 | 41 | 0 | 3 | 44.1 | 38 | 22 | 18 | 3 | 23 | 17 |
| LaMarr Hoyt | 9 | 3 | 3.57 | 43 | 1 | 10 | 90.2 | 80 | 40 | 36 | 10 | 29 | 60 |
| Jerry Koosman | 1 | 4 | 3.33 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 27.0 | 27 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 7 | 21 |
| Dennis Lamp | 7 | 6 | 2.41 | 27 | 10 | 0 | 127.0 | 103 | 41 | 34 | 4 | 44 | 71 |
| Lynn McGlothen | 0 | 0 | 4.15 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 21.2 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 12 |
| Reggie Patterson | 0 | 1 | 13.50 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7.1 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| Dewey Robinson | 1 | 0 | 4.50 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| Steve Trout | 8 | 7 | 3.47 | 20 | 18 | 0 | 124.2 | 122 | 53 | 48 | 7 | 38 | 54 |
| Team Totals | 54 | 52 | 3.47 | 106 | 106 | 23 | 940.2 | 891 | 423 | 363 | 73 | 353 | 529 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Edmonton Trappers | Pacific Coast League | Gordon Lund |
| AA | Glens Falls White Sox | Eastern League | Jim Mahoney |
| A | Appleton Foxes | Midwest League | Sam Ewing |
| Rookie | GCL White Sox | Gulf Coast League | John Boles |