The 1970s were not kind to the White Sox. The team hovered around the .500-mark and didn’t see any time in the playoffs.
The 80s saw better baseball come to the South Side. And Ron Kittle was part of it for a little while. The outfielder received the Rookie of the Year Award in 1983.
His best season was his rookie season, while despite striking out a league-leading 150 times, he had a slash of .254/.314/.504 with and 35 home runs, 100 RBI, and 19 doubles. Along with the ROY award, Kittle also went to the All-Star Game.
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Unfortunately, he never repeated the success he had in 1983. Kittle stayed with the White Sox until 1986 when he was traded to the New York Yankees at the trade deadline. After 1987, the Yankees released him and the Indians signed him, then granted him free agency at the end of the season. The White Sox picked him up again, then traded hi to the Orioles. He then went back to the White Sox, where he ended his career in 1991.
His competition for the ROY award included Julio Franco of the Indians and Mike Boddicker of the Orioles. The NL ROY winner was Darryl Strawberry.
Kittle’s 1983 White Sox teammates made impacts on other award voting. Carlton Fisk, who was catching for the ChiSox, finished third in the MVP vote that year. And, Harold Baines – who hopefully gets voted into the Hall of Fame this time around – finished 10th in the MVP voting. Four other ChiSox players received MVP votes that season.