White Sox History: Wilson Alvarez Pitches No Hitter

When Wilson Alvarez made his debut with the Texas Rangers, it was a disaster. His second outing, and his first with the Chicago White Sox, went much better.

Wilson Alvarez had quite the notable debut when he first appeared in the Majors. During his debut with the Texas Rangers, Alvarez failed to record an out, allowing a base hit, two home runs, and two walks before being lifted from the game. The Rangers sent him back down, and would later send him to the Chicago White Sox in the same trade that sent Sammy Sosa to the South Side.

Alvarez more than made up for that first impression during his debut with the White Sox. He made his first appearance for his new team on this day in 1991, and fired a no hitter. This came in his second career Major League start, with only Bumpus Jones in 1892, who threw a no hitter in his first career appearance, doing so earlier than Alvarez. Bobo Halloman had a no hitter in his first start, but had made four appearances out of the bullpen before that outing.

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The outing started off well for Alvarez, as he struck out the side in the bottom of the first inning. He added a couple more strikeouts as he went along, cruising through the Baltimore Orioles lineup, issuing only two walks through six innings. Then, Alvarez began to tire. An error and a walk put two runners on in the seventh, but he escaped that jam.

After a flawless eighth, Alvarez got the first two outs of the ninth before walking Cal Ripken and Dwight Evans. It seemed as though, as he labored to get the last out, that the magical moment would not happen. Instead, Alvarez reached back and tapped into what little he may have had in reserve, striking out Randy Milligan to end the game.

It would still be a couple or more years before Alvarez would establish himself in the White Sox starting rotation. His wildness was a factor that would keep him from truly becoming an ace, as he walked a league leading 122 batters in 207.2 innings in his first full year as a starter. That issue would continue throughout his career, as Alvarez would walk 4.1 batters per nine innings over his 14 years in the Majors.

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Wilson Alvarez’ second start was a polar opposite of his first appearance. After failing to record an out, Alvarez went without allowing a hit.