Billy Pierce - Offensive Support

Offensive Support

Although they never finished below third place from 1952 through 1960, the "Go-Go White Sox" were a team which thrived on speed, defense and pitching rather than hitting, and Pierce struggled for offensive support throughout his time with the club. Both Richards and Lopez – who became Chicago's manager in 1957 – placed a low emphasis on offense, with Lopez expressing his philosophy that "all a team really needed was pitching and defense, because if you didn't allow the other team to score, eventually they would give you a run, and you'd win the game." Nellie Fox, who was also Pierce's roommate, turned to him on one occasion when the White Sox picked up a run following a scoring drought and said, "Here's your run. Now go out there and hold it." Although AL teams averaged 4.46 runs per game from 1949 through 1961, and the White Sox averaged 4.53 runs in games started by their other pitchers, they averaged only 4.20 runs in Pierce's starts – a figure which drops to 4.07 if the two-month scoring outburst in 1956 is discounted; in over two thirds of his losses with Chicago (105 of 152), and fully one third of his starts (130 of 390), they scored two or fewer runs. They averaged 3.7 runs in his 1953 starts, and 3.6 runs in his 1955 starts; even in 1959, when the pennant-winning White Sox averaged 4.29 runs per game, they averaged only 3.36 runs in Pierce's starts. By 1955 it was regularly noted that Chicago's offensive struggles were placing undue pressure on the pitching staff, wearing them out with "one tense game after another, never having a comfortable margin that might permit a little breather now and then"; Pierce was described as "the unluckiest pitcher in the majors" that year due to the lack of scoring. But in contrast, when he had a reasonable level of offensive backing he was far more successful, posting a record of 30–11 when Chicago scored four runs and 99–10 when they scored five or more; from September 1951 through May 1958, he was 71–6 when they scored at least four runs and 55–1 when they scored at least five.