Teacher Has A Photo Of Nearly Every White Sox Player... Ever

EVERGREEN PARK, IL - Jim Pender has been collecting Chicago White Sox memorabilia since he was in third grade. His photo collection is so robust that he’s on the verge of having an image of every White Sox player of all-time.

That’s every player who has ever appeared in a White Sox uniform during a game since 1901, when the American League began.

“I want to be a perfectionist on this,” said Pender, an Oak Lawn resident and long-time substitute teacher at Evergreen Park Community High School.

About 1,800 players have made it into the scorecard for the South Siders over the 121 years of the team’s existence. Pender is looking for only six photos to complete his collection.

The photos are printed out and stored in binders and put in bins at Pender’s home. The collection takes up much of his basement, and is the result of nearly 60 years of White Sox fandom.

At first, Pender started collecting autographs. Then, signed photos of his favorite players while growing up in the 1960s and 1970s.

“I’d write letters to all the players when I was in 3rd grade, and I still write to this day,” Pender said while holding a signed photo of former player Al Smith having a beer dumped on his head in the outfield during the 1959 World Series.

He has every autograph and photo from the 1936 White Sox in one binder after reaching out to the grand nephew of Bill Shores, a prominent Chicago sports photographer of the era.

The first 30 years of White Sox history (1901-1930) are preserved at the Chicago Historical Society, so Pender was able to track down photos of nearly all players of that era during a visit.

“The Chicago Daily News was the big paper at the time, and they took photos of Sox and (Chicago) Cubs players all the time,” Pender said. “You can find pretty much any of them on the computer there now.”

Then there’s George Brace, a photographer who amazingly attended at least one game in every home series for both the White Sox and Cubs from 1929 to 1994.

“He had more than a million negatives,” Pender said. “I got the photos from him while he was alive. I’d ask for certain guys throughout the years, and he’d always take care of me.”

Tony Enzrilla took photos at White Sox games from 1977-1990, and shared all his negatives with Pender.

Anything more recent than that “you can get pretty easily,” Pender said.

“The team has a White Sox photo day and you can get any ones you want from any particular year,” he said.

His favorite photos of all-time include the Al Smith beer dump, the one of Dick Allen smoking a cigarette in the dugout that appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1972, Scott Podsednik getting punched by a Yankees fan in New York while trying to make a catch and the reaction of closer Bobby Jenks the moment the White Sox won the World Series in 2005.

“I cried when they made that last out,” Pender said of the October 26, 2005, World Series clincher. “I went my whole life loving this team, and they won it. It was a great thing.”

Pender organizes the photos by decade, and in alphabetical order. Some of the photos he has are, understandably, a bit grainy. After all, many of them are 100 years old or older. Anyone with strong Photoshop skills who would like to help Pender enhance some of the older photos is encouraged to volunteer. Email tmoran@evergreenpark.org if you are interested in helping him out.

'Missing White Sox'

The only six people who have played for the White Sox missing from Pender's collection are Ernie Groth (1949), Charlie Kavanagh (1914), Robert Lawrence (1924), Lloyd Merriman (1955), John Thompson (1921) and Frank "Kid" Willson (1918).

It’s not just images that are part of Pender's immense baseball memorabilia collection.

He has at least 2,000 autographs and other significant items.

“I’m always looking for oddball things to add to my collection,” said Pender, adding that one of his most sought after items is a home run ball that was caught in the 1959 World Series by Mike Cummings, now an 83-year-old who lives in Evergreen Park.

“I got to find that ball,” Pender said.

Always a die-hard White Sox fan, Pender recently landed a part-time job with White Sox Charities, which allows him to attend many of his beloved team’s home games. He will be in attendance for the team's Tuesday home opener against the Seattle Mariners. He hasn't missed a White Sox home opener since 1973.

“It’s a lot of fun to meet great people, and make money for kids with cancer,” Pender said.