Kevin Hickey

Courtesy of Karen Puccinell

Kevin Hickey had one of the most unlikely careers in the history of baseball. Then he had another one.

In the span of a few years, he transformed himself from 16-inch softball ringer into a big-league reliever deployed against some of the best left-handed hitters of his era. When he found himself at rock bottom, the White Sox welcomed him home.

Kevin John Hickey was born in the Brighton Park neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago on February 25, 1956.1 He was the second of five children born to Donald and Kathleen Hickey.2 Kathleen was a native of England, and met and married Donald when he was stationed in Surrey with the US Air Force.3 They moved back to Donald’s hometown of Chicago and he went to work for the phone company.4 The Hickey family’s roots ran deep in the neighborhood: Just down the alley from Donald and Kathleen’s home was the Burroughs Park playground, where Donald and his brothers had played as children.5                                                                                                                                               

All the Hickey children were Burroughs Park regulars, but it was Kevin who became a neighborhood legend. His best sport may have been ice hockey, which he would play when the locals converted the playground into a rink in wintertime.6

“Our neighborhood was filled with kids,” Kevin’s brother Tom Hickey recalled.7 “It was very blue collar, and all we did was play sports.” Kevin “was so good it was beyond. He was playing with kids in the neighborhood four years older than him. … He was just a natural athlete.”

Kevin earned a scholarship to the prestigious local private school St. Rita’s to play basketball. He proved to be a poor student, to put it mildly, and lost his scholarship when he cut class to run numbers for a bookie.8 He finished his education at the local public school, Kelly High. He never played baseball in high school.9

Hickey married young, had two daughters in quick succession, and started working at Ryerson Steel.10 The marriage didn’t last and neither did his career as a steelworker. Hickey later described himself as a “dead end kid,” divorced and living back at home with his parents, not even 20 years old.11 To earn extra cash, he turned to where he was still a legend: the playgrounds of Chicago.

It is hard to explain the degree to which 16-inch softball captured the attention of the twentieth-century Chicago sports fan. It is a version of the game almost unique to Chicago and the Midwest, and distinct from the more widely known 12-inch version of slow-pitch. A 16-inch softball is truly “soft,” and generally played without gloves. The 16-inch game proved especially popular in Chicago because it could be played in the city’s small parks and schoolyards.12 At one point, 16-inch softball games were broadcast from Thillens Stadium on the North Side on WGN-TV, with the games called by broadcaster Jack Brickhouse, the voice of the Cubs.13 The 1975 16-inch Softball World Series was played at Soldier Field, home of the NFL’s Chicago Bears.14

“You could bet hundreds or thousands of dollars on a game,” said Tom Hickey.15

The local 16-inch softball circuit was an easy way for a talented young athlete to earn some money under the table. Hickey was the star center fielder and a power bat for one of the best-known softball teams in the city, the Bobcats, and helped them win the 1976 World Series.16 Hickey could catch the massive 16-inch ball one-handed and “run like a deer.”17 He once hit four home runs off legendary Chicago newspaperman Mike Royko.18 Thousands of people would watch Hickey and the Bobcats play at Kelly Park.19 When Hickey was short on funds, he had his younger brother Tom call the Bobcats to report he was sick and unable to play. An envelope of cash would find its way to the Hickey household, and Kevin would make a miraculous recovery before game time.20

Hickey also demonstrated his all-around athleticism and competitiveness in the city’s basketball scene. In one game, for a church league no less, he threw a chair at a referee.21 That referee happened to be White Sox scout Joe Begani. When Hickey, a lefty, later threw two no-hitters with a local semipro baseball team, Begani was in the stands and remembered the talented hothead who narrowly missed him with the folding chair.22

Impressed, Begani invited Hickey to try out for the White Sox at Comiskey Park. Hickey thought it was a private tryout23 and was surprised when he showed up to the ballpark to find himself participating in an annual promotional scheme invented by White Sox owner Bill Veeck.24

“There were 250 guys there, some wearing bellbottom pants and using Kmart gloves,” Hickey later recalled to the Chicago Sun-Times.25 Begani stopped Hickey from turning around and leaving, and got him to throw second. His first pitch caught the catcher unawares and spun his mask around.26 It was a fastball clocked at 95 mph.27 The scouts watching asked Hickey to throw some breaking pitches, but he didn’t know any. After some on-the-spot instruction, he was able to snap off a hard slider.28 Here was a diamond dug out of the Chicago sandlots.

Begani came to Hickey’s parents’ house the next day, signed him to a $500 pro contract, and he was off to Paintsville, Kentucky, for rookie ball in the Appalachian League. Hickey earned an invitation to spring training with the big-league team in 1980.

Hickey “wouldn’t be coming to spring training if we didn’t think he could make it,” Veeck told the Sun-Times.29

Although he didn’t make the team that season, Hickey continued to improve as a professional: In 1980 he recorded a winning record for the White Sox’ Double-A affiliate Glens Falls and won a Silver Glove as the best fielding pitcher in the minor leagues after making no errors in 169 innings pitched.30 In Hickey’s neighborhood watering hole, his fielding prowess as a pitcher was later attributed to his softball career: Hickey came off the mound with both hands up, ready to field like a softball pitcher.31 In 1981 Hickey earned another invitation to spring training. He performed spectacularly, throwing 22 scoreless innings.32 He was going back to Chicago as a member of the White Sox.

“I called my mom collect,” Hickey told the Sun-Times.33 “I came out of the booth like Superman. That’s how I felt.”

Hickey made his first big-league appearance at the White Sox home opener against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 14, 1981. With the White Sox ahead comfortably, 9-1, entering the top of the ninth, the Brewers started the inning with a double and a home run. With much of Hickey’s friends and family from Brighton Park in the bleachers, White Sox manager Tony La Russa made a call to the bullpen.34 Hickey sprinted to the mound to the roars from the bleachers, which were full of Kelly High classmates and Brighton Park neighbors. He induced two groundouts, then got future Hall of Famer Paul Molitor to pop up to second for the final out of the game.35

Hickey’s rookie year was interrupted by the 1981 players strike. During the midseason labor stoppage, Hickey and fellow pitcher Ed Farmer would toss in the alley behind Hickey’s parents’ house. Neighborhood children would line up to watch them, and Hickey would sign every autograph.36

Hickey was loved by his teammates for his relentlessly positive attitude. La Russa once called him “the personal pet of everybody on this team because when he puts on that uniform, he is pure joy.”37 One spring training he gave up a home run against a team of student-athletes from Eckerd College.38

“So from now on,” Hickey reportedly said, “we should play Walgreen’s instead of Eckerd’s.”39

He recorded his first career win on Easter Sunday 1982, Opening Day at Yankee Stadium. His jubilant teammates retrieved the game ball and painted it like an Easter egg.40 Hickey was still devoted to his neighborhood, occasionally venturing back to Brighton Park and jumping into a pickup game of softball or to watch his brothers and friends play.41

Over the course of his big-league career, Hickey proved himself to be a valuable middle reliever and was often used against the opposing team’s best left-handed hitter. Kevin Hickey is the only pitcher George Brett faced at least 15 times and failed to get a hit. Wade Boggs faced him 12 times, got one hit, never walked, and struck out five times. Left-handed batters hit only .218 against him vs. a .270 average for right-handed batters. In 1982 Hickey had the lowest ERA of all White Sox pitchers that season, 3.00 in 78 innings pitched. He was second in appearances, second in saves, and third in WHIP. But 1982 was his only season with the White Sox not curtailed by labor strife or injury.

During the 1983 season, Hickey threw a warm-up pitch to batterymate Carlton Fisk. The veteran catcher caught the ball, walked to the mound and asked “What are you doing? I told you to throw a fastball.” Hickey replied: “That was my fastball.”42 His shoulder was shot. He did not appear in a game for the White Sox after July, and watched from the dugout as the team went on to win 99 games and the AL West Division championship before falling to the eventual World Series champion Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS. Hickey was not part of the playoff roster and was cut the following season.43

“It was like someone sticking a knife in me,” Hickey told the Sun-Times.44

From 1984 to 1987, Hickey bounced around the minor leagues in the White Sox, Giants, Yankees, and Phillies organizations, unwilling to surrender his improbable baseball career.

“I’m not going to give up,” Hickey told the Albany Times Union after being released from the Yankees’ Double-A team despite posting a 2.92 ERA in 11 games.45 “My goal is to get back to the big leagues. I know I can go out there and do the job.”

The 1987 season was perhaps the low point of Hickey’s exile to the minors: He found himself playing for the Hawaii Islanders in a deserted Aloha Stadium during the last year of the team’s existence.46 But Hickey would get one more chance. At the end of that year, former White Sox GM Roland Hemond offered Hickey a minor-league contract with the Orioles.47 After one more season in the minors, Hickey went to spring training in 1989 and slept on a cot in the trainer’s room.48 Although he was told that the big-league club had no plans for him, injuries to two other left-handed pitchers in Baltimore’s spring camp created an opportunity.49 He didn’t allow a run all spring, and when camp broke, Kevin Hickey was on his way to Baltimore and back in the big leagues.50

Statisticians have long debated how to quantify the contributions of middle relievers like Hickey, but the Orioles recognized his value. Hickey told the Baltimore Sun that his job was to get “half-saves.”51 In the 1989 and 1990 seasons, he entered the game in a save situation a combined 23 times and never blew a save, recording 16 holds.

“If he comes in and gets one man out and that’s all he’s asked to do, then he’s done his job,” manager Frank Robinson told the Sun. “He doesn’t need to put up big numbers.”52 Hickey told the paper that he was just “happy to be here and helping the club win.”53

Hickey made many friends during his three seasons in Baltimore, including one friend in the highest possible place. He was on a first-name basis with sitting President George H.W. Bush, and when Hickey’s mother came to Maryland to see him, she was picked up via limousine sent from the White House.54 He stayed in Baltimore during the offseason, playing ice hockey in a local league and working out at Cal Ripken’s house to stay in shape.55

By 1991 Hickey was 35 and did not have much left. He had hung on to his professional baseball career for 13 seasons, but Baltimore released him in July after he logged a 9.00 ERA in 19 appearances. Desperate to stay around the game, he became a greeter at Camden Yards.56 It was while working for the team he used to pitch for that he befriended the casting director for Major League II.57 He became friends with the actor Charlie Sheen, and landed a speaking part in the movie as “Schoup.”58 In the film, Hickey’s character is a starting pitcher who pitches a shutout against the White Sox in Game One of the ALCS.59 Schoup also leaves the mound in the bottom of the ninth of Game Seven in line for the win after issuing an untimely walk to put two men on with two outs in a 6-5 ballgame.60 After handing the ball to the manager for Sheen’s closer to earn the save, Hickey’s character mutters, “Can’t believe I walked that Punch-and-Judy hitter.”61 Desperate for cash, Hickey sold Sheen two minor-league championship rings from his career. At the end of filming, Sheen gave them back for free.62

Hickey made one final attempt to get back into the big leagues during the 1994-1995 players strike when he crossed the picket lines and reported to the New York Mets spring training as a replacement player at age 38.63 Hickey felt that the 1981 strike cost him part of his major-league career when he was making only $32,500 per year, and that the current generation of players owed him for his sacrifice.64 Hickey’s participation in spring training prompted an angry phone call from a family friend who was a higher-up with the Chicago Fire Fighters Union.65

“I’m not taking anybody’s job away,” Hickey told the New York Daily News. “They can have their jobs back any time they want. But if they’re saying they’re trying to make the game better for upcoming players, I feel I made the game better for these guys now. And I should reap the benefits of that.”66

But he never made it back to professional baseball. Hickey finished his major-league career with a 9-14 record, a 3.91 ERA, and 17 saves in 231 games.67

Hickey got divorced again, was diagnosed with diabetes, and moved into the basement of his ex-in-laws’ house in Ohio.68 He sold used cars to try to make ends meet. Times were dark when his brothers showed up to move him back home to Chicago. All of Hickey’s worldly possessions fit inside a couple of duffel bags.69 At a 2003 golf tournament honoring the 1983 team, Hickey confided in former teammate and White Sox hitting coach Greg Walker that he was unemployed with no health insurance.70 A courtesy invite to spring training as a White Sox alumnus led to Hickey hitting it off with manager Ozzie Guillén and the players.71 By the time the White Sox left Glendale, Hickey was employed as an extra batting-practice pitcher at $30,000 per year.72

“He brought energy every day,” Walker told the Sun-Times. “You never had to worry about the bench being dead.”73

Guillén told the Chicago Tribune that carrying a full-time lefty as a batting-practice pitcher benefited his team from seeing a left-handed arm angle.74 Hickey was always eager to throw whenever a player asked him to, staying long after a game and tossing bucket after bucket of balls, never complaining.75 The only time he missed work was when third baseman Joe Crede bounced a line drive off the back of his head.76 Jim Thome was particularly fond of using Hickey, and credited Hickey with his success against left-handed pitchers.77 It helped that Hickey’s pitches could still zip.

“You have to throw strikes with something on it,” Hickey said. “You can’t throw a carnival fastball or a Bugs Bunny curveball.”78

Hickey still believed in his ability, and bragged that he had better stuff than anyone “from 40 feet.”79 He might have been right: Tom Hickey told how in 2011, newly acquired White Sox slugger Adam Dunn showed up to spring training, grabbed his bat, and tried to go into the batting cage where Hickey was tossing. Guillén stopped him and told him Dunn wasn’t ready to face Hickey: He didn’t want Hickey to destroy Dunn’s confidence.80

“He’s a luxury,” Walker told the Chicago Tribune about having Hickey on the team. “He’s got some gas in the tank and can still whip it up nicely.”81

After the White Sox’ 2005 World Series victory, the players voted for Hickey to receive a full share of the player proceeds from the playoff gate receipts.82 Hickey cried when he heard the news.83 It amounted to $390,000.84 The money afforded Hickey a level of financial security he had never had. He was even able to afford a small condo in Wisconsin where he enjoyed hosting family and listening to music.85 After scratching out a life in baseball against all odds, he was finally at peace.

Hickey continued to throw for White Sox hitters through the 2011 season and the following spring. On April 5, 2012, the White Sox were in Arlington, Texas, for their season opener against the Rangers the next day. Hickey was found unresponsive in his hotel room, the result of a seizure that cut off oxygen to his brain.86 He was flown home to Chicago, but never woke up. The White Sox’ Paul Konerko and A.J. Pierzynski visited him in his hospital room, which had a view of the White Sox ballpark, then called US Cellular Field.87

“Ask anyone in our clubhouse, every person here appreciated what Kevin did to help the White Sox win baseball games,” Konerko told the Sun-Times. “No one wanted to win more, no one was more optimistic, no one cared more and no one took more pride in his job. He made all of us better.”88

Kevin Hickey died on May 16, 2012, at the age of 56, survived by his siblings, his mother, five daughters, and three grandchildren.89 The entire White Sox team served as honorary pallbearers at his funeral at Old St. Patrick’s Church in Chicago.90

“There was only supposed to be four people from the White Sox attending, then the whole team pulled up in a bus,” said Tom Hickey. “It’s something I can’t ever forget.”91

That season, the White Sox wore a black diamond patch on their right sleeve embroidered with Hickey’s nickname.92 On September 3, 2012, the team honored Hickey in a pregame ceremony. It was announced that the ballpark batting cages would be renamed the Kevin Hickey Batting Cages, with the placement of a special commemorative plaque honoring his career and contributions to the White Sox.93

Kevin Hickey had made it back to the big leagues for good.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Stathead.com.

Acknowledgment

The author would like to thank Thomas and Karen Hickey for sharing memories of their brother. He would also like to thank the SABR BioProject committee, his wife, and two children for their patience during this article’s too-long germination. Finally, as a Houston native he feels compelled to note for this volume that Orlando Palmeiro was safe.

Notes

1 Mark Konkol, “Kevin Hickey, a Long Shot Who Fulfilled a Neighborhood Dream, Dies at 56,” Chicago Sun-Times, May 16, 2012.

2 Judy Shoemaker, “The Hickeys of Brighton Park: Mother and Son,” Bill Gleason’s Chicago Sports, May 1983: 20-22.

3 Judy Shoemaker, “The Hickeys of Brighton Park.”

4 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey.”

5 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey.”

6 Karen Hickey, in-person interview, February 23, 2024.

7 Thomas Hickey, in-person interview, July 27, 2023.

8 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey.”

9 Thomas Hickey, in-person interview.

10 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey.”

11 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey.”

12 “Our History,” 16inchsoftballhof.com. Accessed October 22, 2024, https://16inchsoftballhof.com/our-history/. A brick-and-mortar hall of fame for 16-inch softball resides in the Chicago suburb of Franklin Park, a sign of the enduring passion for the game in the city.

13 Larry Mayer, “Thillens Stadium: A Field of Memories Is Still Going Strong,” Chicago Tribune, August 31, 1991. Accessed October 24, 2024, https://www.chicagotribune.com/1991/08/31/thillens-stadium-a-field-of-memories-is-still-going-strong/.

14 “Our History,” 16inchsoftballhof.com.

15 Thomas Hickey, in-person interview.

16 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey”; Bill Gleason, “Hickey’s Real Claim to Fame: He Was a Bobcat,” Chicago Sun-Times, April 20, 1981.

17 Thomas Hickey, in-person interview.

18 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey.”

19 Thomas Hickey, in-person interview.

20 Thomas Hickey, in-person interview.

21 Thomas Hickey, in-person interview.

22 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey.”

23 Thomas Hickey, in-person interview.

24 “Why ‘Schoup’ was the ultimate character for Major League,” JohnPielli.com, January 18, 2022. Accessed October 22, 2024. https://www.johnpielli.com/bases-empty-blog/why-schoup-was-the-ultimate-character-for-major-league.

25 “What’s Up With … Kevin Hickey: Former Lefty Reliever Still Living Baseball Dream,” Chicago Sun-Times, September 28, 2003: 90A.

26 Thomas Hickey, in-person interview.

27 Joe Goddard, “Lefty-Laden Chisox to Try Another,” Chicago Sun-Times, February 23, 1980.

28 “What’s Up With … Kevin Hickey.”

29 Goddard, “Lefty-Laden Chisox to Try Another.”

30 Judy Shoemaker, “The Hickeys of Brighton Park.”

31 Bill Gleason, “Kevin Hickey’s Place in Chicago Is Secure,” Chicago Sun-Times, August 27, 1981. Hickey made only one error in 232⅔ big-league innings.

32 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey.”

33 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey.”

34 Thomas Hickey, in-person interview.

35 “Milwaukee Brewers vs Chicago White Sox Box Score: April 14, 1981,” Baseball-Reference.com. Accessed October 22, 2024, https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA198104140.shtml.

36 Thomas Hickey, in-person interview.

37 “Sox’s Hickey Frets Only About the Hawks,” Chicago Tribune. Date unknown, sourced from Hickey family scrapbook.

38 Frank Deford, “Some Like It Hot,” Sports Illustrated, August 22, 1983. Accessed November 7, 2024, https://vault.si.com/vault/1983/08/22/some-like-it-hot.

39 Deford, “Some Like It Hot.”

40 Deford, “Some Like It Hot.”

41 Thomas Hickey, in-person interview.

42 Thomas Hickey, in-person interview.

43 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey.”

44 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey.”

45 Paul Schwartz, “Yanks Couldn’t afford Hickey?” Albany Times-Union, May 24, 1985.

46 Attendance for the over the final two seasons of the Hawaii Islanders was under 100,000. Stacy Kaneshiro, “Islanders a Fan Hit During 27-Year Run,” Honolulu Advertiser, July 4, 2009. Accessed October 22, 2024, https://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2009/Jul/04/sp/hawaii907040333.html.

47 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey.”

48 Thomas Hickey, in-person interview.

49 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey.”

50 Jim Henneman, “Orioles’ Hickey Happy to Help With ‘Half-Saves,’” Baltimore Sun, July 3, 1989.

51 Jim Henneman, “Orioles’ Hickey Happy to Help With ‘Half-Saves.’”

52 Jim Henneman, “Orioles’ Hickey Happy to Help With ‘Half-Saves’”

53 Jim Henneman, “Orioles’ Hickey Happy to Help With ‘Half-Saves.’”

54 Thomas Hickey, in-person interview. Hickey met President Bush on a visit the president made to Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium. One of the Bush grandchildren somehow became a fan of Hickey’s, and during a meeting with his fan the gregarious lefty hit it off with the president. Bush also threw left-handed despite batting righty. On April 3, 1989, the 41st president threw out the first pitch on Opening Day in Baltimore. “President Bush Throws Out First Pitch,” YouTube.com. Accessed October 26, 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt_bQ_hveRo.

55 Ken Rosenthal, “‘Immaculate’ Hickey Is Looking to Clean Up on Mound, Too,” Baltimore Sun, March 8, 1991. Accessed November 7, 2024. https://www.baltimoresun.com/1991/03/08/immaculate-hickey-is-looking-to-clean-up-on-mound-too/.

56 Thomas Hickey, in-person interview.

57 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey.”

58 Major League II: Full Cast & Crew,” Imdb.com. Accessed October 22, 2024, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110442/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_cl_sm.

59 Major League II, 1994, 1:10:17.

60 Major League II, 1:31:05.

61 Major League II, 1:31:22.

62 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey.”

63 John Giannone, “Hickey: I Paid My Dues,” New York Daily News, February 20, 1995.

64 Giannone, “Hickey: I Paid My Dues.” The author also relied on his in-person interview with Thomas Hickey on July 27, 2023, regarding Kevin Hickey’s sentiments about the 1981 and 1995 labor stoppages.

65 Thomas Hickey, in-person interview.

66 Giannone, “Hickey: I Paid My Dues.”

67 “Kevin Hickey, 56; Orioles, White Sox Pitcher and Coach,” Boston Globe, May 17, 2012: B12.

68 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey”; Thomas Hickey, in-person interview, July 27, 2023.

69 Thomas Hickey, in-person interview.

70 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey.”

71 Thomas Hickey, in-person interview.

72 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey.”

73 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey.”

74 Dave van Dyck, “Sox Have What the Cubs Are Missing,” Chicago Tribune, May 8, 2006. Accessed October 22, 2024, https://www.chicagotribune.com/2006/05/08/sox-have-what-the-cubs-are-missing/.

75 Thomas Hickey, in-person interview.

76 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey.”

77 Scot Gregor, “Crede, Quentin escape to N.Y.,” Arlington Heights (Illinois) Daily Herald, July 13, 2008. Accessed October 22, 2024, https://www.dailyherald.com/20080713/other-sports/crede-quentin-escape-to-n-y/. In 22 big-league seasons, Jim Thome posted a career .766 OPS against left-handed pitching. In 2008 he was in his age 37 season with the White Sox, and had an .858 OPS against lefties, the fourth-best mark of his career.

78 Dave van Dyck, “Sox Have What the Cubs Are Missing.”

79 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey.”

80 Thomas Hickey, in-person interview.

81 Mark Honzales, “Alternatives Left and Right for Guillen,” Chicago Tribune, February 27, 2007, Section 4, 3.

82 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey.”

83 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey.”

84 Thomas Hickey, in-person interview.

85 Karen Hickey, in-person interview.

86 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey.”

87 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey”; Judy Shoemaker, “The Hickeys of Brighton Park.”

88 Konkol, “Kevin Hickey.”

89 “White Sox Pregame Instructor Kevin Hickey Passes Away,” MLB.com, May 16, 2012. Accessed October 22, 2024, https://www.mlb.com/news/white-sox-pre-game-instructor-kevin-hickey-passes-away/c-31426096.

90 Thomas Hickey, in-person interview, July 27, 2023.

91 Thomas Hickey, in-person interview, July 27, 2023.

92 “Dressed to the Nines: A History of the Baseball Uniform,” National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum online exhibit accessed November 7, 2024, http://exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/dressed_to_the_nines/patches.htm.

93 “White Sox Honor Kevin Hickey,” MLB.com, September 3, 2012. Accessed October 22, 2024, https://www.mlb.com/news/white-sox-honor-kevin-hickey/c-37843000.