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Dave DeBusschere Scores First Major League Victory as White Sox Top Senators

July 17, 1963 - Dave DeBusschere, the 22-year-old giant from Detroit, arrived as a big leaguer today by scoring his first victory. The $75,000 bonus boy, barely a year out of the college ranks, pitched 7 innings, and the White Sox whipped the last-place Washington Senators, 8-2. DeBusschere, 6-6 and 225 pounds, also a basketball player, had a major helper in Ron Hansen. The shortstop hit a two-run homer in the seventh after the Senator’s had gone ahead, 2-1. In the eighth, Dave’s teammates made sure this would be a night for him to remember by clubbing three pitchers for five runs. DeBusschere was making only his fourth major league start. He had lost two close decisions. He was withdrawn for a pinch hitter during a Sox rally in the eighth, and the veteran Hoyt Wilhelm came on and protected the victory. The White Sox moved ahead of Boston into second place, but remained six games behind the Yankees, who beat the Twins, 4-0, in Minnesota before a crowd of 42,034, the largest home crowd in Twins history.


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