younger than James Baldwin and Jason Bere, the oldest pitchers in the rotation by season's end. Eyre finished his rookie season with a 4–4 record, a 5.04 ERA, and 36 strikeouts in 11 games and innings for the White Sox. That Eyre was not sent back down to the minor leagues after his MLB debut gave him hope that he would be a permanent fixture in the White Sox' 1998 starting rotation. New manager Jerry Manuel decided to open the season with an inexpensive, young group of pitchers that included Eyre, Baldwin, Bere, Mike Sirotka, and Jaime Navarro. Eyre ran into trouble early in the season: he did not secure a win until April 26, and by mid-June, with 43 walks in 12 starts, Eyre was preparing for a demotion. Although he anticipated that he would return to the minor leagues, Manuel instead sent Eyre to the bullpen. He did not start again for the White Sox until August 13, when he pitched five no-hit innings against the Oakland Athletics and claimed only his second win of the season. On the night of September 14 into the morning of September 15, Eyre was the winning pitcher in a 33-run, 12-inning game between the White Sox and the Detroit Tigers. After allowing an unearned run in the bottom of the 12th, Eyre struck out Bobby Higginson to end the game in a 17–16 victory. Eyre made 33 appearances for the White Sox in 1998, 17 starts and 16 in relief. In the process, he went 3–8 with a 5.38 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 107 innings. After struggling throughout spring training, Eyre was demoted to the Triple-A Charlotte Knights to open the 1999 season. Castillo and Tom Fordham also received demotions to Triple-A, and attempted to use the experience as motivation to return to the majors as fast as they could. Eyre was called back up on June 20 in place of a struggling Dave Lundquist, who was sent back down. He remained in the Chicago bullpen until August 30, when he suffered a rotator cuff injury to his throwing arm and had to be placed on the disabled list. Eyre made 21 major league appearances in 1999, all in relief, and posted a 1–1 record with a 7.56 ERA in 25 innings. He also played 12 games (11 starts) for Charlotte, going 6–4 with a 3.82 ERA in innings. The