Photo Credit
in the 5th row down as the text
was illegible on the original
image that I saved
Established: 1894
Based in: Chicago since 1900
Major league affiliations
1. American League: 1901 – Present
2. Central Division: 1994 – Present
3. West Division: 1963 – 1993
Retired Numbers: 2, 3, 4, 9, 11, 14, 16, 19, 35, 56,
72, 42
Colors: Black, White, Silver(a)(2)(3)
Team Name Chicago White Sox: 1904 – Present
Chicago White Stockings: 1900 – 1903
St. Paul Saints: 1895 – 1899
Sioux City Cornhuskers: 1894
Other nicknames
Ballpark
1. Guaranteed Rate Field: 1991 – Present
2. Comiskey Park: 1910 – 1990
3. Milwaukee County Stadium: 1968 – 1969(b)
4. South Side Park: 1900 – 1910
5. Lexington Park: 1897 – 1899
Major League Titles
1. World Series titles: (3) 1906, 1917, 2005
2. AL Pennants: (7) 1900(c), 1901, 1906, 1917,
The team began as the minor league Sioux City Cornhuskers and played in the Western League (WL). The WL reorganized itself in November 1893, with Ban Johnson as president. The Cornhuskers won the Western League Pennant in their first season in 1894. Johnson, a Cincinnati-based reporter, had been recommended by his friend Charles Comiskey, former major league star with the St. Louis Browns in the late 1880’s, who was then managing the Cincinnati Reds. After the 1894 season, when Comiskey’s contract with the Reds was up, he decided to take his chances at ownership. He bought the Sioux City team and transferred it to Saint Paul, Minnesota, renaming the team the St. Paul Saints, which enjoyed some success over the next five seasons.
In 1900, the Western League changed its name to the American League. It was still officially a minor league, subject to the governing National Agreement and an underling of the National League. The NL gave permission to the AL to put a team in Chicago, provided they not use the city name in the team’s branding. Comiskey moved his St. Paul club to the Near South Side and renamed it the White Stockings, grabbing a nickname that had once been used by the Chicago Cubs. The White Stockings won the 1900 American League pennant led by player-manager Dick Padden,(1)(2) the final WL/AL championship season as a minor league(3). After the season, the AL declined to renew its membership in the National Agreement and declared itself a major league.
1901 – 1917: Early years
After acquiring a number of stars from the older league, including pitcher and manager Clark Griffith, the White Stockings also captured the AL’s first major-league pennant the next year, in 1901. Headline editors at the Chicago Tribune sports department immediately began shortening the name to “White Sox”, and the team officially adopted the shorter name in 1904. The name change to the White Sox was brought on after scorekeeper Christoph Hynes wrote White Sox at the top of a scorecard rather than White Stockings, this scorecard was then seen by the press. The White Sox would continue to be built on pitching and defense in the following years, led by pitching workhorse Ed Walsh, who routinely pitched over 400 innings each season in his prime.
1906: The Hitless Wonders
Walsh, Doc White and Nick Altrock paced the White Sox to their 1906 pennant and faced the crosstown rival Cubs in the 1906 World Series. The Cubs had won a then-record 116 regular-season games and were an overwhelming favorite to defeat the White Sox, especially since the White Sox had the lowest team batting average in the American League that year. However, in a stunning upset, the White Sox took the Series, and intracity bragging rights, in six games. To this day, the 1906 White Sox are known as “the Hitless Wonders”.
The White Sox spent the next decade alternating between solid and mediocre seasons. During this time, however, they acquired a solid core of players such as catcher Ray Schalk, shortstop / third baseman Buck Weaver, and pitchers Eddie Cicotte, Red Faber, and Reb Russell.
April 18th, 1907, was the coldest Opening Day ever, when the temperature was 38o F (3.3o C).(4)
In 1915, Pants Rowland became the manager and the White Sox added outfielder Shoeless Joe Jackson, second baseman Eddie Collins and outfielder Happy Felsch to the line-up. The White Sox acquired pitcher Lefty Williams and finished 2nd at 89 – 65.
The 1917 world champions
In 1917, the White Sox put the final pieces of the puzzle together with the addition of first baseman Chick Gandil and shortstop Swede Risberg. Weaver was moved over to third base.
The White Sox roared through the American League in 1917 with a record of 100 – 54 – still a franchise record for wins and winning percentage – and won the pennant by nine games over the Boston Red Sox. Their offense, led by Collins (.289, 91 runs), Felsch (.308, 102 RBI), and Jackson (.301, 91 runs), was 1st in runs scored. The White Sox pitching staff, led by Eddie Cicotte (28 – 12 1.53 ERA), Williams (17 – 8 2.97 ERA), Red Faber (16 – 13 1.92 ERA) and Reb Russell (15 – 5 1.95 ERA), ranked first with a 2.16 ERA.
1917 World Series
The White Sox faced the 98 – 56 New York Giants in the 1917 World Series. The White Sox won one game in Chicago 2 – 1 behind a complete game by Cicotte. Flesch hit a home run in the fourth inning that provided the winning margin. The White Sox beat the Giants in Game two by a score of 7 – 2 behind another complete game effort by Faber to take a 2 – 0 lead in the series.
Back in New York for Game three, Cicotte again threw a complete game, but the White Sox could not muster a single run against Giants starter Rube Benton and lost 2 – 0. In Game 4 the White Sox were shut out again 5 – 0 by Ferdie Schupp. Faber threw another complete game, but the Series was going back to Chicago even at 2 – 2.
Reb Russell started Game 5 in Chicago, but only faced 3 batters before giving way to Cicotte. Going into the bottom of the seventh inning, Chicago was down 5 – 2, but they rallied to score three in the 7th and three in the 8th to win 8 – 5. Red Faber pitched the final two innings for the win. In Game six, the White Sox took an early 3 – 0 lead and on the strength of another complete game victory from Faber (his third of the Series) won 4 – 2 and clinched the world championship. Eddie Collins was the hitting hero, batting .409 over the six-game series while Cicotte and Faber combined to pitch 50 out of a total 52 World Series innings to lead the staff.
1918 – 1929: The Black Sox
After an off-year in the war-shortened season of 1918, the club bounced back to win the pennant in 1919 and entered the World Series heavily favored to defeat the Cincinnati Reds in a best-of-9.
However, just before the Series, it became known that some big money was being bet on the Reds, fueling talk that the Series was fixed. The White Sox lost to the Reds in eight games.
1920
Rumors of a fix continued unabated through the 1920 campaign, even as the White Sox roared through the season and appeared well on their way to a third pennant in four years. The team’s pitching was particularly strong that year; the 1920 White Sox pitching staff was the first in the majors to feature four 20-game winners.
Black Sox Scandal
In September 1920, an investigation into a fixed Cubs game eventually turned in the direction of the 1919 Series. During the investigation, Cicotte and Jackson confessed. Comiskey, who himself had turned a blind eye to the rumors, was compelled to suspend the remaining seven players (Gandil, eventually perceived as the ringleader, the one “connected” to the gamblers, had retired after the 1919 season) before their last season series against the St. Louis Browns. The suspensions ground the team to a halt; they lost two out of three games to the Browns and finished second, two games behind the Cleveland Indians. However, the evidence of their involvement (signed confessions) disappeared from the Cook County courthouse. Lacking that tangible evidence, a criminal trial (whose scope was limited to the question of defrauding the public) ended in acquittals of all the players. Regardless, newly installed Commissioner of Baseball Kenesaw Mountain Landis banned all the accused from baseball for life. He argued that even though the players had been acquitted, there was no dispute that they had broken the rules of baseball, and they could not ever be allowed to return if the game was to regain the trust of the public.
1922 – 1950: The lean years
From 1901 to 1920, the White Sox won four out of a possible 19 pennants. However, they were severely crippled by the loss of seven of their best players in their prime. With a depleted roster, the White Sox dropped into seventh place in 1921 and would not contend again until 1936. During that stretch, only the 1925 and 1926 teams even managed to top .500. during this period, the White Sox featured stars such as third baseman Willie Kamm, shortstop Luke Appling, outfielder Leo Najo and pitcher Ted Lyons. However, an outstanding team was never developed around them, or a deep pitching staff. Ironically, the White Sox almost landed Babe Ruth; they offered to trade Jackson to the Red Sox for Ruth after owner Harry Frazee put his troublemaking star on the market. The White Sox offered Jackson and $60,000; however, the New York Yankees offered an all-cash deal of $100,000. Between the dumping of star players by the Philadelphia Athletics and the Red Sox, and the decimation of the White Sox, a “power vacuum” was created in the American League, into which the Yankees would soon move.
The White Sox finally became competitive again under popular manager Jimmy Dykes, who led them from 1934 to 1946 – still the longest managerial tenure in team history. However, the White Sox did not completely recover from their malaise until the team was rebuilt in the 1950’s under managers Paul Richards, Marty Marion, and Al Lopez.
1950 – 1967: The Go-Go Era
Following Charles Comiskey’s death in 1931, the team continued to be operated by his family – first by his son Lou, then by Louis’ widow Grace, and finally by their daughter Dorothy Rigney. Not until 1959 did the team pass out of the family (thanks in part to a feud between Dorothy and her brother Chuck) to a new ownership group, led by Bill Veeck, who had run the Cleveland Indians and the St. Louis Browns.
During the 1950’s, the team had begun to restore its respectability with manager Paul Richards utilizing an offensive philosophy emphasizing speed and a spectacular style of defense(5). Perennial All-Star Minnie Minoso, a former Negro leaguer who became the White Sox’ first black player in 1951, personified both aspects, leading the league in stolen bases while hitting over .300 and providing terrific play in left field. The additions of rookie shortstop Luis Aparicio in 1956 and manager Al Lopez in 1957 continued strengthening of the team, joining longtime team standouts such as Nellie Fox at second base, pitchers Billy Pierce and Virgil Trucks, and catcher Sherm Lollar. The White Sox would lead the American League in stolen bases every year from 1951 to 1961.
Although the White Sox had winning records every season from 1951 through 1967, the Yankees dynasty of the era often left the White Sox frustrated in second place; they were league runner-up five times between 1957 and 1965. Health problems forced Veeck to sell the team to brothers Arthur and John Allyn in 1961, and while the team continued to play well, many of the ballpark thrills seemed to be missing. The White Sox had several outstanding pitching staffs in the 1960’s, with pitchers who had the best ERA in four different seasons – Frank Baumann, 2.67 (1960), Gary Peters, 2.33 (1963), and again in 1.98 (1966) and finally Joe Horlen, 2.06 (1967).
1959
In 1959, the team won its first pennant in 40 years, thanks to the efforts of several eventual Hall of Famers – Lopez, Aparicio, Fox (the league MVP), and pitcher Early Wynn, who won the Cy Young Award at a time when only one award was presented for both leagues. The White Sox would also acquire slugger Ted Kluszewski, a local area native, from the Pittsburgh Pirates for the final pennant push. Kluszewski game them a much-needed slugger for the stretch run, and he hit nearly .300 for the White Sox in the final month. Lopez had also managed the Cleveland Indians to the World Series in 1954, making him the only manager to interrupt the New York Yankees pennant run between 1949 and 1964 inclusive.
1959 World Series
After the pennant-clinching victory, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, a lifelong White Sox fan, ordered his fire chief to set off the city’s air raid sirens. Many Chicagoans became fearful and confused since 1959 was the height of the Cold War; however, they relaxed somewhat upon realizing it was part of the White Sox’ celebration. The White Sox won Game 1 of the World Series 11 – 0 on the strength of Kluszewski’s two home runs, their last postseason win until 2005. The Los Angeles Dodgers, however, won three of the next four games and captured their first World Series championship since moving to the west coast in 1958. 92,706 fans witnessed Game 5 of the World Series at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the most ever to attend a World Series game, or for that matter, any non-exhibition major league baseball game. The White Sox won that game 1 – 0 over the Dodgers’ 23-year-old pitcher Sandy Koufax, but the Dodgers clinched the series by beating the White Sox 9 – 3 two days later at Comiskey Park.
Veeck ownership
Due to Veeck’s arrival in 1959, Comiskey Park instantly became a ballpark filled with a series of promotional stunts which helped draw record crowds, the most obvious being the exploding fireworks Veeck installed in the scoreboard to celebrate home runs and victories. And in 1960, they became the first team in the history of sports to wear last names on the back of their jerseys, a Veeck innovation. Unlike Charles Comiskey, Veeck was considered a player-friendly owner, and players enjoyed playing for him.
1964
The 1964 season was especially frustrating, as the team won 98 games, four more than 1959, including their last nine in a row – yet finished one game behind the pennant-winning Yankees, who had a late-season 11-game win streak that opened up just to stave off the White Sox’s final charge.
1967
The White Sox were also involved in one of the closest pennant races in history in 1967. After leading the American League for most of the season, on the final weekend, the White Sox, Red Sox, Minnesota Twins, and Detroit Tigers all had a shot at the pennant. However, the Red Sox would assert themselves in the final weekend, beating the Twins to take the pennant by a single game. The White Sox finished in fourth place at 89 – 73, three games behind.
1968 – 1975: Threats of relocation
In 1968, Bud Selig, a former minority owner of the Milwaukee Braves who had been unable to stop the relocation of his team three years earlier, contacted the Allyn brothers to host nine games (one against each of the other American League clubs) at Milwaukee County Stadium as part of an attempt to attract an expansion franchise to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The experiment was staggeringly successful – those nine games drew 264,297 fans. In Chicago that season, the White Sox drew 539,478 fans to their remaining 58 home dates (72 games, 14 doubleheaders). In just a handful of games, the Milwaukee crowds accounted for nearly one-third of the total attendance at White Sox games.
In 1969, the league expanded from 10 to 12 teams, and the White Sox schedule in Milwaukee was likewise expanded to include 11 home games (again, one against every opponent). Although those games were attended by slightly fewer fans (198,211 fans, for an average of 18,019) they represented a greater percentage of the total White Sox attendance than the previous year – over one-third of the fans who went to White Sox games did so at Milwaukee County Stadium. In the remaining 59 home dates in Chicago (70 games, 11 doubleheaders), the White Sox drew 391,335 for an average of 6,632 per date.
Selig was denied an expansion franchise at the 1968 owners’ meetings, and turned his efforts toward purchasing and relocating an existing club. His search began close to home with the White Sox themselves. According to Selig, he had a handshake agreement with Arthur Allyn in early 1969 to purchase a majority stake in the White Sox and move them to north to Milwaukee. The American League, however, blocked the sale, unwilling to cede what was then the nation’s second largest city to the National League and the Cubs. Arthur Allyn instead sold his shares to his brother John, who agreed to stay in Chicago. Selig would go on to by the Seattle Pilots and move them to Milwaukee instead. John Allyn renamed Comiskey Park “White Sox Park” and installed artificial turf (“Sox Sod”) in the infield (the outfield remained natural grass).
The 1970 White Sox hit rock bottom for the franchise in the post-World War II era, going a Major League worst 56 – 106, nine games worse than two second-year clubs in the American League West, the Kansas City Royals and Milwaukee Brewers, and seven worse than another 1969 expansion team, the San Diego Padres.
The White Sox had a brief resurgence in 1972, with slugger Dick Allen winning the MVP award; but injuries, especially to popular third baseman Bill Melton, took their toll and the team finished 5 ½ games behind Oakland, the eventual world champion.
Several lawsuits against Major League Baseball from Seattle over the move of the Pilots to Milwaukee almost resulted in the White Sox being moved to the Emerald City in 1975. An elaborate scheme for a franchise shuffle soon came to light. The White Sox were to be moved to Seattle, then the Oakland Athletics were to take the White Sox’s place in Comiskey Park. Oakland owner Charlie Finley was from nearby La Porte, Indiana. His A’s had not drawn well during their Championship years in Oakland, California, and he wanted to bring them to Chicago(6). However, the shuffle collapsed when owner John Allyn sold the team to the physically rehabilitated Bill Veeck. In 1977, the Seattle Mariners were created, thus restoring the major leagues’ presence in the Pacific Northwest.
Colors: Black, White, Silver(a)(2)(3)
Team Name Chicago White Sox: 1904 – Present
Chicago White Stockings: 1900 – 1903
St. Paul Saints: 1895 – 1899
Sioux City Cornhuskers: 1894
Other nicknames
The Sox, The Chi Sox, The South Siders, The Pale
Hose, The Black Sox (1919)
Ballpark
1. Guaranteed Rate Field: 1991 – Present
2. Comiskey Park: 1910 – 1990
3. Milwaukee County Stadium: 1968 – 1969(b)
4. South Side Park: 1900 – 1910
5. Lexington Park: 1897 – 1899
Major League Titles
1. World Series titles: (3) 1906, 1917, 2005
2. AL Pennants: (7) 1900(c), 1901, 1906, 1917,
1919, 1959, 2005,
3. WL Pennants: (1) 1894
4. AL West Division Titles: (2) 1983, 1993
5. AL Central Division Titles: (4) 2000, 2005, 2008,
3. WL Pennants: (1) 1894
4. AL West Division Titles: (2) 1983, 1993
5. AL Central Division Titles: (4) 2000, 2005, 2008,
2021
6. Wild Card Berths: (1) 2020
Manager
6. Wild Card Berths: (1) 2020
Manager
Pedro Grifol managed the team until he was dismissed
on August 8, 2024. Grady Sizemore took over as
interim manager for the remainder of the 2024 season.
Establishment
The team began as the minor league Sioux City Cornhuskers and played in the Western League (WL). The WL reorganized itself in November 1893, with Ban Johnson as president. The Cornhuskers won the Western League Pennant in their first season in 1894. Johnson, a Cincinnati-based reporter, had been recommended by his friend Charles Comiskey, former major league star with the St. Louis Browns in the late 1880’s, who was then managing the Cincinnati Reds. After the 1894 season, when Comiskey’s contract with the Reds was up, he decided to take his chances at ownership. He bought the Sioux City team and transferred it to Saint Paul, Minnesota, renaming the team the St. Paul Saints, which enjoyed some success over the next five seasons.
In 1900, the Western League changed its name to the American League. It was still officially a minor league, subject to the governing National Agreement and an underling of the National League. The NL gave permission to the AL to put a team in Chicago, provided they not use the city name in the team’s branding. Comiskey moved his St. Paul club to the Near South Side and renamed it the White Stockings, grabbing a nickname that had once been used by the Chicago Cubs. The White Stockings won the 1900 American League pennant led by player-manager Dick Padden,(1)(2) the final WL/AL championship season as a minor league(3). After the season, the AL declined to renew its membership in the National Agreement and declared itself a major league.
1901 – 1917: Early years
After acquiring a number of stars from the older league, including pitcher and manager Clark Griffith, the White Stockings also captured the AL’s first major-league pennant the next year, in 1901. Headline editors at the Chicago Tribune sports department immediately began shortening the name to “White Sox”, and the team officially adopted the shorter name in 1904. The name change to the White Sox was brought on after scorekeeper Christoph Hynes wrote White Sox at the top of a scorecard rather than White Stockings, this scorecard was then seen by the press. The White Sox would continue to be built on pitching and defense in the following years, led by pitching workhorse Ed Walsh, who routinely pitched over 400 innings each season in his prime.
1906: The Hitless Wonders
Walsh, Doc White and Nick Altrock paced the White Sox to their 1906 pennant and faced the crosstown rival Cubs in the 1906 World Series. The Cubs had won a then-record 116 regular-season games and were an overwhelming favorite to defeat the White Sox, especially since the White Sox had the lowest team batting average in the American League that year. However, in a stunning upset, the White Sox took the Series, and intracity bragging rights, in six games. To this day, the 1906 White Sox are known as “the Hitless Wonders”.
The White Sox spent the next decade alternating between solid and mediocre seasons. During this time, however, they acquired a solid core of players such as catcher Ray Schalk, shortstop / third baseman Buck Weaver, and pitchers Eddie Cicotte, Red Faber, and Reb Russell.
April 18th, 1907, was the coldest Opening Day ever, when the temperature was 38o F (3.3o C).(4)
In 1915, Pants Rowland became the manager and the White Sox added outfielder Shoeless Joe Jackson, second baseman Eddie Collins and outfielder Happy Felsch to the line-up. The White Sox acquired pitcher Lefty Williams and finished 2nd at 89 – 65.
The 1917 world champions
In 1917, the White Sox put the final pieces of the puzzle together with the addition of first baseman Chick Gandil and shortstop Swede Risberg. Weaver was moved over to third base.
The White Sox roared through the American League in 1917 with a record of 100 – 54 – still a franchise record for wins and winning percentage – and won the pennant by nine games over the Boston Red Sox. Their offense, led by Collins (.289, 91 runs), Felsch (.308, 102 RBI), and Jackson (.301, 91 runs), was 1st in runs scored. The White Sox pitching staff, led by Eddie Cicotte (28 – 12 1.53 ERA), Williams (17 – 8 2.97 ERA), Red Faber (16 – 13 1.92 ERA) and Reb Russell (15 – 5 1.95 ERA), ranked first with a 2.16 ERA.
1917 World Series
The White Sox faced the 98 – 56 New York Giants in the 1917 World Series. The White Sox won one game in Chicago 2 – 1 behind a complete game by Cicotte. Flesch hit a home run in the fourth inning that provided the winning margin. The White Sox beat the Giants in Game two by a score of 7 – 2 behind another complete game effort by Faber to take a 2 – 0 lead in the series.
Back in New York for Game three, Cicotte again threw a complete game, but the White Sox could not muster a single run against Giants starter Rube Benton and lost 2 – 0. In Game 4 the White Sox were shut out again 5 – 0 by Ferdie Schupp. Faber threw another complete game, but the Series was going back to Chicago even at 2 – 2.
Reb Russell started Game 5 in Chicago, but only faced 3 batters before giving way to Cicotte. Going into the bottom of the seventh inning, Chicago was down 5 – 2, but they rallied to score three in the 7th and three in the 8th to win 8 – 5. Red Faber pitched the final two innings for the win. In Game six, the White Sox took an early 3 – 0 lead and on the strength of another complete game victory from Faber (his third of the Series) won 4 – 2 and clinched the world championship. Eddie Collins was the hitting hero, batting .409 over the six-game series while Cicotte and Faber combined to pitch 50 out of a total 52 World Series innings to lead the staff.
1918 – 1929: The Black Sox
After an off-year in the war-shortened season of 1918, the club bounced back to win the pennant in 1919 and entered the World Series heavily favored to defeat the Cincinnati Reds in a best-of-9.
However, just before the Series, it became known that some big money was being bet on the Reds, fueling talk that the Series was fixed. The White Sox lost to the Reds in eight games.
1920
Rumors of a fix continued unabated through the 1920 campaign, even as the White Sox roared through the season and appeared well on their way to a third pennant in four years. The team’s pitching was particularly strong that year; the 1920 White Sox pitching staff was the first in the majors to feature four 20-game winners.
Black Sox Scandal
In September 1920, an investigation into a fixed Cubs game eventually turned in the direction of the 1919 Series. During the investigation, Cicotte and Jackson confessed. Comiskey, who himself had turned a blind eye to the rumors, was compelled to suspend the remaining seven players (Gandil, eventually perceived as the ringleader, the one “connected” to the gamblers, had retired after the 1919 season) before their last season series against the St. Louis Browns. The suspensions ground the team to a halt; they lost two out of three games to the Browns and finished second, two games behind the Cleveland Indians. However, the evidence of their involvement (signed confessions) disappeared from the Cook County courthouse. Lacking that tangible evidence, a criminal trial (whose scope was limited to the question of defrauding the public) ended in acquittals of all the players. Regardless, newly installed Commissioner of Baseball Kenesaw Mountain Landis banned all the accused from baseball for life. He argued that even though the players had been acquitted, there was no dispute that they had broken the rules of baseball, and they could not ever be allowed to return if the game was to regain the trust of the public.
1922 – 1950: The lean years
From 1901 to 1920, the White Sox won four out of a possible 19 pennants. However, they were severely crippled by the loss of seven of their best players in their prime. With a depleted roster, the White Sox dropped into seventh place in 1921 and would not contend again until 1936. During that stretch, only the 1925 and 1926 teams even managed to top .500. during this period, the White Sox featured stars such as third baseman Willie Kamm, shortstop Luke Appling, outfielder Leo Najo and pitcher Ted Lyons. However, an outstanding team was never developed around them, or a deep pitching staff. Ironically, the White Sox almost landed Babe Ruth; they offered to trade Jackson to the Red Sox for Ruth after owner Harry Frazee put his troublemaking star on the market. The White Sox offered Jackson and $60,000; however, the New York Yankees offered an all-cash deal of $100,000. Between the dumping of star players by the Philadelphia Athletics and the Red Sox, and the decimation of the White Sox, a “power vacuum” was created in the American League, into which the Yankees would soon move.
The White Sox finally became competitive again under popular manager Jimmy Dykes, who led them from 1934 to 1946 – still the longest managerial tenure in team history. However, the White Sox did not completely recover from their malaise until the team was rebuilt in the 1950’s under managers Paul Richards, Marty Marion, and Al Lopez.
1950 – 1967: The Go-Go Era
Following Charles Comiskey’s death in 1931, the team continued to be operated by his family – first by his son Lou, then by Louis’ widow Grace, and finally by their daughter Dorothy Rigney. Not until 1959 did the team pass out of the family (thanks in part to a feud between Dorothy and her brother Chuck) to a new ownership group, led by Bill Veeck, who had run the Cleveland Indians and the St. Louis Browns.
During the 1950’s, the team had begun to restore its respectability with manager Paul Richards utilizing an offensive philosophy emphasizing speed and a spectacular style of defense(5). Perennial All-Star Minnie Minoso, a former Negro leaguer who became the White Sox’ first black player in 1951, personified both aspects, leading the league in stolen bases while hitting over .300 and providing terrific play in left field. The additions of rookie shortstop Luis Aparicio in 1956 and manager Al Lopez in 1957 continued strengthening of the team, joining longtime team standouts such as Nellie Fox at second base, pitchers Billy Pierce and Virgil Trucks, and catcher Sherm Lollar. The White Sox would lead the American League in stolen bases every year from 1951 to 1961.
Although the White Sox had winning records every season from 1951 through 1967, the Yankees dynasty of the era often left the White Sox frustrated in second place; they were league runner-up five times between 1957 and 1965. Health problems forced Veeck to sell the team to brothers Arthur and John Allyn in 1961, and while the team continued to play well, many of the ballpark thrills seemed to be missing. The White Sox had several outstanding pitching staffs in the 1960’s, with pitchers who had the best ERA in four different seasons – Frank Baumann, 2.67 (1960), Gary Peters, 2.33 (1963), and again in 1.98 (1966) and finally Joe Horlen, 2.06 (1967).
1959
In 1959, the team won its first pennant in 40 years, thanks to the efforts of several eventual Hall of Famers – Lopez, Aparicio, Fox (the league MVP), and pitcher Early Wynn, who won the Cy Young Award at a time when only one award was presented for both leagues. The White Sox would also acquire slugger Ted Kluszewski, a local area native, from the Pittsburgh Pirates for the final pennant push. Kluszewski game them a much-needed slugger for the stretch run, and he hit nearly .300 for the White Sox in the final month. Lopez had also managed the Cleveland Indians to the World Series in 1954, making him the only manager to interrupt the New York Yankees pennant run between 1949 and 1964 inclusive.
1959 World Series
After the pennant-clinching victory, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, a lifelong White Sox fan, ordered his fire chief to set off the city’s air raid sirens. Many Chicagoans became fearful and confused since 1959 was the height of the Cold War; however, they relaxed somewhat upon realizing it was part of the White Sox’ celebration. The White Sox won Game 1 of the World Series 11 – 0 on the strength of Kluszewski’s two home runs, their last postseason win until 2005. The Los Angeles Dodgers, however, won three of the next four games and captured their first World Series championship since moving to the west coast in 1958. 92,706 fans witnessed Game 5 of the World Series at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the most ever to attend a World Series game, or for that matter, any non-exhibition major league baseball game. The White Sox won that game 1 – 0 over the Dodgers’ 23-year-old pitcher Sandy Koufax, but the Dodgers clinched the series by beating the White Sox 9 – 3 two days later at Comiskey Park.
Veeck ownership
Due to Veeck’s arrival in 1959, Comiskey Park instantly became a ballpark filled with a series of promotional stunts which helped draw record crowds, the most obvious being the exploding fireworks Veeck installed in the scoreboard to celebrate home runs and victories. And in 1960, they became the first team in the history of sports to wear last names on the back of their jerseys, a Veeck innovation. Unlike Charles Comiskey, Veeck was considered a player-friendly owner, and players enjoyed playing for him.
1964
The 1964 season was especially frustrating, as the team won 98 games, four more than 1959, including their last nine in a row – yet finished one game behind the pennant-winning Yankees, who had a late-season 11-game win streak that opened up just to stave off the White Sox’s final charge.
1967
The White Sox were also involved in one of the closest pennant races in history in 1967. After leading the American League for most of the season, on the final weekend, the White Sox, Red Sox, Minnesota Twins, and Detroit Tigers all had a shot at the pennant. However, the Red Sox would assert themselves in the final weekend, beating the Twins to take the pennant by a single game. The White Sox finished in fourth place at 89 – 73, three games behind.
1968 – 1975: Threats of relocation
In 1968, Bud Selig, a former minority owner of the Milwaukee Braves who had been unable to stop the relocation of his team three years earlier, contacted the Allyn brothers to host nine games (one against each of the other American League clubs) at Milwaukee County Stadium as part of an attempt to attract an expansion franchise to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The experiment was staggeringly successful – those nine games drew 264,297 fans. In Chicago that season, the White Sox drew 539,478 fans to their remaining 58 home dates (72 games, 14 doubleheaders). In just a handful of games, the Milwaukee crowds accounted for nearly one-third of the total attendance at White Sox games.
In 1969, the league expanded from 10 to 12 teams, and the White Sox schedule in Milwaukee was likewise expanded to include 11 home games (again, one against every opponent). Although those games were attended by slightly fewer fans (198,211 fans, for an average of 18,019) they represented a greater percentage of the total White Sox attendance than the previous year – over one-third of the fans who went to White Sox games did so at Milwaukee County Stadium. In the remaining 59 home dates in Chicago (70 games, 11 doubleheaders), the White Sox drew 391,335 for an average of 6,632 per date.
Selig was denied an expansion franchise at the 1968 owners’ meetings, and turned his efforts toward purchasing and relocating an existing club. His search began close to home with the White Sox themselves. According to Selig, he had a handshake agreement with Arthur Allyn in early 1969 to purchase a majority stake in the White Sox and move them to north to Milwaukee. The American League, however, blocked the sale, unwilling to cede what was then the nation’s second largest city to the National League and the Cubs. Arthur Allyn instead sold his shares to his brother John, who agreed to stay in Chicago. Selig would go on to by the Seattle Pilots and move them to Milwaukee instead. John Allyn renamed Comiskey Park “White Sox Park” and installed artificial turf (“Sox Sod”) in the infield (the outfield remained natural grass).
The 1970 White Sox hit rock bottom for the franchise in the post-World War II era, going a Major League worst 56 – 106, nine games worse than two second-year clubs in the American League West, the Kansas City Royals and Milwaukee Brewers, and seven worse than another 1969 expansion team, the San Diego Padres.
The White Sox had a brief resurgence in 1972, with slugger Dick Allen winning the MVP award; but injuries, especially to popular third baseman Bill Melton, took their toll and the team finished 5 ½ games behind Oakland, the eventual world champion.
Several lawsuits against Major League Baseball from Seattle over the move of the Pilots to Milwaukee almost resulted in the White Sox being moved to the Emerald City in 1975. An elaborate scheme for a franchise shuffle soon came to light. The White Sox were to be moved to Seattle, then the Oakland Athletics were to take the White Sox’s place in Comiskey Park. Oakland owner Charlie Finley was from nearby La Porte, Indiana. His A’s had not drawn well during their Championship years in Oakland, California, and he wanted to bring them to Chicago(6). However, the shuffle collapsed when owner John Allyn sold the team to the physically rehabilitated Bill Veeck. In 1977, the Seattle Mariners were created, thus restoring the major leagues’ presence in the Pacific Northwest.
Part 2 of this story of the Chicago
White Sox will continue with Part 2
posting on Tuesday August 27, 2024
All Citations and reference links will be posted at
All Citations and reference links will be posted at
the end of the Chicago White Sox Part 3 article
