The Chicago
White Sox team is a charter member of Major League Baseball,
meaning it is one of the original teams. The team started
in 1901 as the White Stockings, officially becoming the
Chicago White Sox in 1904.
The White Sox
started playing in the 39th Street Grounds before moving
to Comiskey Park in 1910. However, before they left their
original home, the White Sox took the World Series from
their in-city rivals, the Chicago Cubs, in 1906.
1917 saw a
return to the Series, and a championship, for the White
Sox. In 1919, the White Sox dominated the league and were
a shoe-in for the Series. However, after playing a fantastic
season, they were less-than-stellar during the Series
itself, losing to the Reds. Not only was the loss a major
upset, it was the basis for the “Black Sox”
scandal of 1920. It came to light that eight players had
allegedly “thrown” the Series and received
monetary compensation. While a jury cleared the eight
players implicated, they were banned for life from baseball
by the commissioner of the Major Leagues.
Despite some
good years of play, the major events for the White Sox
between the scandal and 1958 were the expansion of Comiskey
Park, enabling sales of up to 23,000 more baseball tickets
with new seating, and the White Sox hosting the All-Star
game twice.
In 1959, new
owner Bill Veeck gained control of the team. Veeck is
credited with bringing a certain showmanship to the game,
and helped to increase sales of White Sox tickets as he
had with other teams, through door prizes, giveaways,
and even adding the players’ names to the back of
their uniforms. This was also the year the White Sox finally
went back to the Series, though they lost to the Los Angeles
Dodgers.
This seemed
to set a trend, with a strong White Sox team that had
a winning season every year until 1967, yet couldn’t
advance to the Pennant race.
In 1961, Bill
Veeck sold out to the Allyn brothers, yet regained ownership
for the 1976 season. Unfortunately, Veeck’s return
did not signal great things for the White Sox and they
had lackluster performances through 1980. In 1981, Jerry
Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn took over as owners of the
team.
The White Sox
became revitalized with an infusion of talent and owners
that were dedicated to the team and Chicago. The team
still didn’t make it into the Pennant race, but
in 1983 the White Sox were back in the playoffs for the
first time since 1959.
1990 was the
last year for the original Comiskey Park, and the season
was an emotional one for the fans. Yet 1991 saw a sellout
of White Sox tickets for the opening of the new Comiskey
Park. Again, while the team was good and had some awesome
highlights, they just couldn’t get it together well
enough to take them to the Pennant race for years.
In
2003, Comiskey Park was renamed US Cellular Field and
a renovation of the ballpark was started. The coming seasons
should prove fun for fans who are still riding high from
the 2005 season, when the White Sox took the World Series
championship over the Astros.
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