Encyclopedia
The
Chicago White Sox are a
Major League Baseball team that plays on the
South Side of
Chicago, Illinois. The club is in the Central Division of the
American League. They are the defending
World Series Champions, and are managed by former team
shortstop and 2005 AL Manager of the Year
Ozzie Guillén.
The White Sox are one of two major league teams based in Chicago, the other being the
Chicago Cubs of the
National League. Both clubs are charter members of their respective leagues.
The White Sox are one of two
American League teams with the word
Sox in their name, the other being the
Boston Red Sox of the Eastern Division. Both clubs are charter members of the league.
The White Sox were a frequent contender during the early 20th century, winning 5 of the first 19 league pennants; but the team's fortunes dropped precipitously in the aftermath of what is considered the
greatest scandal in the history of the sport. After winning only one league championship in the years spanning 1920 to 2004, the team ended decades of frustration in
2005 when it won its first World Series Championship since 1917.
- All-time regular season record : 8210 won - 8020 lost - 101 tied - 3 no-decision
- See also: List of Chicago White Sox people
Franchise history
The team began as the
Sioux City Cornhuskers in a minor league called the Western League. The WL had reorganized itself in November 1893, with Ban Johnson as President. Johnson, a Cincinnati-based reporter, had been recommended by his friend
Charles Comiskey, former major league star with the
St. Louis Browns in the 1880s, 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
St. Paul, where it enjoyed some success over the next 5 seasons.
In 1900, the Western League changed its name to the American League. It was still officially a
minor league, a part of the National Agreement and an underling of the National League. The NL actually gave permission to the AL to put a team in Chicago, and Comiskey moved his St. Paul club to Chicago's South Side. After the season, the AL declined to renew its membership in the National Agreement, and the war was on.
The club originally called itself the "White Stockings," the original name of the National League's
Chicago Cubs. Incidentally, the White Stockings won the first AL pennant in 1900, albeit still officially as a minor league team. 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 is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago [i], Illinois [i]. ...
sports department immediately began shortening the name to "White Sox," and the team officially adopted the shorter name in 1903. 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.
The Hitless Wonders
Walsh,
Doc White and Nick Altrock paced the White Sox to their 1906 pennant and their first World Series victory, a stunning upset over the Cubs who had won a record 116 regular-season games. The 1906 Sox were dubbed the "Hitless Wonders" for having the lowest team batting average in the American League that year. Nevertheless they took the Series, and intracity bragging rights, in six games.
Until the 1970s, the Sox would continue to be noted primarily for pitching and defense, and the "Hitless Wonders" tag would resurface from time to time. One notable example occurred on April 22, 1959. In a game with the
Kansas City Athletics, the Sox scored 11 runs in the seventh inning... on
one hit, by
Johnny Callison. They were aided by 10 walks, 3 errors and a hit batsman.
The 1917 World Champions
In 1914, the Chicago White Sox were 70-84, but had a solid core of players who would stay on to be regulars on the 1917 World Championship team such as catcher
Ray Schalk, shortstop
Buck Weaver, and pitchers
Eddie Cicotte,
Red Faber and Reb Russell. In 1915, Pants Rowland became the manager and the Sox, added outfielder
Shoeless Joe Jackson, second baseman
Eddie Collins and outfielder
Happy Felsch to the line-up. The Sox finished in 3rd Place with a record of 93-61. In 1916, the Sox acquired pitcher Lefty Williams and finished 2nd at 89-65. In 1917, the 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 1917 Chicago White Sox dominated the
American League with a record of 100-54 and won the pennant by 9 games over the
Boston Red Sox. Their offense, led by
Eddie Collins ,
Happy Felsch and
Shoeless Joe Jackson , was 1st in runs scored. The Sox’ pitching staff led by
Eddie Cicotte , Lefty Williams ,
Red Faber and Reb Russell ranked 1st with a 2.16 ERA.
The Sox faced the 98-56
New York Giants in the
World Series. The Sox won Game 1 of the Series in Chicago 2-1 behind a complete game by
Eddie Cicotte.
Happy Felsch hit a home run in the 4th inning that provided the winning margin. The Sox beat the Giants in Game 2 by a score of 7-2 behind another complete game effort by
Red Faber to take a 2-0 lead in the series.
Back in New York for Game 3,
Eddie Cicotte again threw a complete game, but the Sox could not muster a single run against Giants starter Rube Bensen and lost 2-0. In Game 4 the Sox were shut out again 5-0 by Ferdie Schupp. Faber threw another complete game, but the Series was even 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 7th inning, Chicago was down 5-2, but they rallied to score 3 in the 7th and 3 in the 8th to win 8-5.
Red Faber pitched the final 2 innings for the win. In Game 6 the Sox took an early 3-0 lead and on the strength of another complete game victory from
Red Faber won 4-2 and clinched the World Championship.
Eddie Collins was the hitting hero, batting .409 over the 6 game series while
Eddie Cicotte and
Red Faber combined to pitch 50 out of a total 52 World Series innings to lead the staff.
"The Eight Men Out"
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.
However, 1919 was the year of the infamous
Black Sox scandal. Eight White Sox players, including Cicotte and Jackson, were involved, to varying degrees, in a plot by gamblers to "fix" the World Series. Especially considering their lack of success since the scandal, many people feel that the White Sox have never quite overcome the stigma of being the only team to allegedly fix the World Series.
In that era, gamblers often influenced baseball games. Many players on a number of teams - often frustrated by their inability to make what they felt was a fair wage for being elite athletes - were willing to participate in fixing the outcome of baseball games in exchange for cash. However, until the Black Sox scandal, rarely did such attempts to fix games blow up into scandals of this proportion. Usually such scandals were limited to individual players and games in the regular season. Never before, as far as can be demonstrated with this degree of certainty, had the gamblers been so brazen as to attempt to fix the championship series.
The official evidence relating to participation in the 'fix' by the various accused players came to light late in the 1920 season. It began with an investigation into a fixed Cubs game that had become very public knowledge, and soon the 1919 Series events were on the table. Comiskey, who himself had turned a blind eye to the rumors previously, was compelled to suspend the remaining seven players . The suspensions ground the team to a halt; it was well on its way to another pennant . However, the evidence of their involvement disappeared from the
Cook County courthouse, and lacking that tangible evidence, a criminal trial ended in acquittals of all the players. Regardless, with the public's trust of the game of baseball at stake, newly-installed Commissioner of Baseball
Judge Landis banned all the accused from baseball for life. As the players were leaving a hearing, legend has it that a young boy yelled out to Shoeless Joe, "Say it ain't so, Joe!", although there is no evidence this exchange ever took place.
Though suspended from baseball, whether the eight players' efforts to fix the World Series definitively caused the team to lose remains unknowable, of course. Many players on the White Sox were not part of the fix and presumably did play their best. Evidence also suggests that at times many of the players aware of the fix did try their best, especially as the Series progressed. Shoeless Joe Jackson hit .375 for the Series. He swore under oath that he played to win the World Series and that he did not know some thought him involved until after the Series when he was handed money. Buck Weaver's crime was limited to having known of the plot and not having turned in his fellow ballplayers. Though it was readily acknowledged that he took no active role in the fix, he was disqualified for having done nothing to stop it.
The usual theory is that the players took part in this plot as an act of revenge against Comiskey, considered to be one of the meanest and tightest-fisted owners in the game. The term "Black Sox" came about earlier in the year, when Comiskey decided to make players pay for their own laundry. The players stopped doing their laundry in protest, and as their white stockings became soiled and dark, the writers tagged them with that nickname.
A pitch-by-pitch record of every at-bat of the entire World Series was kept and retained - something that had not been common practice before and would not become common practice for several more decades. Some baseball scholars who have studied this pitch-by-pitch record in tandem with other records of the game have said they cannot identify any additional specific evidence that might otherwise indicate the White Sox tried deliberately to act to fix this World Series. In contrast, there is the oft-reported story that at least one contemporary writer kept his own scorecard and marked plays that looked suspicious.
There was certainly no shortage of suspicion at the time. Just before the Series, it became known that gamblers had suddenly put lots of money on the heavy-underdog Reds. That fueled discussion that the Series had been "doped", in the slang of the day. The rumors were so public and so potent that the Official Baseball Guide for 1920 chided the accusers editorially, little knowing how the story would ultimately play out that year.
Although Jackson may have played relatively honestly, as a batter he had limited influence. The best insurance for the gamblers was to get some pitchers on their side. Cicotte purposely lost Game 1, with the storied signal to the gamblers that the fix was on when he hit the first batter with his second pitch. Lefty Williams, one of the "Eight Men Out", lost 3 games, a Series record. Dick Kerr, who was not part of the fix, won both of his starts. Cicotte bore down and won Game 7 of the best-5-of-9 Series, angry that the gamblers were now reneging on their promises, as they claimed that all the money was in the hands of bookies. Reportedly the eight players were told to lose Game 8 "or else", and they were trounced by the Reds to end the Series.
It is reasonable to speculate that the Sox would have won the Series had they played honestly. But in later years the Cincinnati Reds, a group of proud professionals led by Hall of Fame hitting star
Edd Roush, asserted that they could have won the Series even if it had been played honestly. Ironically, it would be another two decades before the Reds returned to the Series themselves.
A number of people have taken up Shoeless Joe Jackson's cause , campaigning for reversal of his ban from baseball, and thus clearing the way for his
Hall of Fame induction, which would be a reasonable possibility if it were to be allowed to be voted upon. They point to sketchy evidence that he had acted to throw the World Series; his performance prior to his ban, and the fact that he was, most likely, driven to agreeing to fix the World Series by the lack of respect accorded to him by Comiskey. They also point to the fact that, immediately after the World Series, Jackson attempted to turn over his take from throwing the World Series to Comiskey's lawyer ; however, the lawyer would not take the money, telling Jackson to "go home to South Carolina" and that the episode would blow over before long. Jackson was illiterate and poorly educated; therefore, it has been argued, his understanding of the various details of the gamblers plans and operations was not very clear.
In fact, until the
Pete Rose scandal, players who had been permanently banned from baseball were still technically eligible for the Hall of Fame , though there was a strong consensus among the voters that such players would not be considered. In the Rose scandal's aftermath, the ban was codified and the loophole closed before it became an issue.
The lean years
The White Sox had been the league's dominant team at the time, but were severely crippled by losing seven of their best players in the middle of their prime. The team 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 Sox featured stars such as third baseman Willie Kamm, shortstop
Luke Appling 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
Boston 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.
The White Sox finally became competitive again under popular manager
Jimmie Dykes, who led them from 1934 to 1946--still the longest managerial tenure in team history. However, the White Sox didn't completely recover from their malaise until the team was rebuilt in the 1950s under managers Paul Richards, Marty Marion, and Al Lopez.
Between the dumping of star players by the
Philadelphia Athletics and the
Boston 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.
It is interesting to note that since 1920, although the White Sox have won fewer pennants than the Cubs or Red Sox - whose fans can be considered among the most angst-riddled fans in all of sports - as well as being responsible for perhaps the biggest scandal in baseball history, the White Sox' fan base has largely shrugged off their relative lack of success over the years, blaming it more on inferior teams, poor management and bad luck rather than some other-worldly "curse". Even the players who conspired to fix the 1919 World Series seem not to have been reviled or held responsible for the White Sox' lack of success as much as certain Cubs and Red Sox icons have been. Rightly or wrongly, those Sox players have often been seen as victims, and Comiskey himself has often been seen as bearing a large part of the blame for what happened due to his extremely frugal management style.
"Go-Go White Sox"
Following Charles Comiskey's death in 1931, the team continued to be operated by his family – first by his son Louis, then by Louis' widow Grace, and finally by their daughter Dorothy. Not until 1959 did the team pass out of the family to a new ownership group, led by Bill Veeck, who had previously run both the
Cleveland Indians and the
St. Louis Browns; it has recently been claimed that Veeck also tried to buy the
Philadelphia Phillies during World War II, with the stated intention of stocking the team with players from the
Negro Leagues, but was rejected.
Veeck's arrival in 1959 brought an organizational approach which emphasized the entertainment aspect of the sport without sacrificing quality on the field, and
Comiskey Park became home to a series of fan-friendly 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. Unlike Charles Comiskey, Veeck was also considered a player-friendly owner, and players enjoyed playing for him.
During the 1950s, the team had begun to restore its respectability utilizing an offensive philosophy emphasizing speed and a spectacular style of defense. Perennial All-Star
Minnie Miñoso, a former
Negro Leaguer who became the 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 the strengthening of the team, joining longtime team standouts such as Nellie Fox at second base, pitcher
Billy Pierce and catcher Sherm Lollar.
In 1959, the team won its first pennant in 40 years, thanks to the efforts of several eventual Hall of Famers – Lopez, Aparicio, Fox , 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
Cincinnati Reds for the final pennant push. Kluszewski gave the team 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.
After the pennant-clinching victory, Chicago Mayor
Richard J. Daley, a life-long 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 Sox won Game 1 of the World Series 11-0 on the strength of Kluszewski's two home runs, their last postseason home 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 Sox 9-3 two days later at Comiskey Park.
Although the White Sox had winning records every season from 1951 through 1967, the Yankees dynasty of the era often left the Sox frustrated in second place; they were league runner-up 5 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 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
eleven-game win streak that opened up just enough room to stave off the Sox's final charge. 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,
Boston 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 would finish in 4th at 89-73, three games behind.
Going somewhere?
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, contracted with the Allyn brothers to host nine home games at
Milwaukee County Stadium as part of an attempt to attract an expansion franchise to Milwaukee.
The experiment was staggeringly successful - those nine games drew 264,297 fans. In Chicago that season, the Sox drew 539,478 fans to their remaining 58 home games. In just a handful of games, the Milwaukee crowds accounted for nearly one-third of the total attendance at White Sox games.
In 1968, the Sox schedule in
Milwaukee was expanded to include 11 home games . Although those games were attended by slightly fewer fans they represented a greater percentage of the total White Sox attendance than the previous year - over one-third of the fans who went to Sox games did so at County Stadium .
Bud 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 Pale Hose and move them north to the Cream City. The
American League, however, blocked the sale, unwilling to give up its presence in a major city. Allyn instead sold his shares to his brother John, who agreed to stay in Chicago. Selig would go on to buy the
Seattle Pilots and move them to Milwaukee instead.
The 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 5½ 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 Sox being moved to the Emerald city in 1975. An elaborate scheme for a franchise shuffle soon came to light. The Sox were to be moved to Seattle, then the
Oakland Athletics were to take the Sox's place in
Comiskey Park. Oakland owner
Charlie Finley was from nearby LaPorte,
Indiana. His A's had not drawn well during their Championship years in Oakland, and he wanted to bring them to Chicago. 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.
Veeck returns
On December 10, 1975, Bill Veeck regained ownership of the team, and vowed to make the Sox an exciting team again. Besides his customary promotions, Veeck introduced retro uniforms and shorts. But the 1976 team was one of the worst White Sox teams ever fielded, winning only 64 games , drawing fewer than 915,000 fans, and the team was ridiculed for wearing uniforms which featured shorts.
"South Side Hit Men"
1977
The 1977 team gave 1,657,135 fans much to cheer about. Veeck, unable to shell out money for huge, long-term contracts, adopted a "rent a player" strategy; trading for players in the last year of their contracts. The 1977 team featured new faces Richie Zisk,
Oscar Gamble, Eric Soderholm, and by the end of July, the team was 24 games over .500 and 5½ games ahead of the
Kansas City Royals. Team organist
Nancy Faust riled the opponents with her version of "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" after White Sox home runs, opponent pitching changes, and home team victories; despite complaints by the opposition, Faust continues the tradition to this day. Fans were also entertained by announcer
Harry Caray's seventh-inning stretch renditions of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" . A 4-12 stretch in early August, and a club-record 16-game winning streak by the Royals, left the White Sox in third place by the end of the season with a 90-72 record.
1978-1981
After the end of the 1977 season, free agents Gamble and Zisk signed with other teams. Veeck's attempt to replace them with Bobby Bonds and Ron Blomberg fizzled as the 1978 team lost 90 games. After 87 losses in 1979 and 90 losses in 1980.
Veeck began building a farm system that produced several noteworthy players including Harold Baines and Britt Burns. But Veeck could not compete in the free agent market or afford what he called "the high price of mediocrity." By 1980, the Sox were looking for new ownership. Veeck favored Ohio real estate tycoon Ed DeBartolo. Many know him as the father of
NFL's
San Francisco 49ers owner Ed DeBartolo Jr. The elder tried to buy several teams and move them to
New Orleans. But he pleaded to buy the Sox and promised to stay in the South Side. The only person blocking the transaction was
Major League Baseball commissioner
Bowie Kuhn. Kuhn thought DeBartolo was not "RP" or right people. Ed DeBartolo was rejected by the other American League owners.
With the sale to DeBartolo blocked, Veeck sold the team to an ownership group headed by Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn. The new owners moved quickly to show that they were committed to winning by signing All-Star catcher Carlton Fisk from the
Boston Red Sox during the 1980-81 offseason. They also retained the club's young, relatively unknown manager
Tony La Russa. Rather than focusing on announcers Caray and
Jimmy Piersall, or the threat of the team moving to
Denver, the focus would be the team on the field. It was a sign of good things to come for the White Sox.
Reinsdorf and Einhorn got off on the wrong foot with their fan base by intimating they wanted to become Chicago's team and attract a more upscale crowd. They fired
Piersall, a fan favorite, and let
Caray move to the Cubs. They also moved the team off free TV and launched a cable channel, Sportsvision.
Perhaps to placate the fans, the owners launched a uniform design contest. The fans were given the opportunity to vote on the finalists. However, the resulting red-white-and blue bar design uniform was not among baseballs finest.
"Winning Ugly"
1983
In 1983, the White Sox enjoyed their best success in a generation. Despite great expectations, at the All-Star Break the White Sox were only one game over .500, at 39-38. After the break, the Sox traded 2nd baseman Tony Bernazard to the
Seattle Mariners in exchange for the speedy Julio Cruz. The Pale Hose went on a tear, going 60-25 to win 99 games and the AL West title. The White Sox were led by catcher Carlton Fisk, outfielder Harold Baines, eventual Rookie of the Year outfielder Ron Kittle, designated hitter Greg Luzinski, and pitchers LaMarr Hoyt , Britt Burns, Floyd Bannister, and Richard Dotson. Manager
Tony La Russa also won the Manager of the Year award in his first managerial success.
Doug Rader, then manager of the Texas Rangers, derisively accused the team of "winning ugly" for their style of play, which reflected a tendency to win games through scrappy play rather than consistently strong hitting or pitching. Rader also thought that if the Sox played in the Eastern Division, they would finish 5th behind powerhouses such as Baltimore, New York, and Milwaukee. Chicago media and Sox fans picked up on the phrase, and turned "Winning Ugly" into the team slogan. While they had a great run in the regular season, they were not able to carry that over into the postseason as they lost to a powerful
Baltimore Orioles team 3 games to 1 in the AL Championship Series. Hoyt led the Sox to a 2-1 victory in Game 1, but the Orioles clinched the series with a 3-0 ten-inning victory in Game 4. White Sox pitcher Britt Burns pitched a "gutsy" game, throwing 9? shutout innings before a home run by Tito Landrum broke up the game and the hearts of the South Side faithful. .
1985-1986
The club slid back into mediocrity for the rest of the 1980s, contending only in 1985. Before the 1985 season began, the Sox traded pitcher LaMarr Hoyt to the
San Diego Padres in exchange for flashy shortstop
Ozzie Guillen. Guillen would win the AL Rookie Of The Year award. In 1986, broadcaster-turned-general manager Ken "Hawk" Harrelson fired La Russa after a poor start. The club wouldn't contend again until 1990, the final year in
Old Comiskey Park.
New Comiskey Park/U.S. Cellular Field
In the late 1980s, the franchise threatened to relocate to Tampa Bay , but frantic lobbying of the part of the Illinois governor and state legislature resulted in approval of public funding for a new stadium. Although designed primarily as a baseball stadium New Comiskey Park was built in a 1960s style similar to
Dodger Stadium and
Kauffman Stadium. It opened in 1991 to positive reviews; many praised its wide open concourses, excellent sight lines, and natural grass However, it was quickly overshadowed in the public imagination by the wave of "nostalgia" or "retro" ballparks, beginning with
Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The park's inaugural season drew 2,934,154 fans - at the time, an all-time attendance record for any Chicago baseball team.
Despite a number of innovations in its original construction - including a lower deck concourse that circumscribes the entire stadium, allowing a view of the game from any location - the park was often criticized for its sterile appearance and steep upper deck. The playing field's distance from the stands has also been criticized by Chicago fans accustomed to more intimate ballparks.
In recent years, money accrued from the sale of naming rights to
U.S. Cellular has been allocated for renovations to make the park more aesthetically appealing and fan friendly. Notable renovations of early phases included: re-orientation of the bullpens parallel to the field of play ; filling seats in up to and shortening the outfield wall; ballooning foul-line seat sections out toward the field of play; creating a new multi-tiered
batter's eye, allowing fans to see out through one-way screens from the center-field vantage point, and complete with concession stand and bar-style seating on its 'fan deck'; renovating all concourse areas with brick, historic murals, and new concession stand ornaments to establish a more friendly feel. The stadium's steel and concrete was repainted dark gray and black. The scoreboard Jumbotron was also replaced with a new
Mitsubishi Diamondvision HDTV giant screen.
More recently, the top third of the upper deck was removed in 2004 and a black wrought metal roof was placed over it, covering all but the first 8 rows of seats. This decreased seating capacity from 47,000 to 40,615. 2005 also saw the introduction of the Scout Seats, redesignating 200 lower deck seats behind home plate as an exclusive area, with seat-side waitstaff and a complete restaurant located underneath the concourse. The most significant structural addition besides the new roof was 2005's FUNdamentals Deck, a multi-tiered structure on the left field concourse containing batting cages, a small tee-ball field, and several other child-themed activities intended to entertain and educate young fans. This structure was used during the 2005 playoffs by
ESPN and
Fox Television as a broadcasting platform.
Designed as a 5-phase plan, the renovations will be complete after the 2006 season with the 5th and final phase. The most visible renovation in this final phase will be replacing the original blue seats with green seats. The upper deck will have the new green seats at the beginning of the 2006 season.
"Good Guys Wear Black"
Their final season at
Comiskey Park was 1990. That season, most of their young talent blossomed. Closer Bobby Thigpen established a new record with 57 saves. In addition to that, 1st baseman Frank Thomas, pitchers Alex Fernandez and Jack McDowell, and 3rd baseman Robin Ventura would make their presences felt in the South Side. The Sox of 1990 won 94 games, but finished 9 games behind the powerful
Oakland Athletics.
On July 11, 1990, as part of the celebration of Comiskey Park, the White Sox played a Turn Back the Clock game against the Milwaukee Brewers. The White Sox wore their 1917 home uniforms. This was the first Turn Back the Clock game in the major leagues and started what has become a popular promotion. The club turned off the electronic scoreboards and public address system. They constructed a special manually operated scoreboard in centerfield for the day and even the grounds-crew wore period costume. General admission tickets were sold for $0.50, popcorn was a nickel, and the stadium organ was shut down for the game.
In anticipation of the move to the new ballpark, the White Sox adopted classic pinstriped uniforms late in the 1990 season along with the alternate black jerseys, instantly jumping to the top of the league in merchandise sales. Originally to be premiered in the 1991 season, the Sox sported the jerseys during their final days at the old ballpark.
1993
The team reached the ALCS in 1993. The White Sox were led by Thomas, multi-sport star
Bo Jackson, Cy Young Award winner McDowell and All-Star closer Roberto Hernández and won the last AL West before realignment with a 94-68 record. However, the White Sox were a big disappointment in the ALCS, losing to the eventual World Champion
Toronto Blue Jays in six games.
The White Sox led the new AL Central Division at the time of the 1994 players' strike.
1997
On July 31, 1997, with the White Sox only 3.5 games back of the
Cleveland Indians for the division lead, they traded veteran pitchers Wilson Alvarez, Danny Darwin, and Roberto Hernández to the
San Francisco Giants in exchange for six minor leaguers, most notably Keith Foulke. Many fans saw this as their ownership betraying them and trading away their chance to win the division in exchange for next to nothing. This trade was deemed the "White Flag Trade" by the Chicago newspapers due to the perception that the White Sox organization essentially surrendered to the Indians without a fight that year. This trade did considerable harm to the already struggling White Sox fan base. The team's unpopular manager that year, Terry Bevington, while enduring a rocky relationship with the
Chicago media, did nothing to help the situation – on one occasion signalling to the bullpen for a relief pitcher when no one was warming up. He was replaced by Jerry Manuel following the 1997 season.
2000
Under Manuel, the White Sox fielded a talented but chronically under-achieving team. In the year 2000, however, the White Sox had one of their best teams since the 1983 club. This team, whose slogan was "The Kids Can Play," won 95 games en route to an AL Central division title. The team scored runs at a blistering pace, which enabled them to win all of these games despite a mediocre pitching staff led by Mike Sirotka. Frank Thomas nearly won his third MVP award with his offensive output; he was helped by good offensive years from
Magglio Ordóñez, Paul Konerko, Carlos Lee and Jose Valentin.
A big key for this team was that they seemed always to get a clutch hit whenever they needed it. The pitching staff, however, was beset by injuries before the playoffs began. As in 1983 and 1993, this team could not carry its success over into the postseason, getting swept by the wild-card
Seattle Mariners in the Division Series. Despite new club records for hits , runs scored , RBI , home runs , and doubles , the Sox managed to hit only .185 in the ALDS and failed to score a run after the third inning in any of the three games. They were eliminated when Mariners pinch-hitter
