South Side Pride: The History of the Chicago White Sox

The Chicago Downtown Sports Adventure visit 11 locations that explore the roots of Chicago’s sports identity. Download the eATLAS app at the App Store or Google Play. 

By Dave Lifton (@daveeatschicago)

Despite having won the 1894 Western League pennant, the Sioux City Corn Huskers were sold to Cincinnati Reds manager Charles Comiskey, who moved them to St. Paul and renamed them the Saints. After five years in St. Paul, Comiskey, a Chicago native, moved the team to his hometown, and the Western League was rebranded as the American League. 

But the Colts, as the Cubs were known at the time, had territorial rights to Chicago. A compromise between the teams was reached. The American League could field a team in the Windy City, but it couldn’t play north of 35^th St., and it couldn’t put “Chicago” on the jersey. Comiskey countered by going with the Colts’ original name, the White Stockings. 

The team moved into 15,000-seat South Side Park, a former cricket ground at 39^th St. (now Pershing Rd.) between Princeton Ave. and Wentworth Ave. With Comiskey as manager, the White Stockings won the pennant with an 82-53 record. 

The next year, the AL declared itself a major league, and the team repeated as champions, this time with Clark Griffith at the helm. Before long, local newspapers had taken to calling them the “White Sox” to better fit on headlines. It was officially adopted as the team’s nickname in 1904.

A year prior, the National Agreement of 1903 created a truce between the two leagues, paving the way for the World Series. The White Sox claimed their first in 1906 by emphasizing pitching and defense over offense. The “Hitless Wonders” batted .230 collectively, with only seven home runs—a low number even in the dead ball era. They upset their crosstown rivals in six games, even though the Cubs breezed through the regular season with a still-record 116-36 record. 

The Sox quickly outgrew their home, and Comiskey bought land on 35^th St. and Shields Ave. for “The Baseball Palace of the World.” Designed by Zachary Taylor Davis, White Sox Park—it wouldn’t be named after Comiskey for a few years—originally held 32,000 and was a true pitchers’ park, going 362 ft. down the foul lines and 440 ft. to dead center. 

Another championship followed in 1917, beating the New York Giants in six after winning 100 games during the regular season for the only time in team history. The offense was more respectable, led by “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and Oscar “Hapy Felsch,” both of whom batted .300. Eddie Cicotte was the ace, winning 28 games, and Claude “Lefty” Williams added another 17. 

However, two years later came baseball’s first major disgrace. Upset at Comiskey, those four and four others were accused of conspiring with gangster Arnold Rothstein to fix the World Series in the infamous “Black Sox Scandal.” Although acquitted in court, all eight were permanently banned from the game in 1921.  

Over the next 30 years, the White Sox never finished higher than third in the eight-team AL. It started to pick up in 1951 with the arrival of lefty Billy Pierce, 2B Nellie Fox, and LF Minnie Miñoso—a Cuban who was the club’s first Black player. This was the start of the “Go-Go” White Sox. Like the Hitless Wonders, pitching and defense were the keys, but these men could also get on base and make things happen, especially after SS Luis Aparicio joined in 1956. 

Bill Veeck bought the Sox from Comiskey’s daughter in early 1959, and his approach to the game-as-entertainment—with the exploding scoreboard, promotions, and giveaways—meshed perfectly with the Go-Go Sox. They won 94 games that year, earning their first trip to the World Series since 1919. But they lost to the Dodgers in six. That year saw the debut of their fight song, “Let’s Go, Go-Go White Sox,” performed by Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers, and produced by the Polka King hemself, Walter “Li’l Wally” Jagiello.

Citing health reasons, Veeck sold the team to Arthur Allyn in 1961. The Go-Go era continued through 1967. They finished above .500 every year during that period, but never got back to the Series. Another drought followed. 

Veeck returned in 1975, but the closest they came to making a splash on the national stage were a pair of stunts that epitomized Veeck’s approach. In August 1976, they wore shorts for a handful of games. Then came July 12, 1979, Disco Demolition Night. Those who brought disco records could get in for only 98 cents, and the vinyl would be tossed into a dumpster and blown up between games of a doubleheader by a local DJ. But the explosion led to a riot, with fans storming the field and setting fires. The second game was declared a forfeit. 

The team’s fortunes would soon improve under innovative young manager Tony La Russa. In 1981, Veeck sold the Sox to Jerry Reinsdorf, and a team was built around power, with youngsters Harold Baines and Ron Kittle and veteran free agents Carlton Fisk and Greg Luzinski. The South Siders took the AL West in 1983, but lost in the ALCS in four games to the Baltimore Orioles. 

Again, the momentum didn’t last long, but neither did the drought. As a new stadium arose across 35^th St., the Sox closed out Comiskey Park—by then the oldest ground in the major leagues—with a second-place finish. The next year saw the debut of Comiskey Park II as well as the emergence of slugger Frank “The Big Hurt” Thomas. Another trip to the postseason followed in 1993, and a second was in the works the next year, but a players’ strike derailed it. 

The Sox remained competitive throughout the ‘90s, and began the 21st century with an AL Central title. Five years later, they steamrolled the AL with 99 wins. Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye led the charge with 40 and 31 home runs, respectively, and Mark Buehrle was the ace of a dominant rotation. In the playoffs, they obliterated Boston in the ALDS, beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in five, and swept the Astros to capture their first World Series since 1917.

The victory capped Thomas’ career on the South Side, and he left holding or being in the Top 10 in nearly every offensive category in club history. 

Another AL Central title came in 2008, but another decade of mediocrity followed. The COVID-shortened season of 2020 saw them reach the playoffs, and another division crown occurred the next year, the only time the White Sox have reached the postseason in consecutive years. However, the bottom soon fell out and, as of this writing, the White Sox have lost 100 games in each of the last three seasons. This includes the ultimate embarrassment, setting the modern-day record for most losses in a season, with 121 in 2024. Whether the team can rebuild around a young squad and Japanese slugger Munetaka Murikami remains to be seen.

The author wishes he was old enough to have seen Luis Aparicio play shortstop.