Chicago White Sox

From BR Bullpen

Franchise Season Summaries 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Franchise Record: 8210-8020 World Series Titles: 3 (1906, 1917, 2005) American League Pennants: 6 (1901, 1906, 1917, 1919, 1959, 2005) Playoffs: 8 (1906, 1917, 1919, 1959, 1983, 1993, 2000, 2005) Franchise Players: Luis Aparicio, Luke Appling, Harold Baines, Carlton Fisk, Nellie Fox, Ted Lyons, Billy Pierce, Frank Thomas Stadiums: South Side Park (1900-1910), Comiskey Park (1910-1990), U.S. Cellular Field (1991-present; known as Comiskey Park from 1991-2002) BR Team Index

Chicago White Sox logo

The Chicago White Sox were one of the original teams in the American League. Owned by Charles Comiskey, the Sox were one of the best teams in baseball for the first two decades of the 20th Century, reaching the World Series three times. In 1901, the first year of the AL, the Sox won the pennant under the leadership of manager and star pitcher Clark Griffith. The 1906 club earned the nickname the "Hitless Wonders" because the team's batting average was only .230. However, their pitching staff, led by Ed Walsh and Doc White was stellar, and the Sox went on to beat the crosstown rival Chicago Cubs in the World Series.

After struggling for several seasons, Comiskey acquired Eddie Collins, Happy Felsch, and legendary outfielder "Shoeless Joe" Jackson, and the team's fortunes improved. The Sox reached the World Series again in 1917 and 1919, defeating the New York Giants in 1917. However, in 1920, it came out that eight Sox players intentionally threw the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. Those eight players, including Jackson, were banned from baseball. This became known as the Black Sox Scandal, and for years afterwards, a dark cloud hung over the White Sox.

Through the 1940s, the White Sox struggled, never finishing higher than third, despite having great players including shortstop Luke Appling and pitcher Ted Lyons. In the 1950s, the team's fortunes began to improve. They finished in third place each year from 1952 to 1956 and finished in second in 1957 and 1958. In 1959, the Sox finally returned to the World Series after a 40 year absence. The "Go Go Sox", managed by Al Lopez, were led by the American League Most Valuable Player, second baseman Nellie Fox, and the Cy Young Award winner, pitcher Early Wynn. Despite winning the first game 11-0, they ended up losing the Series 4 games to 2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In the early 1960s, the Sox were consistently an above .500 team, but couldn't manage to make the World Series again. Behind the strong pitching of Joel Horlen, Gary Peters, and Tommy John, the 1967 team appeared to be headed for the Series until losing both games of a doubleheader to the last place Kansas City Athletics in the final week of the season. They struggled the next few seasons, losing a team record 106 games in 1970, until they acquired Dick Allen from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Allen won the American League Most Valuable Player award in 1972, and the Sox challenged the Oakland Athletics for the American League West title that year, ultimately falling 5 1/2 games short. The team returned to mediocrity until 1977. That season, the Sox acquired sluggers Richie Zisk, Oscar Gamble, and Eric Soderholm. The "South Side Hit Men" hit 192 home runs as a team and finished in third place. However, following the season, the Sox lost Zisk and Gamble to free agency. July 12, 1979 was another dark day in White Sox history, when a "Disco Demolition Night" promotion between the games of a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers got out of control. The Sox had to forfeit the second game.

In 1981 the White Sox were sold to a group led by Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn, and the fortunes of the club, led by manager Tony LaRussa, began to improve again. The Sox signed free agent catcher Carlton Fisk and acquired designated hitter Greg Luzinski from the Philadelphia Phillies. They also developed a young pitching staff, led by La Marr Hoyt, Richard Dotson, and Britt Burns. In 1983, they added rookie outfielder Ron Kittle and went on to win their division by 20 games. They beat the Baltimore Orioles in the first game of the American League Championship Series but then lost the next two. In Game 4, Burns pitched 9 innings of shut-out ball, before giving up a run to the Orioles in the 10th to lose the game and the series. Despite the addition of Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver, they were unable to recapture the magic the following season. LaRussa was fired as manager in 1986, and the Sox struggled for the rest of the decade.

In 1990, the Sox surprisingly finished in second place, led by veteran Fisk and youngsters Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura, and Jack McDowell. In 1991, the Sox left Comiskey Park, their home for the last 80 years, and moved into new Comiskey Park (now known as U.S. Cellular Field). In 1993, the Sox won the American League West but lost to the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Championship Series. In 1994, the Sox appeared headed for the playoffs once again when the season was cut short by a player's strike. The team struggled the following year and fired manager Gene Lamont, and within the next few seasons, they had gotten rid of all their stars except Thomas.

In 1999, the Sox won only 75 games, their worst season in a decade. However, in 2000, the team improved by 20 wins. The White Sox made up for a lack of starting pitching with the bats of young sluggers Magglio Ordonez and Paul Konerko and the veteran Frank Thomas. They won the American League Central but were swept in the American League Division Series by the Seattle Mariners. The next four seasons the Sox were around .500 and finished second or third in their division. But in 2005, the White Sox, now managed by former player Ozzie Guillen, made a return to the playoffs, despite some stressful moments for Sox fans. On August 1st, the Sox held a 15 game lead over the second place Cleveland Indians. By late September, the surging Indians had cut the lead to a game and a half before the Sox finally clinched the division on September 29th. Despite their late season struggles, the Sox did finish the season with the best record in the American League and then swept the Boston Red Sox in the Division Series to advance to the ALCS for the first time in over a decade. In the ALCS, the Sox starting pitching was dominant. The Sox lost the first game to the Los Angeles Angels but came back to take the next four. Starters Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland, Freddy Garcia, and Jose Contreras pitched four consecutive complete games (a first in LCS play), and the Sox advanced to the World Series for the first time in 46 years. The Sox went on to sweep the Houston Astros to win the World Series for the first time in 88 years.

Not content to rest on their laurels, the Sox made several moves prior to the 2006 season, including trading for designated hitter Jim Thome and pitcher Javier Vazquez, and re-signing Konerko to a lucrative deal. Led by the bats of Thome, Konerko, Joe Crede, and Jermaine Dye, the team burst out of the gate and battled the Detroit Tigers for the AL Central lead through the All-Star Break. However, the Sox stuggled in later July and fell behind the Tigers, before eventually being passed by the Minnesota Twins in the wild card race. Unfortunately for Sox fans, the decline continued in 2007, as the team finished in fourth place with a 72-90 mark, their worst record since 1989.

The White Sox are also frequently called the "ChiSox" or the "Pale Hose".

White Sox Owners
Team	Years
Charles Comiskey	1900 to 1931
J. Louis Comiskey	1931 to 1939
Grace Comiskey	1940 to 1956
Dorothy Comiskey	1956 to 1958
Bill Veeck	1958 to 1961
Arthur Allyn Jr.	1961 to 1969
John Allyn	1969 to 1975
Bill Veeck	1975 to 1981
Jerry Reinsdorf/Eddie Einhorn	1981 to present

[edit] Further Reading

• Warren Brown: The Chicago White Sox, Kent State University Press, Kent, OH, 2007 (originally published in 1952).
• Dan Helpingstine and Leo Bauby (Photographer): South Side Hitmen: The Story of the 1977 Chicago White Sox, Images of Baseball, Arcadia Publishing, 2006.
• Dan Helpingstine: Chicago White Sox: 1959 and Beyond, Images of Baseball, Arcadia Publishing, 2004.
• Dan Helpingstine: Through Hope and Despair: A Fan's Memories of the Chicago White Sox 1967-1997, 2001.
• Jerome Holtzman and George Vass: Baseball, Chicago Style, Bonus Books, Santa Monica, CA, 2001.
• Richard C. Lindberg: Total White Sox: The Definitive Encyclopedia of the World Champion Franchise, Triumph Books, Chicago, IL, 2006.
• Richard C. Lindberg and Mark Fletcher (Photographer): The White Sox Encyclopedia (Baseball Encyclopedias of North America), Temple University Press, Philadelphia, PA, 1997.
• Bruce A. Rubenstein: Chicago in the World Series, 1903-2005: The Cubs and White Sox in Championship Play, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, 2006.