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1976-Present
1977 Bill Veeck's South Side Hitmen brought raw power and heart-pumping
drama to Comiskey Park in the summer of '77. The team shattered
the club record with 192 home runs (later broken in 1996) and enjoyed
a first-place reign throughout July and the first half of August.
In the end, the White Sox won 90 games but finished 12 games back
of the Royals. more>>
1981 On January 29, 1981, a new era in White Sox baseball began.
An ownership group headed by Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn purchased
the club from a group headed by Bill Veeck. Reinsdorf and Einhorn
gave the club instant credibility just a few weeks later by signing
free agent catcher Carlton Fisk, a World Series hero with the Red
Sox in 1975. more>>
1983 Propelled by a landslide second half of the season, Tony LaRussa's
White Sox surprised everyone in baseball by winning 99 games and
capturing the American League Western Division by a whopping 20
games. It was the first trip to the playoffs by the Sox since the
1959 World Series. more>>
1990 Old Comiskey Park hosted its final season of White Sox baseball,
and what a season it was. The youngest team in baseball surprised
everyone by winning 94 games. White Sox fans packed the 80-year-old
shrine for most of the season, and the festive final weekend was
fraught with emotion and nostalgia.
1991 Stately new Comiskey Park officially opened its doors on April
18 before a sell-out crowd of 42,191 fans. For the year, the new
home of the White Sox welcomed a club-record 2,934,154 fans. Also
that summer, former White Sox owner Bill Veeck is inducted into
the Hall of Fame.
1993 A youth movement had been brewing on the South Side since 1990.
With a core of young stars like Frank Thomas, Jack McDowell and
Robin Ventura, the White Sox were hungry for a trip to the post-season.
Sparked by a speed, a solid starting rotation and a breakout year
for Thomas, the White Sox won 94 games and captured their second-ever
American League Western Division flag. more>>
1994 One of the most promising seasons in White Sox history ended
abruptly on August 12, as the major league players walked out on
strike. The devastating work stoppage also wiped out the playoffs
and the World Series. When play on the field ceased, the White Sox
were in first place with a record of 67-46.
1996 In Boston’s Fenway Park, Frank Thomas blasted his 215th career
home run to surpass Carlton Fisk as the White Sox all-time leader.
Thomas went deep three times in the game, the first three-homer
game of his career.
2000 It started with six victories on a grueling, 10-game road trip
to begin the season. It ended with a dramatic loss in Game Three
of the American League Division Series that came down to the final
at-bat. Along the way, the Chicago White Sox— a fearless, aggressive
and fun team with a championship heart — captured the AL Central
Division title and produced a storybook season that ranks among
the greatest in club history. more>>
1951-1975
1955 The White Sox tallied a franchise record 29 runs at Kansas
City on April 23. Sherm Lollar was 5-6 with a pair of home runs
and five RBI while reserve outfielder Bob Nieman and infielder Walt
Dropo drove in seven runs apiece inthe 29-6 victory.
1956 Luis Apparicio replaces Chico Carrasquel as the White Sox'
everyday shortstop. Aparicio, who played 10 seasons with the White
Sox, was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1984 and had his #11 retired
by the Sox in the same year.
1958 Bill Veeck and his partners gain majority control of the White
Sox after a lengthy court battle with the Comiskey heirs. Veeck,
owner of the Indians, Browns and White Sox during his lifetime,
consistently broke attendance records with pennant-winning teams
and with outragous door prizes, enthusuiastic fan participation
and ingenious promotional schemes. An inventerate hustler and energetic
maverick, He introduced a midget player (Eddie Gaedel), Bat Day,
fireworks, exploding scoreboards and player names on backs of uniforms.
1959 The White Sox and Indians battled for the crown in 1959, and
the White Sox came out on top. Thanks to Wynn's 22 victories, Aparicio's
56 stolen bases, center fielder Jim Landis' superb defense, a solid
pitching staff (3.29 team ERA) and the August 25 acquisition of
slugging first baseman Ted Kluszewski, the team won 94 games. On
September 22, the sound of air-raid sirens rang through Chicago
as the White Sox became champions of the American League for the
first time in 40 years. more>>
1964 Bill "Moose" Skowron and "Smoky" Burgess were late-season additions
to the 1964 Chicago White Sox who finished one game out of first
place with a 98-64 record. Five memebers of the Sox pitching staff
won double-digits games and Ron Hansen and Pete Ward topped the
20 home run plateu.
1971 On the last day of the season, 'Beltin' Bill Melton becomes
the first White Sox player to win an American League home run crown
when he hits number 33 against Milwaukee's Bill Parsons.
1926-1950
1927 The newly-expanded Comiskey Park debuted on April 20 with the
White Sox losing to Cleveland, 5-4. The new outfield upper deck
accommodated 23,200 additional fans.
1933 The first All-Star Game was played in Chicago on July 6, 1933,
as part of the World Fair. The American League won in dramatic fashion,
4-2, on a three-run home run by the legendary Babe Ruth. more>>
1939 The first night game took place at Comiskey Park on August
14 before a crowd of 30,000 fans. The White Sox defeated the Browns
by a score of 5-2.
1948 Pat Seerey was a one-man wrecking crew for one game on July
18 at Philadelphia's Shibe Park. The portly left fielder became
the only White Sox player to hit four home runs in a game, a 12-11,
11-inning Chicago victory. Seerey dented the roof twice, cleared
it once and punctuated the day with a game-winning blast in the
11th inning.
1950 The All-Star Game was held again at Comiskey Park on July 11,
and the National League won in dramatic fashion, 4-3, on a Red Schoendienst
home run in the 14th inning. The NL had tied the game in the ninth
inning on Ralph Kiner’s home run. Ted Williams sustained a broken
elbow running into the outfield wall in the first inning, and ended
up missing two months of the season.
1900-1925
1900 One year after the American League was christened in Chicago,
the rumor of the St. Paul franchise in the Western League moving
to Chicago became a reality. Playing as a Chicago baseball team
for the first time, the White Stockings defeated the University
of Illinois, 10-9, in Champaign.
1901 On January 29, 1901, the American League drafted a 140-game
schedule and declared itself to be a second Major League after the
league's one-year agreement with the National League expired. The
White Sox defeated Cleveland, 8-2, in the first "official" American
League game on April 22.
1906 The White Sox captured the league crown in 1906 when a group
of "Hitless Wonders" pulled out a miracle. The team batted .230
that season (with only seven home runs) and struggled through July,
but pulled back into the race with unbelievable pitching (2.13 team
ERA) and a will to win. The White Sox win the 1906 World Series
by defeating the Cubs, four game to two, in the only all-Chicago
Fall Classic. more>>
1910 Comiskey Park opens on July 1 to a packed house but the Sox
lose to St. Louis, 2-0. The new stadium replaced the 39th Street
Grounds, home of the White Sox from 1900-10.
1917 Charles Comiskey looked to the West for his third-base "missing
link," as he had so often in the past. The Old Roman located his
man playing for the Vernon club of the PCL. The final piece of the
Black Sox puzzle was in place with the arrival of Charles "Swede"
Risberg. more>>
1919 When the Reds defeated the heavily favored White Sox, five
games to three, the floodgates opened. Word spread that gamblers
allegedly had talked White Sox players into "fixing" the World Series
in exchange for cash. Eight members of the Sox were charged in 1920
with conspiring to fix the outcome of the World Series. more>>
1922 On April 30, Rookie pitcher Charlie Robertson hurled the only
perfect game recorded in White Sox history. Tiger players believed
that Robertson, a mediocre pitcher at best, was doctoring the ball
with an illegal substance. Ty Cobb personally inspected every inch
of Robertson's uniform but could not find any trace of grease or
any other foreign matter.
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