Chicago White Sox

The *Chicago White Sox’ are one of two professional baseball teams located in the city of Chicago, Illinois. The White Sox are an American league team, playing in the Central Division. Their “cross town rivals” are the Chicago Cubs, in the National League. *Stadium’ The White Sox have played at U.S. Cellular Field, originally called New Comiskey Park, from 1991.

They had played in Comiskey Park from 1910 to 1990. (Although it was called White Sox Park from 1910-12 and from 1962-1975). In 1968 and 1969, they also played a few games at Milwaukee County Stadium, at the behest of Bud Selig, who was trying to get a franchise for that city. They played in South Side Park (also called White Stockings Park) from 1901 to 1910.

Nickname The White Sox were originally called the White Stockings, but by 1910 the name was shorted to the White Sox. They are also called the South Siders, (as opposed to the North Side Cubs), the Pale Hose, and the ChiSox.

Other nicknames include the Go-Go Sox, a reference to the 1959 AL champions, and the Good Guys, a reference to the team’s one-time motto “Good guys wear black”. They have also been called “the Black Sox,” due to the 1919 team in which several players were banned for throwing games during the season.

History The Chicago White Sox started life as the Sioux City Cornhuskers in a minor league, called the Western League. The Western League reorganized in November 1893, with Ban Johnson as President. Charles Comiskey, a friend of Johnson’s, purchased the Sioux City team and transferred it to Saint Paul, Minnesota, where it played for five seasons.

In 1900, the Western League changed its name to the American League. It was still officially a minor league – an underling of the National League.

The National League gave permission to the American League to put a team in Chicago. Comiskey moved his St. Paul club to the Near South Side and renamed it the White Stockings, using a nickname that had once been used by the Chicago Cubs. The White Stockings won the 1900 American League pennant, the final WL/AL championship season as a minor league. After the season, the American League declined to renew its membership in the National Agreement and declared itself a major league.

The White Stockings acquired a number of stars from the older league, including pitcher and manager Clark Griffith, and won the American Leagues’ first major-league pennant the next year, in 1901. Headline editors at the Chicago Tribune sports department immediately began shortening the name to “White Sox,” and the team officially adopted the shorter name in 1904.

*Record By Decade’1901-1909In this decade the White Sox had only one losing season, in 1903. In 1906, they won the World Series.1910-1919In this decade, the White Sox had only three losing seasons, in 1910, 1914 and 1918. The 1918 losing season came off their World Series win the year before. This was also the start of the “Eight Men Out” scandal, in which several players were accused of throwing games in order to earn money from professional gamblers who had bet on the games.1920-1929In this decade, the White sox had only three ‘‘winning’’ seasons: 1920, 1922 and 1926.1930-1939In this decade, the ChiSox also had only three winning seasons, in 1936, 1937 and 1939.1940-1949In this decade, most athletes went off to fight in World War II, which skewed results from 1940 to 1945. The White Sox again had only three winning seasons, in 1940, 1941 (a .500 season) and 1943.1950-1959This decade started the resurgence of the White Sox. 1950 was their final losing season, at 60-94. For the remaining nine seasons, they were on the winning side.1960-1969The White Sox had only one losing seasons during this decade, in 1968.1970-1979A bad decade for the White Sox, as they had only three winning seasons, in 1972, 1974 and 1977.1980-1989The early part of this decade was successful for the White Sox, as they posted winning seasons in from 1981 to 1983, and in 1985, but after that, the wheels came off. Their best result was 77-85, in 1987.1990-1999During the first half of the 1990s, the White Sox posted winning records in each season, for the remaining five years they only hovered around the .500 mark.*2000-2008’ During the decade of the 2000s, the White Sox again posted excellent numbers, except for a losing season in 2007. In 2005, they won the World Series.