Old Comiskey Park

 

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Old Comiskey Park Photo Gallery
Click on any image below to start slide show:

                                                                                                                  Spotlight on Comiskey Park

An unusual occurrence here in Chicago is both baseball teams off to great starts. As I write this, the Cubs are 9-2 and the White Sox are 8-3.

With the Cubs being picked by almost everyone to win their division and possibly advance to the World Series, the White Sox are virtually flying under the radar screen.  No one picked them to do much this year.  I recently posted an article on Wrigley Field during the 1945 World Series, so I think it’s only fair to give equal time to our friends from the South Side of Chicago with a tribute to old Comiskey, the long-time home of the White Sox. Thanks also to my friend and my all-things-White Sox-authority, Bill Cunniff, for pointing out that this is the 25th year since the tear-down of old Comiskey and the opening of U.S. Cellular.

First, a few words about its history. Then join me on a nice photo essay celebrating one of baseball’s great shrines from a by-gone era. The first photo below shows the grand old park in the 1915 when it was hosting the latest national craze, “Auto Polo”! (If you’re wondering what “Auto Polo” was,  just do a Google search!)

Comiskey Park was home of the White Sox from 1910 through 1990. Built by owner Charles Comiskey and designed by Zachary Taylor Davis, it hosted four World Series and more than 6,000 major league games. The field was also the site of many famous sporting events, including the 1937 heavyweight title match in which Joe Louis defeated James J. Braddock in eight rounds.

The park was built on a former city dump that Comiskey bought in 1909 to replace the wooden South Side Park. It was originally built as White Sox Park, but within three years was renamed for White Sox founder and owner Charles Comiskey. The original name, White Sox Park, was restored in 1962, but it went back to the Comiskey Park name in 1976.

Comiskey Park was very modern for its time. It was the third concrete-and-steel stadium in the major leagues to be built since 1909. As originally built, it sat almost 32,000, a record at the time.

The park’s design was strongly influenced by Sox pitcher Ed Walsh, and was known for its pitcher-friendly proportions. Later changes were made, but the park remained more or less favorable to defensive teams. The first game in Comiskey Park was a 2-0 loss to the St. Louis Browns on July 1, 1910. The last game at Comiskey was a win, 2-1, over the Seattle Mariners on September 30, 1990. The White Sox won their first-ever home night game, over St. Louis on August 14, 1939, 5-2. The first no-hitter at Comiskey Park was hurled by Vern Kennedy on August 31, 1935, in a 5-0 win over Cleveland.

World Series at Comiskey Park:

In the 1917 World Series, the White Sox won games 1, 2 and 5 at Comiskey Park. In 1918, Comiskey Park hosted the World Series between the Cubs and Red Sox. The Cubs borrowed Comiskey Park for the series because of its larger seating capacity. In 1919, the White Sox lost the infamous “Black Sox” World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. Games three, four, five and eight were played at Comiskey Park. In 1959, the White Sox lost four games to two to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Games one, two and six were played at Comiskey.

All-Star Games at Comiskey Park:

Comiskey Park was the site of three All-Star Games The first-ever All-Star Game was held there in 1933. It began as a promotion by Arch Ward, sports editor of the Chicago Tribune. The Americans defeated the Nationals, helped by a home run by Babe Ruth. The park next hosted the July classic in 1950, a game unfortunately best remembered for Ted Williams’ collision with the outfield wall that broke his elbow and ended his season. The last All-Star game was in 1983. Comiskey Park was also the home of the Chicago American Giants of the Negro American League and was the most frequent home to the Negro League East-West All-Star Game from 1933 to 1960.

-Gary Livacari

Photo Credits: Thanks to my son, Gary J.  Livacari, for sending me some of the photos in this essay; all of which are found in public domain

Information: Excerpts edited from the Comiskey Park Wikipedia page.

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