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Reflections on Chicago Baseball in the 1950s

To those of us who cut our baseball “teeth” in the 1950s in Chicago, we initially had very little awareness that we were living in the Golden Age of baseball—The Fifties—and that New York, with its three great teams, was the center of the baseball universe.

Our baseball world at the time centered on our two Chicago teams, the Cubs and the White Sox. Sure, we all have fond memories of listening to the World Series each year over the intercom of our grade school, but I think we had very little appreciation of what actually was happening in the larger baseball world of New York.

While early on we may have followed the exploits of both teams, by the end of the decade our baseball loyalties had cemented around either one team or the other. There was no middle ground. Although we were all North siders, our circle of friends was pretty much equally divided between the two teams. And virtually all those loyalties remain in place today.

As did many of my friends, I became a Cub fan. Some of the fondest and earliest memories from my youth involve sitting on my grandfather’s lap in the 1950s watching a Cubs Sunday doubleheader on the old black-and-white TV. Little did I know that years of futility lie just ahead for a young fan just starting out on a lifelong love affair with baseball and the Cubs!

About the same time, many of my other friends, including my classmate, Jay Walsh (who, I’m happy to say, is a regular reader of my Baseball History Comes Alive website) became Sox fans. Of course, at the time, we didn’t realize how fortunate we were to live in a city with two major league teams. The silly back-and-forth “Who’s better, Cubs or Sox?” arguments later became fond memories from those long-ago days.

Reflections…

I thought it might be fun to ask Jay to share some of his reflections on growing up a White Sox fan in the 1950s. I concur with many of his sentiments. We both agree we were very fortunate to have been raised in a two-baseball-team town. Baseball became a huge part of our youth. While fans in other cities had to settle for the Game of the Week broadcasts, we were saturated with major league baseball daily on local TV. Plus, we got to know players from both the National and the American Leagues. And of course, All-Star games caused the loyalties to really harden, with the “Who’s better?” arguments often turning bitter.

First, here are some interesting thoughts Jay shared about growing up a White Sox fan in the 1950s:

It sure was great to grow up in a two-team baseball town! We just took it for granted. The Cubs were beloved, even back then. But nobody thought the Cubs were better than the White Sox. I loved going to Wrigley Field more than Comiskey Park. It was, and is, a great park to watch baseball. We needed $1.00 for the bus and El train and grandstand seats, coming home with $.06 change! It cost $.15 more to sit in the bleachers back then. We got to see Ernie Banks and all sorts of great National League players from Mays to Musial to Robinson (Jackie and Frank) to Snider and many others.

The White Sox in the late ’50s were the Go-Go Sox. Even as kids, we knew they couldn’t hit but, oh, the speed, defense, and pitching were great. Aparicio and Fox were a team in the field and on offense. Minoso was spectacular everywhere. We hated it when Minoso was traded for Al Smith and missed the 1959 pennant. We were invested emotionally and rose and fell with the team’s fortunes.

WGN broadcast all the home games and some road games so we were always up to date. I still recall watching the Sox clinch the pennant in Cleveland against the team formerly known as the Indians. I had to stay up late (as a ten-year-old) to see the game. As kids, we blamed Lopez and the goofy LA park for the White Sox’s loss to the Dodgers. Maybe our youthful conclusions weren’t far off!

Jay’s actually being kind. A common refrain back then from White Sox fans was that while the White Sox were the much better team, the Cubs undeservedly got most of the media attention. No one has ever been able to pinpoint the reason. Was it because of WGN? White Sox fans thought Jack Brickhouse favored the Cubs. Was it Wrigley Field? Or was there some other, unexplained reason? To help settle the argument, I decided to go back and examine the historical record.

To Cub fans: It ain’t pretty!

First of all, let’s look at the Cubs’ win/loss record. From 1950-1959, the Cubs went an unimpressive 671/865 (.436), finishing an average of 6.5 each year in the eight-team National League. The only thing that kept them from finishing last in many of those years was that the Phillies were actually worse. They had no first-division finishes in the entire decade. In attendance, they averaged 869,000 each year with only one year drawing a million fans. Ernie Banks was their only real star (Ron Santo and Billy Williams didn’t arrive until 1960). The rosters were filled with over-the-hill players and guys who had their best years on other teams. Overall, not a good decade for the Cubs.

The White Sox: A Premier Team

The White Sox, on the other hand, were one of the premier teams (outside of New York) during the decade. From 1950-1959, they went 847/620 (.577), with an average finish of third each year. They had nine first-division finishes, which included a pennant (1959), two second-place finishes, and five third-place finishes. Only the dominance of the Yankees in the American League kept them from winning more pennants. They were unquestionably the more popular team, as their average attendance each year was 1,129,200, averaging over 260,000 more each year than the Cubs. The Sox had plenty of legitimate stars: Nellie Fox, Billy Pierce, Minnie Minoso, Luis Aparicio, Larry Doby, and Early Wynn.

To quote Harry Caray, “Honesty compels me to say…”

I have to conclude that the White Sox were the better, more popular team in the 1950s, even if the Cubs generated more media attention. Although the White Sox’s overall team dominance continued well into the 1960s, questionable marketing decisions slowed down the expansion of their fan base; while the Cubs eventually hooked their star to superstation WGN and later, Harry Caray. The marketing of “Beautiful Wrigley Field” became the main fan attraction in an era of miserable teams.

So the arguments from those long-ago days can now be settled: Bragging rights go to the White Sox!

Gary Livacari 

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