Chicago welcomed an addition to its iconography on July 1, 1910. Comiskey Park, that structure serving as a second home for baseball fans on the Windy City’s south side, débuted in an era of new stadia—Fenway Park in 1912, Ebbets Field in 1913, Weeghman Park (later rechristened Wrigley Field) in 1914.
It was about time that White Sox fans received a reward for their dedication to the team, according to I. E. Sanborn of the Chicago Tribune. “For years the loyal rooters who have done so much to make this the greatest baseball city in the world have contented themselves as uncomplainingly as they could with accommodations inadequate to their needs while watching the fans of other and smaller cities rewarded, with far less reason, by modern steel and concrete edifices, each designed to surpass all its predecessors,” wrote Sanborn.
The White Sox opened this epoch of its history with a 2-0 loss to the St. Louis Browns. Sanborn estimated the crowd at 28,000.
Comiskey Park saw one World Series champion team—the White Sox beat the Giants in 1917. There were two other opportunities: 1919 and 1959. The former, of course, has an ominous aura because of the “Black Sox” scandal that resulted in eight players being kicked out of baseball with the force of a sonic boom, otherwise known as Kenesaw Mountain Landis, baseball’s newly minted commissioner and a former federal judge.
Accused of purposed losing the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for payoffs from gamblers, the eight players were acquitted in court. Landis argued that the integrity of the game superseded the legal process result.
In 1959, the “Go Go Sox” compiled a 94-60 record to stand atop the American League. The Dodgers defeated the White Sox in six games; it was the National League champions’ second year in Los Angeles.
What began in 1910 lasted 80 years—Comiskey Park finished its service as the home of the White Sox in 1990. It was demolished the next year, which saw U.S. Cellular Filed become the team’s new site.
Ed Walsh got the loss for Comiskey Park’s opener, went 18-20 for the season, and led the American League in losses. His career statistics earned him a place in White Sox lore:
- 1.82 Earned Run Average
- Led American League in Earned Run Average
- 1.60 in 1907
- 1.27 in 1910 (led major leagues)
- Led major leagues in wins
- 40-15 in 1908
- Led major leagues in games started
- 46 in 1907
- 49 in 1908
- 41 in 1912
- Led major leagues in complete games
- 37 in 1907
- 42 in 1908
- Led American League in shutouts
- 10 in 1906 (led major leagues)
- 11 in 1908 (led major leagues)
- 8 in 1909
- Led American League in strikeouts
- 269 in 1908
- 255 in 1911
- 195-126 career win-loss record
The Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Walsh in 1946.
A version of this article appeared on www.thesportspost.com on October 26, 2016.