Salute to Old Comiskey Park

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Old Comiskey Park Photo Gallery
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Let’s Remember Old Comiskey Park!

One hundred seven years ago yesterday, February 10, 1907, ground was broken for a modern concrete-and-sheet stadium to replace South Side Park, the obsolete home of the Chicago White Sox. The Sox played their first game at Comiskey Park on July 1, 1910, a 2-0 loss to the St. Louis Browns. Here’s a few words about Comiskey Park’s history. Then join me in a nice photo essay celebrating one of baseball’s great shrines from a by-gone era. 

Comiskey Park was home of the Chicago White Sox from 1910 through 1990. Over the years, 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 between Joe Louis and James Braddock; and rock concerts, including the Beatles and Rolling Stones.

The park was built on a former city dump that Charles Comiskey bought in 1909. The park was designed by Zachary Taylor Davis with strong influence from Sox pitcher Ed Walsh, and was known for its pitcher-friendly proportions. It was originally named “White Sox Park,” but within three years was renamed for the White Sox founder and owner. The original name, “White Sox Park,” was restored in 1962, but it went back to Comiskey Park in 1976. Old Comiskey Park was actually very modern for its time. It was the third concrete-and-steel stadium in the major leagues. It originally sat almost 32,000, a record at the time.

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 against the Browns on August 14, 1939. The first no-hitter at Comiskey Park was hurled by Vern Kennedy on August 31, 1935, in a 5-0 win over Cleveland.

In the 1917 World Series, the White Sox won games 1, 2 and 5 at Comiskey Park. In 1918, Comiskey hosted the World Series between the Cubs and Red Sox. In 1919, the White Sox lost the infamous “Black Sox” World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. Games 3, 4, 5, and 8 were played at Comiskey Park. In the 1959 World Series, which the White Sox lost to the Dodgers, Games 1, 2, and 6 were played there.

Comiskey Park was the site of three All-Star Games: The first-ever All-Star Game was held there in 1933. The Americans defeated the Nationals, helped by a Babe Ruth home run. The second was in 1950, a game unfortunately best remembered for Ted Williams’ collision with the outfield wall that broke his elbow. 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 Livacari, for sending me some of the photos in this essay, all of which are found in public domain Google search

Information: Excerpts edited from the Comiskey Park Wikipedia page. Read more at:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comiskey_Park

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