100 Years of the Chicago White Sox

This year marks 100 years since our family began attending Chicago White Sox games. From a single detail on the pitchers back in 1921, I found the first game at which my uncle, Dr. Adolph Nachman, first stepped foot into Comiskey Park.

 In an interview for a book about Comiskey Park, Adolph told author Floyd Sullivan that he didn’t know anything about White Sox history before attending his first game, including the Black Sox saga that resulted in eight Sox players being banned beginning after the previous season for fixing the 1919 World Series. I assume his father (my grandfather), a Romanian immigrant, was not interested in baseball. At the time, the family lived either at 6054 S. Michigan Avenue or 7430 S. Bennett Avenue. 

Comiskey Park, 1912

Adolph, who possessed an extraordinary memory well into age 101, said for years the pitchers that day were Red Faber for the White Sox and Eddie Rommel for the Philadelphia Athletics. Thanks to continuing updates from Baseball Reference, I found the game was played on August 21, 1921. The 7^th-place Sox, managed by Kid Gleason, met the 8^th-place A’s, managed by the legendary Connie Mack. Despite their eventual 62-92 record, the Sox sported four future Hall of Famers that day: Faber, Eddie Collins, Harry Hooper and Ray Schalk. Faber, winning 25 games, and Dickie Kerr, victorious in both starts in the 1919 World Series, with 19 wins accounted for the major share of the Sox’s wins in 1921. 

Red Faber

Rommel, who served as an American League umpire from 1938 to 1959 (2 World Series, 6 All-Star Games), was not the starting pitcher. Roy Moore yielded 4 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks before being removed after the 2^nd inning. The game eventually went 10 innings, with the A’s victorious, 6-5. Faber pitched a complete game, giving up 6 runs (5 earned) on 11 hits, 4 strikeouts and 2 walks. Rommel picked up the win, holding the Sox to 1 run on 8 hits on 3 strikeouts and 2 walks. 

Eddie Rommel

Some notable game statistics. Of the 24 hits, 3 doubles were the only extra-base hits. A’s outfielder Whitey Whitt went 4-5, while Collins had a 3-5 day. Hervey McClellan, a 5’9”, 143-pound utility infielder who died tragically from cancer 4 years later, pinch-ran for pinch-hitter Fred Bratschi, who doubled batting for Faber in the 10^th inning.  Only two umpires worked the game. At season’s end, Rommel would lead the American League with 23 losses for the 53-100 A’s, 45 games behind the champion New York Yankees. The Sox would draw 543,650 fans, 4th among 8 teams. The Boston Red Sox averaged only 1,813 per game.

 The White Sox experienced several lean years from the 1920s through the 1940s. Adolph was joined by my father, Marvin (5 years his junior), on their trips to Comiskey Park. Dad never provided memories of those early years, so I don’t know his first season. Adolph told me they took the Wentworth Avenue streetcar to the games; Wentworth now runs parallel to the west side of the Dan Ryan Expressway, ending at W. 47^th Street. 

Adolph and Marvin, Paw Paw Lake, Michigan, 1930s

Adolph and Marvin finally made it to a World Series on the South Side of Chicago in 1959. Dad, Frank and I saw the Sox win Game 1, 11-0, from the right-field lower deck. The brothers watched the two losses, including the Series-ending Game 6, from Adolph’s seats in Box 45, Tier 6. At age 93, Adolph took a pass on the 2005 post-season games (he attended games until 2011). Frank and I attended Game 1 of the 2005 World Series, a 5-3 victory, while Adolph’s children – Jim, Bob and Cathy, also carried on the twice in what is now 101 seasons World Series tradition. 

With cousin Jim Nachman, Game 1, 2005 World Series

My White Sox history dates back to 1954 (or possibly 1953). I don’t remember the first game but I know one that season was with the Baltimore Orioles, the year after the St. Louis Browns played its final season. The pitcher was Duane Pillettte and one of the outfielders was Gil Coan, who was the third-oldest MLB player when he passed away last year at age 97.  I saw the Sox play every year on the South Side until the no-attendance 2020 season except the disastrous 56-106 1970 season. Not surprisingly, the game I saw in Fenway Park on May 31, 1970, ended in a 4-3 loss when starter Tommy John and relievers Wilbur Wood and Danny Murphy couldn’t hold a 3-1 lead in the 9^th inning, yielding 4 hits and 2 walks and only 1 out. 

Gil Coan, 1955 Bowman card

Over these 100 seasons, the White Sox have made only 6 post-season appearances and 1 World Series victory. Despite losing two starting outfielders from most if not all of this season, expectations are still high for not only another post-season appearance but a World Series showdown and victory. No more wait until next year.

Yermin Mercedes, Opening Day 2021