| MUSIC - There used to be a ballpark by ol blue eyes, Francis Albert Sinatra
Comiskey Park - demolished (1991) site is now a parking lot
Location - 324 W. 35th St., Chicago Illinois -- Bounded by S. Shields Ave., Wentworth Ave., W. 33rd St.
Comiskey Park stood at the corner of 35th street and Shields Ave. for over 80 years. It was demolished 1991. The "Baseball Palace of the World" was home to the Chicago White Sox from July 1, 1910 till its closing on September 30th 1990. It was built on the site of a former garbage dump. Legend has it that Luke Appling was playing short for the White Sox and a ground ball hit something in the dirt and went over his head. He unearthed a copper pot. The White Sox lost the first game at Comiskey 2-0 to the St. Louis Browns. They won the last ever game at Comiskey by beating the Seattle Mariners 2-1.
The old Chicago Cardinals of the NFL also called Comiskey park home. They played here from 1922 - 1925 and then from 1929 thru 1959. In 1960 the Cardinals moved to St. Louis.
Contrary to most opinion, Comiskey park was not located in the Bridgeport section of Chicago. In fact, it was located in a small enclave area called Armour Square. The Dan Ryan expressway ran directly parallel to the right field stands. Across the Dan Ryan was the notorious Stateway Gardens housing project. They were located in the Bronzville section of Chicago. Crime, assaults, drug dealing, you name it, was common at Stateway. This went on until 2001 when the projects were demolished, and replaced by low income affordable housing.
Comiskey Park was known by only 2 names. From 1910 - 1912 and then again from 1962 - 1975 it was known as White Sox park. It was the site of the very first All-star game in 1933. Arch Ward, a sports editor of the Chicago Tribune came up with the idea. Fittingly the greatest baseball player of all-time, Babe Ruth, hit the first all-star home run. In the 50th anniversary of the all-star game, the first ever grand slam was hit. Fred Lynn of the California Angels connected off Atlee Hammaker of the San Francisco Giants. Comiskey hosted the all-star game in 1950 also. In this game, Ted Williams collided with the outfield wall and suffered a broken elbow, ending his season.
Comiskey hosted 4 world series, with 3 being played by the White Sox. The first one was in 1917 when the White Sox defeated the New York Giants. In 1918 the Chicago Cubs played the Boston Red Sox in the fall classic. The Cubs used Comiskey Park due to its larger seating capacity. In 1919, the infamous "black sox scandal" took place. Allegedly eight members of the White Sox fixed the series due to their dislike of penny-pinching White Sox owner Charles Comiskey. The eight players banned for life were, Eddie Cicotte, Claude "Lefty" Williams, Oscar "Happy" Felsch, Chick Gandil, Charles "Swede" Risberg, Buck Weaver, Fred McMullin and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson. The famous "Say it ain't so Joe" quote was uttered to Jackson by a tearful young fan as he left the Cook County courthouse. It was never proven that Jackson ever took any money. In fact, he hit hit .375 in the 1919 series. Still, due to Kennesaw Mountain Landis banishing him forever from baseball, he was never inducted into the hall of fame.
Home to White Sox greats, Early Wynn, Ted Lyons, Ed Walsh, Ray Schalk, "Ol Aches and Pains" Luke Appling, "Little Looie" Luis Aparicio, his double play partner Nellie Fox, Wilbur Wood, Dick Allen, Eddie Collins, Red Faber, Frank Thomas and Carlton Fisk.
The White Sox have retired 10 numbers in their history. Number 2 was worn by hall of fame second baseman Nellie Fox. Harold Baines had his number 3 retired WHILE he was still an active player with the Texas Rangers. He was traded back to the White Sox, and they had to "un retire" his number 3. Number 4 was worn by Luke Appling, number 9 by Minnie Minoso, number 11 by Luis Aparicio, 16 was worn by Ted Lyons, 19 belonged to Billy Pierce, 72 was worn by Carlton Fisk. Fisk has had his number retired by both the White Sox and the Boston Red Sox. And 42 for Jackie Robinson, was retired by MLB. No one has worn number 6 since long time hitting coach Charlie Lau passed away in 1984. I am sure that Frank Thomas will have his number 35 retired when he hangs em up.
Comiskey Park was the site of the infamous "disco demolition" night. On July 12th, 1979 a DJ from radio station WLUP, Steve Dahl, staged his "disco sucks" night. In between games of a double header between the White Sox and the Detroit Tigers, Dahl proceeded to "blow up" thousands of disco records in center field. Fans stormed the field during the melee. After order was restored, it was discovered the field was torn to shreds. The White Sox had to forfeit the second game to the Tigers.
From 1960 thru 1990, Comiskey was home to the unofficial mascot, Andy "the clown" Rozdilsky. Dressed in his bowler hat, black rimmed glasses, and polka dotted costume, he roamed the stands cheering on his beloved Sox. "GOOOOO YOOOOOOUUUU WHIIIITE SOOOOOOOX!" was his rally cry. When the Sox moved to new Comiskey, they informed Andy he would not be allowed to wear his trademark costume in the new park. Sadly, Andy passed away on September 21, 1995 at the ripe old age of 77.
The old lady of the South side may be gone, but will NEVER be forgotten.
"There used to be a ballpark"
by Frank Sinatra
And there used to be a ballpark
Where the field was warm and green
And the people played their crazy game
With a joy I’d never seen.
And the air was such a wonder
From the hot dogs and the beer
Yes, there used a ballpark, right here.
And there used to be rock candy
And a great big fourth of July
With fireworks exploding
All across the summer sky
And the people watched in wonder
How they’d laugh and how they’d cheer
And there used to be a ballpark, right here.
Now the children try to find it
And they can’t believe their eyes
`cause the old team just isn’t playing
And the new team hardly tries
And the sky has got so cloudy
When it used to be so clear
And the summer went so quickly this year.
Yes, there used to be a ballpark, right here.
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