OLD COMISKEY PARK (1910-1990) ***************************** HOME OF THE: CHICAGO WHITE SOX This home-made ball park has been created for use with Diamond Mind Baseball v8. The dimensions and image are to depict the stadium as it looked in 1924. You can also use this park for 1968. LFL L LFG C RFG R RFL *** *** *** *** *** *** *** DISTANCE: 362 372 382 420 384 370 362 HEIGHT: 12 5 5 15 5 5 12 PARK FACTORS FOR 1924 ********************* LEFT HANDED BATTERS RIGHT HANDED BATTERS ******************* ******************** S D T HR S D T HR *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 104 102 102 64 102 104 102 64 PARK FACTORS FOR 1968 ********************* LEFT HANDED BATTERS RIGHT HANDED BATTERS ******************* ******************** S D T HR S D T HR *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 106 106 106 83 106 106 106 83 SURFACE: Natural Grass FOUL TERRITORY: Small The plot of land on which the park was built, had originally been a city dump. One day in the 1930's, a quarter century after the park had opened, White Sox shortstop Luke Appling was routinely smoothing the dirt around his position with his feet when he felt what he thought was a rock. "I started digging with my spikes," he recalled years later, "and, lo and behold, I uncovered a blue-and-white tea kettle. Quite an antique. The ground crew had to fill in the hole before play could continue." In all, four World Series were played in Comiskey Park, 1917, 1918, 1919 and 1959. The 1918 Series was unusual because Comiskey was home park for the Cubs, not the White Sox. Comiskey Park also played host to a number of Negro League World Series Games, and from 1933 to 1950 was the scene of the annual Negro Leagues East-West All-Star Games. Some memorable moments at this park, ... October 5th, 1918: In the first game of the World Series, Babe Ruth pitches the Boston Red Sox to a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs. October 9th, 1919: In the eighth and deciding game of the World Series, the Cincinnati Reds win the Series by defeating the White Sox 10-5. (Later it is revealed that eight of the White Sox, hereafter known as the Black Sox, conspired with gamblers to lose the Series.) July 6th, 1933: In the first All-Star Game ever played, Babe Ruth appropriately hits a home run and a single to lead the American League to a 4-2 victory. April 16th, 1940: On opening day, Cleveland Indian, Bob Feller beats the White Sox, 1-0, with the only opening day no-hitter ever pitched in the major leagues. July 5th, 1947: Larry Doby becomes the first black player in the American League when he is sent up as a pinch-hitter for the Cleveland Indians. Doby then strikes out. August 13th, 1948: Forty-two-year-old Satchel Paige, legendary black super-star and recently signed to a Cleveland Indians contract, shuts out the White Sox on five hits, before a packed house of more than 50,000 fans. October 1st, 1959: First game of the World Series, Pennant winners for the first time since the scandal-ridden 1919 World Series, the White Sox celebrate with an 11-0 trouncing of the Los Angeles Dodgers. (The Dodgers would eventually win this Series, anyway.) May 8th and 9th, 1984: The White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers play the longest game in terms of time in major league history (eight hours and six minutes). The game starts on May 8th, but isn't completed until the next evening, because play has to be suspended after seventeen innings, with the score tied, due to an American League curfew rule. When play resumes on the 9th, a home run by Chicago's Harold Baines in the bottom of the twenty-fifth inning finally gives the White Sox a 7-6 victory. July 1st, 1990: New York Yankees pitcher Andy Hawkins pitches a no-hitter against the White Sox, but loses the game, 4-0, as a result of bases on balls and errors by his teammates. The above comments are from the book: "Lost Ballparks - A Celebration of Baseball's Legendary Fields," by Lawrence S. Ritter. ***************************************** OLD COMISKEY PARK IS FROM THE CREATORS OF: +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Baseball's Analytical Search Engine +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/tdmilne Ron Gudykunst - ronlg@aol.com Tom Milne - tdmilne@compuserve.com