1959 World Series

Lore & Background

For the White Sox, who had last won a championship in 1917, it was their first World Series appearance since 1919, when the team's unexpected loss to the Cincinnati Reds coincided with the Black Sox Scandal. This was the only World Series to be played in the City of Chicago between the Cubs' loss in 1945 and the White Sox win in 2005.

In Their Own Story

The air inside Comiskey Park was thick with cigar smoke and anticipation on a crisp October afternoon in 1959. Fans pressed against the outfield walls, their faces painted with hope after forty years of heartbreak. As the final out rang true at third base, a roar erupted that shook the bleachers, signaling not just a win, but redemption for an entire city waiting to believe again.

Reader's Guide

Each of the three games played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum drew record crowds, Game 5's attendance of 92,706 continues to be a World Series record, and one that cannot feasibly be broken in any current baseball-specific park. This was the first World Series played on the West Coast. It was the first championship for a West Coast team, and it was the first World Series in which no pitcher for either side pitched a complete game.

Did You Know?

• The Dodgers won their first National League pennant since moving from Brooklyn after the 1957 season by defeating the Milwaukee Braves 2–0 in a best-of-three tie breaker series.
• This was the Dodgers' only win as a tenant of the Coliseum; their next World Series victories would come when playing in Dodger Stadium.
• The White Sox were only the second team besides the Yankees to win the A.L. pennant between 1949 and 1964 inclusive; the other was the 1954 Indians, also managed by Al López.