Chicago White Sox

Lore & Background

The White Sox originated in the Western League, founded as the Sioux City Cornhuskers in 1894, moving to Saint Paul, Minnesota, as the Saint Paul Saints, and ultimately relocating to Chicago in 1900. The Chicago White Stockings were one of the American League's eight charter franchises when the AL asserted major league status in 1901. The team, which shortened its name to the White Sox in 1904, originally played their home games at South Side Park before moving to Comiskey Park in 1910, before demolishing and rebuilding Comiskey Park in 1990, which is now known as Rate Field. The White Sox won their first World Series, the 1906 World Series against the Cubs, with a defense-oriented team dubbed "the Hitless Wonders", and later won the 1917 World Series against the New York Giants. Their next appearance, the 1919 World Series, was marred by the Black Sox Scandal in which eight members of the White Sox were found to have conspired with gamblers to fix games and lose the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. In response, the new Commissioner of Baseball, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, banned the players from the league for life. The White Sox have only made two World Series appearances since the scandal. The first came in 1959, where they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, before they finally won their third championship in 2005 against the Houston Astros. The 88 seasons it took the White Sox to win the World Series stands as the longest MLB championship drought in the American League, and the second longest in both leagues, to the Cubs' 108 seasons.

In Their Own Story

The White Sox faced a dramatic collapse after manager Tony La Russa was forced to miss games on August 30 for medical testing regarding a pacemaker implant. Bench coach Miguel Cairo took over when the team sat at 63–65, five games behind Cleveland. The White Sox initially surged under Cairo, winning 10 of 13 games and climbing within 1.5 games of first place by September 8. However, the momentum evaporated as they lost 11 of their next 15 contests, including a pivotal sweep by the Guardians from September 20–22. Cleveland clinched the division on September 25, and Chicago was eliminated from playoff contention on September 28 following an eighth consecutive loss to the Twins. Despite the disappointing finish, individual brilliance shone through: Dylan Cease became the first pitcher since 1913 with 14 consecutive starts allowing one or fewer earned runs; Yoán Moncada joined history as the first AL player with two games in a single season featuring five or more hits and five or more RBIs; and Liam Hendriks became the first Australian-born reliever to reach 100 career saves.

Reader's Guide

From 1901 to 2025, the White Sox have an overall win-loss record of (unclear).

Did You Know?

• Ed Walsh holds the record for lowest career earned run average (ERA), 1.82.
• The White Sox were known as the "Go-Go White Sox" for their tendency to focus on speed and getting on base versus power hitting.
• The 1972 White Sox had the lone successful season of this era, as Dick Allen wound up winning the American League MVP award.
• The White Sox won their first World Series in 1906 against the Cubs.