Chicago White Sox Baseball Hats

Baseball has been played on the south side of Chicago for nearly 125 years, and some of the game's best have performed there. The White Sox were originally the White Stockings, Charlie Comiskey's team that won league titles in 1900 and again the following season. In 1906 the Sox rode a 19-game winning streak to the pennant title and shocked the heavily favored crosstown Cubs in the Series, four games to two.

Unfortunately the franchise enjoyed little success again until a core group of players delivered a title in 1917. The main contributors included Shoeless Joe Jackson, Eddie Collins, Eddie Cicotte, Buck Weaver, and Happy Felsch. Just three years later, Jackson, Weaver, Felsch, Cicotte, and four others were banned from the game by the commissioner for their part in throwing the 1919 Series, an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Cincinnati.

For the next forty years the Sox struggled or came up short in the AL, all the while competing with the north side Cubs for fans. In 1959 they snatched the flag from the Yankees but lost in the Series. Since, the Southsiders have been waiting for another trip to the Fall Classic, failing to advance in 1983 and 1993.

The first White Sox star was pitching ace Ed Walsh. A Hall of Famer, Walsh was the main man on the Chicago staff at the turn of the century. Four times he won 20 games, with a low in those seasons of 24. In 1908 he went 40-15, with a 1.42 ERA. He led the circuit that year with 269 strikeouts, a category he later would top again in 1911. A big 6' 1, 190 lb. right-hander, he pitched 13 seasons with the Sox, winning 195 games.

The next marquee performer was Hall of Fame second baseman Eddie Collins, one of the greatest players of the early twentieth century. Collins began with Connie Mack's A's, helping them to four pennants. But when the Philadelphia owner/manager was forced to sell his stars in the mid-teens, Eddie was shipped to the Windy City. The lefty-hitting second sacker hit below .300 just once in his 12 years with the Sox. Collins teamed with left fielder Joe Jackson, pitcher Eddie Cicotte, and receiver Ray Schalk to form the best team in the AL from 1917-1919.

After a disappointing stretch from 1921 to 1931, another future Hall of Famer, Luke Appling, came along in the 1930s. A line-drive hitter, Appling won batting titles in 1936 (.388) and 1943 (.328). Appling was unable to rally the Sox to the post-season however.

It's safe to say that the White Sox were the third best team in the AL in the 1950s. While the Yankees and Indians were finishing first and second, the Pale Hose usually followed. In 1959 the "Go-Go Sox" finished ahead of the Yankees - and everyone else in the AL. Sparked by an offense that could score 11 runs on one hit, Chicago faced the Dodgers in the World Series, but lost. It is the last time they have appeared in the Fall Classic.

Surprisingly, for a franchise as old as the White Sox, they have had few sluggers in their ranks. Some, like Harry Hooper, Al Simmons, Norm Cash, Larry Doby, and Dick Allen, were either lost to other teams or played briefly in Chicago.

Hoping to avoid those mistakes, the Sox are holding on to Frank Thomas. The hulking first baseman has already established himself as the best right-handed hitter in franchise history. Entering the 2004 season he had a .310 career average, with a .568 slugging mark, and an OBP of .428. Eight times in his career, "The Big Hurt" has topped .300, scored 100 runs, drove in 100 runs, and walked 100 times in a season. Those numbers put him in the class of immortals like Babe Ruth and Ted Williams.

The 2000 season saw the Southsiders return to the post-season, in fact they had the AL's best record. But the Mariners pushed them aside in the Divisional Playoffs. As the 2004 campaign began, the Sox were vying with the Twins as favorites in the AL Central, relying around pitchers Mark Buehrle and Esteban Loaiza, and sluggers Thomas, Carlos Lee, Magglio Ordonez, and Paul Konerko. Former shortstop Ozzie Guillen, a popular player with Sox fans, was hired as manager for the 2004 season.

2005 World Series Champions