Old Comiskey Park: The Baseball Palace of the World (1910–1990)
Old Comiskey Park hosted the first All-Star Game, the 1959 World Series, the exploding scoreboard and Disco Demolition. The history of the White Sox's home for 80 years, and where home plate is now.
For 80 years, the White Sox played at 35th and Shields. Old Comiskey Park was big, white, a little worn, and full of history. It's been gone since 1991, but for South Siders it still lives in a lot of memories.
The Baseball Palace of the World
Comiskey Park opened on July 1, 1910. It was built for team owner Charles Comiskey and designed by architect Zachary Taylor Davis, and it cost about $750,000. It was billed as "The Baseball Palace of the World." For a while it was also called White Sox Park.
What happened there
- The first All-Star Game, 1933. Major League Baseball's very first All-Star Game was played at Comiskey Park. It came back for the 1950 and 1983 games too.
- The Negro League East-West All-Star Game was played at Comiskey Park for years, starting in 1933, and drew some of the biggest crowds in Black baseball.
- The first night game, 1939. The Sox won their first home game under the lights on August 14, 1939, beating St. Louis 5–2.
- The 1959 World Series. The "Go-Go Sox" won the pennant and lost the Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers, four games to two.
- The exploding scoreboard. Owner Bill Veeck added the famous scoreboard with pinwheels and fireworks that went off after a Sox home run.
- The Beatles played two shows at the ballpark in August 1965.
- Disco Demolition Night, July 12, 1979. A pile of disco records blown up between games of a doubleheader turned into a field-wrecking mess, and the Sox had to forfeit the second game. The whole story: Disco Demolition Night.
The last game and the new park
The last game at old Comiskey was played on September 30, 1990. The new ballpark had already gone up right across 35th Street, and it opened in 1991. The old park was torn down that same year.
The new park has had a few names since. Today it's Rate Field, the same ballpark that's been in the news this fall. See Pope Leo's letter and the Wild Card Series at Rate Field.
Where home plate was
Old Comiskey's spot is a parking lot now. But look for the marble plaque in the lot across the street from Rate Field. It marks exactly where home plate used to be. A lot of fans stop there before games.
For another piece of Chicago that changed its name, see why the Sears Tower became the Willis Tower.
Photo: Oldcomiskeypark1986a by Johnmaxmena2, Public domain.