Sunday, February 24, 2008

Chicago White Sox

The Chicago White Sox are a Major League baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. The White Sox are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From 1991 to the present, the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field (previously known as New Comiskey Park).
The "White Sox" name originates from a prominent uniform feature which has since fallen into disuse. They are most prominently nicknamed "the South Siders", differentiating from the North Side dwelling Chicago Cubs, "the Pale Hose", and sometimes by the national media as "the ChiSox", a combination of "Chicago" and "Sox" (as opposed to the BoSox). Other nicknames include "the Go-Go Sox, a reference to 1959 AL Champions, who got that nickname, "the Good Guys", a reference to the team's one time motto "Good guys wear black", coined by Ken "Hawk" Harrelson, and "the Black Sox", the name attributed to the scandal-tainted 1919 team. Most fans refer to the team as simply "the Sox".
One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Chicago in 1901. Then the Chicago White Stockings, after the original White Stockings vacated the name to become the Cubs. At this time, the team inhabited South Side Park. In 1910, the team moved into historic Comiskey Park, which they would inhabit for more than eight decades. It was here that, in 1919, the infamous Black Sox Scandal occurred. Afterwards, the team would endure 88 years of hardship, attributed to the Curse of the Black Sox, that would end when the team won the World Series in 2005.
Over the years the White Sox have become noted for many of their uniform innovations and changes. In 1960, the White Sox became the first team in the major sports to put players' last names on jerseys.
Although the uniforms in the very early days of the franchise featured a block "C" in red, the uniforms' primary color switched to a navy or midnight blue (on white) after a couple of years. Again, a block "C" was often the only adornment. In 1912, however, the White Sox debuted one of the most enduring and famous logos in baseball -- a large "S" in a Roman-style font, with a small "O" inside the top loop of the "S" and a small "X" inside the bottom loop. This is the logo associated with the 1917 World Series championship team and the 1919 Black Sox. With a couple of brief interruptions, the dark blue logo with the large "S" lasted through 1938 (but continued in a modified block style into the '40s). Through the 1940s, the White Sox team colors were primarily navy blue trimmed with red.
The White Sox logo in the '50s and '60s (actually beginning in the 1949 season) was the word "SOX" in an Old English font, diagonally arranged, with the "S" larger than the other two letters. From 1949 through 1963, the primary color was black (trimmed with red after 1951). The Old English "SOX" in black lettering is the logo associated with the Go-Go Sox era.
In 1964, the primary color went back to navy blue, and the road uniforms changed from gray to pale blue. In 1971, the team's primary color changed from royal blue to red, with the color of their pinstripes and caps changing to red. Curiously, the 1971-1975 uniform included red socks.
In 1976 the team's uniforms changed again. The team's primary color changed back from red to navy. The team based their uniforms on a style worn in the early days of the franchise, with white jerseys worn at home, blue on the road. The team also had the option to wear blue or white pants with either jersey. Additionally the teams "SOX" logo was changed to a modern-looking "SOX" in a bold font, with 'CHICAGO' written across the jersey. Finally, the team's logo featured a silhouette of a batter over the words "SOX".
The new uniforms also featured collars and were designed to be worn untucked - both unprecedented. Yet by far the most unusual wrinkle was the option to wear shorts, which the White Sox did for the first game of a doubleheader against the Kansas City Royals in 1976. After being ridiculed by fans and pundits, and George Brett calling the White Sox "the sweetest team we have ever played," the White Sox retired the shorts, wearing pants in the nightcap and thereafter. The Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League had tried the same concept at one time, and it was also poorly received. Apart from aesthetic issues, as a practical matter shorts are not conducive to sliding, due to the likelihood of significant abrasions.
Upon taking over the team in 1980 new owners Eddie Einhorn and Jerry Reinsdorf announced a contest where fans were invited to create new uniforms for the White Sox. The winning entry was submitted by a fan where the word "SOX" was written across the front of the jersey, in the same font as a cap, inside of a large blue stripe trimmed with red. The red and blue stripes were also on the sleeves, and the road jerseys were gray to the home whites. It was in those jerseys that the White Sox won 99 games and the AL West championship in 1983, the best record in the majors.
After five years those uniforms were retired and replaced with a more basic uniform which had "White Sox" written across the front in script, with "Chicago" on the front of the road jersey. The cap logo was also changed to a cursive "C", although the batter logo was retained for several years.
For a mid-season 1990 game at Comiskey Park the White Sox appeared one time in a uniform based on that of the 1917 White Sox.
The White Sox then switched their regular uniform style one more time. In September, for the final series at Old Comiskey Park, the old English "SOX" logo (a slightly simplified version of the 1949 logo) was restored, and the new uniform also had the black pinstripes restored. The team's primary color changed back to black -- this time with silver trim. With minor modifications (i.e., occasionally wearing vests, black game jerseys) the White Sox have used this style ever since.

**wikipedia.org

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