Baby Fisk
12-13-2004, 10:36 AM
Chicago White Sox: 1959 and Beyond - by Dan Helpingstine (2004, 128. pp)
With Chicago White Sox: 1959 and Beyond, Dan Helpingstine adds a second volume to the "fans' eye" style of White Sox history books he began with Through Hope and Despair: A Fan's Memories of the Chicago White Sox, 1967-1997.
This time, he incorporates the reminiscences and photographs of numerous Sox fans into a collection of memorable moments in Sox history since 1959. I liked this book because it lets fans who weren't there hear about these great moments first-hand from those who were. Several WSI posters make cameo appearences throughout the book.
Recollections include pennant or division clinching games, pitching masterpieces, historic homers, opening days, and loads of off-beat or downright tragic moments, all packed into this slim volume. In the absence of any recent world championships for fans to relive, this is the next best thing.
Helpingstine places an emphasis on the decade that taste forgot, from the horrid 1970 season (106 losses) to the rise of Bill Melton and Dick Allen. Allen's game winning laser shot homer on Bat Day in 1972 is recounted vividly. Bill Veeck's presence can be felt throughout, in tales of his sailor-suited South Side Hitmen in 1977 and the chaos of Disco Demolition Night in 1979.
There's loads of other memories here too, bridging the span from the Go-Go Sox of 1959 to the present.
Each chapter of fan memories is followed by several pages of historic black and white photos made available from personal collections. There's 100 different photos in total, worth the price of admission alone. There's Ted Kluszewski in his Fred Flintsone sleeveless jersey. There's newcomer Carlton Fisk crushing a grand slam on Opening Day 1981. There's Black Jack McDowell delivering a pitch all elbows and knees. There's the Hitmen, the scoreboard, the gorgeous arched windows of Old Comiskey, and (my god!) there's the uniforms with short pants. If anything, the photos are a crucial reminder why the Sox must never change their uniforms ever, ever again.
The best parts of Helpingstine's book are the voices of the fans themselves. An octogenarian recalls her attendance at a World Series game in 1959, the last time it was ever played in Chicago. Another fan remembers storming the Comiskey outfield with other delirious celebrants as a teenager when the Sox clinched the division in 1983.
Yet another fan recalls the incredible scene at New Comiskey on June 19, 2000. It was the first home game after the Sox tore through Cleveland and New York on a seven game win streak:
"We knew it was going to be a huge jacked up crowd and that we would have to leave early [to get to the park on time]. We ended up leaving early but getting snarled in a standstill traffic jam on the Kennedy Expressway anyway. The source for this huge traffic jam? The Thirty-First and Thirty-Fifth Street exits to Comiskey Park! It had traffic backed up all the way through the Loop.
"By the time we got to the ball park exits, it was already in the fourth inning and we were listening to Ed Farmer and John Rooney [Sox radio announcers] call the game as the Sox were laying another whipping on second place Cleveland. All of the parking lots were sold out, and there were thousands milling about the ballpark looking for tickets. At this point, we decided to cut our losses on the Upper Deck tickets and call it a night. We took the rest of the game in a local bar.
"We later heard on the radio that the game was a complete sellout and the reason all the parking lots sold out was because an estimated fifty-six thousand people descended on the ballpark.
"It was the most unforgettable game I never made it to."
And to think that this turbulent scene was played out only a few short years ago. Here's to hoping that the Sox will reignite this kind of public intensity in Chicago soon. Very soon.
And here's to hoping that Dan Helpingstine will continue to produce these treasure troves of Sox history and lore.
--Baby Fisk
With Chicago White Sox: 1959 and Beyond, Dan Helpingstine adds a second volume to the "fans' eye" style of White Sox history books he began with Through Hope and Despair: A Fan's Memories of the Chicago White Sox, 1967-1997.
This time, he incorporates the reminiscences and photographs of numerous Sox fans into a collection of memorable moments in Sox history since 1959. I liked this book because it lets fans who weren't there hear about these great moments first-hand from those who were. Several WSI posters make cameo appearences throughout the book.
Recollections include pennant or division clinching games, pitching masterpieces, historic homers, opening days, and loads of off-beat or downright tragic moments, all packed into this slim volume. In the absence of any recent world championships for fans to relive, this is the next best thing.
Helpingstine places an emphasis on the decade that taste forgot, from the horrid 1970 season (106 losses) to the rise of Bill Melton and Dick Allen. Allen's game winning laser shot homer on Bat Day in 1972 is recounted vividly. Bill Veeck's presence can be felt throughout, in tales of his sailor-suited South Side Hitmen in 1977 and the chaos of Disco Demolition Night in 1979.
There's loads of other memories here too, bridging the span from the Go-Go Sox of 1959 to the present.
Each chapter of fan memories is followed by several pages of historic black and white photos made available from personal collections. There's 100 different photos in total, worth the price of admission alone. There's Ted Kluszewski in his Fred Flintsone sleeveless jersey. There's newcomer Carlton Fisk crushing a grand slam on Opening Day 1981. There's Black Jack McDowell delivering a pitch all elbows and knees. There's the Hitmen, the scoreboard, the gorgeous arched windows of Old Comiskey, and (my god!) there's the uniforms with short pants. If anything, the photos are a crucial reminder why the Sox must never change their uniforms ever, ever again.
The best parts of Helpingstine's book are the voices of the fans themselves. An octogenarian recalls her attendance at a World Series game in 1959, the last time it was ever played in Chicago. Another fan remembers storming the Comiskey outfield with other delirious celebrants as a teenager when the Sox clinched the division in 1983.
Yet another fan recalls the incredible scene at New Comiskey on June 19, 2000. It was the first home game after the Sox tore through Cleveland and New York on a seven game win streak:
"We knew it was going to be a huge jacked up crowd and that we would have to leave early [to get to the park on time]. We ended up leaving early but getting snarled in a standstill traffic jam on the Kennedy Expressway anyway. The source for this huge traffic jam? The Thirty-First and Thirty-Fifth Street exits to Comiskey Park! It had traffic backed up all the way through the Loop.
"By the time we got to the ball park exits, it was already in the fourth inning and we were listening to Ed Farmer and John Rooney [Sox radio announcers] call the game as the Sox were laying another whipping on second place Cleveland. All of the parking lots were sold out, and there were thousands milling about the ballpark looking for tickets. At this point, we decided to cut our losses on the Upper Deck tickets and call it a night. We took the rest of the game in a local bar.
"We later heard on the radio that the game was a complete sellout and the reason all the parking lots sold out was because an estimated fifty-six thousand people descended on the ballpark.
"It was the most unforgettable game I never made it to."
And to think that this turbulent scene was played out only a few short years ago. Here's to hoping that the Sox will reignite this kind of public intensity in Chicago soon. Very soon.
And here's to hoping that Dan Helpingstine will continue to produce these treasure troves of Sox history and lore.
--Baby Fisk