Comiskey, Charles A.
Baseball
b. Aug. 15, 1859, Chicago, IL
d. Oct. 26, 1931
Comiskey began his long career in professional baseball in 1878 and he entered the major leagues with the American Association's St. Louis Browns in 1882. The 6-foot, 180-pounder originated modern first base play by positioning himself some distance from the base so he had greater range to his right. Within a short time, most first baseman began following his example.
During the 1883 season, Comiskey became playing manager of St. Louis and he guided the team to four consecutive pennants, from 1885 through 1888. After jumping to the Players' League in 1890, he returned to St. Louis for one year and then spent three seasons as player-manager of Cincinnati in the NL.
Comiskey became owner and player-manager of the St. Paul franchise in the minor Western League in 1895. The team moved to Chicago in 1900, when the WL became known as the American League. The following year, the American League claimed major league status and raided the established NL for a number of players. Comiskey lured star pitcher Clark Griffith away from the Chicago Cubs; the move helped the White Sox win the first AL pennant, with Griffith as player-manager.
Chicago won another pennant, as well as the World Series, in 1906, and in 1910 Comiskey built the first symmetrical stadium, Comiskey Park, which remained in use until replaced by a new Comiskey Park in 1991. After a third pennant and second world championship in 1917, Comiskey donated 10 percent of the team's 1918 gross receipts to the American Red Cross.
The move made him a philanthropist to the outside world, but it troubled his players, who were among the lowest paid in baseball despite their success on the field. Comiskey's tight-fistedness helped lead to the Black Sox Scandal of 1919, when eight players conspired to throw the World Series. Though acquitted, the eight were banned from organized baseball for life.
Shortly afterward, Comiskey became ill and gave up active operation of the team. The White Sox didn't win another pennant until 1959.