The Chicago Black Sox (brought to you by DraftKings)

52 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

Those are very nice uniforms but I must disagree, the Sox most successful era was the Golden Age 1951-1967 when they had 17 consecutive winning seasons, seven of those where they won 90+ games.  

It's hard to argue with 3 championships and 5 pennants when that era made the playoffs only once.

10 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

It's hard to argue with 3 championships and 5 pennants when that era made the playoffs only once.

I guess it depends on your point of view.

And I'm not sure about your numbers.

The Sox won pennants in 1901, 1906, 1917 and 1919. Won the World Series in 1906 and 1917.

1900 wasn't recognized by baseball as an official Major League yet considered a minor league at the time.

Not saying it wasn't a good era just that they also had down/losing years in 1902, 1903, 1910, 1914 and 1918.

Consistency wins out for me in the discussion which is why I go with 1951-1967. Plus the way they outdrew the Cubs in 16 of the 17 seasons and got the lions share of media coverage in Chicago and national recognition. 

16 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

I guess it depends on your point of view.

And I'm not sure about your numbers.

The Sox won pennants in 1901, 1906, 1917 and 1919. Won the World Series in 1906 and 1917.

1900 wasn't recognized by baseball as an official Major League yet considered a minor league at the time.

Not saying it wasn't a good era just that they also had down/losing years in 1902, 1903, 1910, 1914 and 1918.

Consistency wins out for me in the discussion which is why I go with 1951-1967. Plus the way they outdrew the Cubs in 16 of the 17 seasons and got the lions share of media coverage in Chicago and national recognition. 

I will never understand why Sox fans spend so much time caring about how much time people talk about the Cubs.  It's such a weird flex. 

Me personally,  I will take the rings, but I have also found it odd that such a weird love affair was given to a 4th place team from 1977 either.

1 hour ago, southsider2k5 said:

I will never understand why Sox fans spend so much time caring about how much time people talk about the Cubs.  It's such a weird flex. 

Me personally,  I will take the rings, but I have also found it odd that such a weird love affair was given to a 4th place team from 1977 either.

3rd place with 90 wins.

It was such a "love affair" because they were garbage in 1976, hadn't had a winning season since 1972 and literally came out of nowhere to provide a fun, exciting summer instead of another drag through the muck of a 95 loss season.

192 home runs didn't hurt either. 

13 hours ago, Lip Man 1 said:

3rd place with 90 wins.

It was such a "love affair" because they were garbage in 1976, hadn't had a winning season since 1972 and literally came out of nowhere to provide a fun, exciting summer instead of another drag through the muck of a 95 loss season.

192 home runs didn't hurt either. 

But in the modern era, no one built a statue for 2012, where we were also in 1st place for almost the entire season before their collapse. 

1 hour ago, southsider2k5 said:

But in the modern era, no one built a statue for 2016, where we were also in 1st place for almost the entire season before their collapse. 

The Sox were only in first that year until mid May...were already facing when the infamous Shields/Johnson/Tatis deal went down.

You mean 2006?

4 hours ago, southsider2k5 said:

I will never understand why Sox fans spend so much time caring about how much time people talk about the Cubs.  It's such a weird flex. 

Me personally,  I will take the rings, but I have also found it odd that such a weird love affair was given to a 4th place team from 1977 either.

My username shows my total bias here, but there was just something electric about the 1977 team and Comiskey Park that year even though they faded badly in Aug and Sept and finished 3rd.  I think that's why people remember that team so fondly as opposed to other 90-win teams that failed to make the playoffs. 

That is when the whole Na Na Hey Hey tradition began....and it really got under the skin of some opponents.  Zisk, Gamble, Soderholm, Harry and Jimmy, Nancy on the organ, Veeck's gimmicks.....Comiskey Park was really rockin' that year.  What can I say, it just felt like a magical summer until they faded toward the end.  

Both the Sox and Cubs were in first place in July that summer and it was the talk of the town at the time.  I remember a CTA ad at Narragansett and Addison that said fans could catch a bus to the Subway Series from that stop.  

1 minute ago, 77 Hitmen said:

My username shows my total bias here, but there was just something electric about the 1977 team and Comiskey Park that year even though they faded badly in Aug and Sept and finished 3rd.  I think that's why people remember that team so fondly as opposed to other 90-win teams that failed to make the playoffs. 

That is when the whole Na Na Hey Hey tradition began....and it really got under the skin of some opponents.  Zisk, Gamble, Soderholm, Harry and Jimmy, Nancy on the organ, Veeck's gimmicks.....Comiskey Park was really rockin' that year.  What can I say, it just felt like a magical summer until they faded toward the end.  

Both the Sox and Cubs were in first place in July that summer and it was the talk of the town at the time.  I remember a CTA ad at Narragansett and Addison that said fans could catch a bus to the Subway Series from that stop.  

It was a wonderful summer, much like 1990 that seemed to just fly by. 

13 hours ago, Lip Man 1 said:

It was a wonderful summer, much like 1990 that seemed to just fly by. 

One thing I remember about the 77 season was the homemade banners that fans would bring to games.  It looked like some must have been on bed sheets or something.

"Pitch at Risk to Richie Zisk", "Don't Gamble on Oscar", "Come on Spence, Over the Fence", "Send it Flyin' to the Ryan".  Good times.  I was a little kid at the time and it was a blast watching that team that year (until the last 6 weeks).

1 hour ago, 77 Hitmen said:

One thing I remember about the 77 season was the homemade banners that fans would bring to games.  It looked like some must have been on bed sheets or something.

"Pitch at Risk to Richie Zisk", "Don't Gamble on Oscar", "Come on Spence, Over the Fence", "Send it Flyin' to the Ryan".  Good times.  I was a little kid at the time and it was a blast watching that team that year (until the last 6 weeks).

Here's a fun TWIB segment about the banners.  There was a group of fans who sat in left field every game who had a whole supply of them that they'd drape over the outfield walls- slogans for each batter, an eye chart after a bad call. etc. It certainly was more creative than all the ads that cover the walls of every ballpark now.

4 minutes ago, kba said:

Here's a fun TWIB segment about the banners.  There was a group of fans who sat in left field every game who had a whole supply of them that they'd drape over the outfield walls- slogans for each batter, an eye chart after a bad call. etc. It certainly was more creative than all the ads that cover the walls of every ballpark now.

Those left field fans had their own club. 

2 hours ago, kba said:

Here's a fun TWIB segment about the banners.  There was a group of fans who sat in left field every game who had a whole supply of them that they'd drape over the outfield walls- slogans for each batter, an eye chart after a bad call. etc. It certainly was more creative than all the ads that cover the walls of every ballpark now.

I loved the ending music and slow motion montage at the end of TWIB.  Some memorable players in this particular video:  Tony Gwynn, Kirby Puckett, Ozzie Smith, Don Mattingly (before Mr. Burns had him shave his sideburns). 

 

Edited August 13, 2025Aug 13 by 77 Hitmen

5 hours ago, 77 Hitmen said:

I loved the ending music and slow motion montage at the end of TWIB.  Some memorable players in this particular video:  Tony Gwynn, Kirby Puckett, Ozzie Smith, Don Mattingly (before Mr. Burns had him shave his sideburns). 

 

Fun fact: The TWIB theme - a piece of production music called "Gathering Crowds" - was also used as the ABC News theme in the 1970s:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un7Lp7ibwgo

 

15 hours ago, kba said:

Fun fact: The TWIB theme - a piece of production music called "Gathering Crowds" - was also used as the ABC News theme in the 1970s:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un7Lp7ibwgo

 

Interesting.  I'm only old enough to remember the booming ABC World News Tonight theme, which apparently started in 1978 and they still use a variant  of it today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsVFZ0F8Gmc&t=7s

 

21 hours ago, 77 Hitmen said:

I loved the ending music and slow motion montage at the end of TWIB.  Some memorable players in this particular video:  Tony Gwynn, Kirby Puckett, Ozzie Smith, Don Mattingly (before Mr. Burns had him shave his sideburns). 

 

...oh and for all you Simpsons fans out there, I see that 3 of the players in this montage ended up on Mr. Burns's softball team:  Strawberry, Mattingly, and Ozzie Smith.  🤣