Today we say Happy Baseball Birthday to former big league ballplayer, manager, Chicago White Sox owner and Hall of Famer Charles Comiskey.
Charles Comiskey was born on August 15, 1859, in Chicago, Illinois.
After attending St. Louis University Comiskey signed with the St. Louis Browns of the American Association, in 1882.
Charles Comiskey made his big league debut for the Browns on May 5, 1882.
Comiskey played first base and was player/manager with the Browns, winning 4 consecutive American Association Pennants, 1885-86-87-88, winning the World Series in 1886.
Comiskey was also player/manager of the Chicago Pirates of the Players League in 1890, and managed the National League Cincinnati Reds in 1892-93-94.
Comiskey played in 1,390 big league games, collecting 1,529 hits, 207 doubles, 68 triples, with 28 home runs and 883 RBI in 5,796 at bats.
Comiskey played his final big league game as a player on September 12, 1894, at the age of 35.
After his playing days Comiskey became a baseball owner, and after owning a team in St. Paul, Minnesota, Comiskey became the owner of the Chicago White Stockings of the new American League in 1901.
Comiskey's ChiSox won American League Pennants in 1906, 1917, and 1919, winning World Series Championships in 1906 and 1917.
"The Old Roman" was a very frugal owner, and that led to the infamous "Black Sox" scandal, where eight White Sox players were found to have thrown the 1919 World Series againat the Cincinnati Reds.
The players were suspended by Comiskey during the players trials, and even thought each player was found not guilty by a jury, newly elected Baseball Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis permanently suspended all 8 ball players from ever playing in the big leagues again.
The White Sox, one of baseball's best teams, never recovered from the scandal, and the team would go 40 years before winning another pennant.
Charles Comiskey, know simply as "Commy" to his friends, passed away on October 26, 1931, in Eagle River, Wisconsin, at the age of 72,
Comiskey Park, built in 1910, and the White Sox hosted the very first Major League All-Star Game, in 1933.
Charles Comiskey was Inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veteran's Committee in 1939.
Today we send out a Happy Baseball Birthday to the Old Roman, Charles Comiskey.
PLAY BALL!
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