The Longest Baseball Story in Chicago
The White Sox joined the American League in its inaugural 1901 season as the Chicago White Sox - one of the eight charter franchises - and they have never left the South Side. That makes the club the longest continuously running baseball story in the city, and the reason the black-and-white uniform carries so much weight.
1901-1919: The Americans, the Hitless Wonders and the Scandal
The franchise was originally the White Stockings, a name inherited from the 19th-century National League club, and was soon shortened to White Sox. In 1906 the team won 93 games and then beat the 116-win Cubs in the World Series - a team nicknamed the Hitless Wonders for winning with pitching, defence and timely hits rather than power.
Then came 1919. Eight players were accused of throwing the World Series against Cincinnati, and the fallout became the Black Sox scandal - the event that produced the position of Commissioner of Baseball and the permanent bans that shaped the sport for a century. The uniform has been a reminder of that chapter ever since.
1959: The Go-Go Sox
The 1959 club won the American League pennant on speed and defence, stealing 113 bases in an era when nobody ran. They won the opener of the World Series against the Dodgers and then lost four straight, but the Go-Go Sox are still one of the most distinctive teams in franchise history - and the reason the 1959 throwback look is one of the most popular White Sox jerseys on the market.
1972-1990: Shorts, Disco and the South Side Revival
The 1970s brought two experiments that still define the club's visual history: the red-and-white look of the early decade and the 1976 collared pullover worn with shorts - the only time a major league club took the field in shorts. Disco Demolition Night in 1979 became one of the strangest nights in baseball history. In 1990 the club moved into the new Comiskey Park and returned to a cleaner black-and-white silhouette.
2005: Four Complete Games and a Sweep
The 2005 White Sox ended an 88-year championship drought by sweeping the Houston Astros in the World Series. The starting rotation threw four consecutive complete games in one postseason, a feat that had not been done in that fashion before. Paul Konerko, Jermaine Dye and Scott Podsednik carried the offence, and the black-and-white look from that season remains the club's signature uniform.
The Retired Numbers on the Left-Field Wall
Four of the club's honoured numbers belong to players this store carries: Frank Thomas #35, the Big Hurt and back-to-back AL MVP in 1993 and 1994; Carlton Fisk #72, the Hall of Fame catcher who spent 1981-1993 on the South Side; Harold Baines #3, one of the most consistent hitters of his generation and a 2019 Hall of Fame inductee; and Bo Jackson #8, the only athlete ever named an All-Star in both MLB and the NFL, who finished his baseball career in Chicago.
Why Stitched Still Matters on a Throwback
Throwback jerseys live or die on the lettering. On a 1959 Go-Go Sox jersey or a 2005 Konerko, the difference between a collectible and a costume is whether the letters and numbers are sewn tackle-twill or pressed on. Stitched twill keeps the raised edge, holds the colour through washing and does not crack at the crease - which is why every jersey in our White Sox collection is stitched rather than printed.
Shop the White Sox Collection
Browse Chicago White Sox jerseys, or go straight to the player: Frank Thomas #35, Carlton Fisk #72, Harold Baines #3, Bo Jackson #8, and the current centrepiece Luis Robert Jr. #88.