The Chicago White Sox: 99 years and 3 World Series titles

The Chicago White Sox: 99 years and 3 World Series titles

Whether you refer to them as the ChiSox or the South Siders, the Chicago White Sox are one of two MLB teams that the state of Illinois has to offer to sports fans.

Iowa baseball fans bandwagon onto the Chicago Cubs most due to no pro sports teams being in the state, but Chicago’s second-born teams that once shared a name with the Cubs calling themselves the “White Stockings,” have recently gained a stronger following after a dominant 2021 season towering over their cross-town rivals. 

With a chance to go to the World Series, the Sox were eventually knocked out by the Houston Astros. As a lifelong White Sox fan born in Illinois myself, I grew up around fans of both teams, so seeing my team make it that far after years of being let down was a spark of hope for seasons to come. Compared to the Cubs’ last World Series win in 2016, my team hasn’t won since 2005.

Before all of this, though, 121 years in the making had led to a long journey to success. So, what are the White Sox World Series wins that led them to last summer?

When the White Sox first were created in 1894, they were known as the Sioux City (Iowa) Cornhuskers, and the team was founded as a minor league organization. Then, they became an MLB team in 1901 when they joined the American League. Since then, they have won six American League pennants and three World Series titles in 1906, 1917, and 2005. The most recent win was indeed 99 years in the making, but well earned and hard-fought. 

The first win for the White Sox came in 1906, only 5 years after being established as a team when they crushed their cross-town rivals in the Cubs by winning four out of their six games. During that season, the Cubs had posted the highest regular-season win total of 116 games and the White Sox still managed to clobber their highly-favored opponent.  

The White Sox won again in 1917 when they took on the New York Giants and again won 4-2 in their six games total. This World Series was played during the time of World War I, so it wasn’t publicized much due to the fighting taking over the media. This season was also the first and only season where the White Sox had a record of over 100 wins. Not even in 2005 did they reach 100 wins; that season the team sat at 99-63.

The last time the Sox won a World Series was in 2005 when they took on the team that knocked them out of the runnings in the 2021 season, the Houston Astros. I personally have very strong opinions against the Astros due to their scandals, so beating them in a fair game proves that they are not all that.

The Sox won this year with a clean 4-0 win over the Astros that left Houston choking for air after a clean sweep by the Sox. This was the only World Series that the White Sox won in a clean sweep, keeping their opponent from winning a single game. 

Until the White Sox’s next World Series, we can only wait and assume that they are gonna be back and better than ever after their 2021 season in which they came up just barely short of the World Series.