Comiskey Park Comiskey Park ( 35th Street & Shields Avenue , Chicago , Illinois ) was the ballpark in which the Chicago White Sox played from 1910 to 1990 . It was built by Charles Comiskey after a design by Zachary Taylor Davis , and was the site of four World Series ( one of which was played by the Chicago Cubs because of a lack of seating at Wrigley Field ) and more than 6 , 000 major league games . The field was also the site of the 1937 heavyweight title match in which Joe Louis defeated then champion James J . Braddock in eight rounds . For a number of years , off and on , the Chicago Cardinals of the NFL called Comiskey Park home when they weren ' t playing at Normal Park or Soldier Field . The 1947 NFL championship game was held at Comiskey . The successor to Comiskey Park was built across 35th Street south of the 1910 ballpark , and opened in 1991 . The new Comiskey Park was renamed U . S . Cellular Field in 2003 . The original Comiskey Park is now sometimes referred to as " Old Comiskey Park " . Early years . The park was built on a former city dump that Comiskey bought in 1909 to replace the wooden South Side Park . It was originally built as White Sox Park , but within three years was renamed for White Sox founder and owner Charles Comiskey . The original name , White Sox Park , was restored in 1962 , but it went back to the Comiskey Park name in 1976 . Comiskey Park was very modern for its time . It was the fourth concrete - and - steel stadium in the major leagues , and the third in the American League . As originally built , it sat almost 29 , 000 , a record at the time . Briefly , it retained the nickname " The Baseball Palace of the World . " The park ' s design was strongly influenced by Sox pitcher Ed Walsh , and was known for its pitcher - friendly proportions ( 362 feet to the foul poles ; 420 feet to center field ) . Later changes were made , but the park remained more or less favorable to defensive teams . For many years this reflected on the White Sox style of play : solid defense , and short , quick hits . The first game in Comiskey Park was a 2 - 0 loss to the St . Louis Browns on July 1 , 1910 . The last game at Comiskey was a win , 2 - 1 , over the Seattle Mariners on September 30 , 1990 . The White Sox won their first - ever home night game , over St . Louis on August 14 , 1939 , 5 - 2 . The first no - hitter at Comiskey Park was hurled by Vern Kennedy on August 31 , 1935 , in a 5 - 0 win over Cleveland . Special baseball events . World Series . Comiskey Park was the site of four World Series . In 1917 , the Chicago White Sox won games 1 , 2 and 5 at Comiskey Park and went on to defeat the New York Giants four games to two . It was the last Championship for the White Sox for 88 years . In 1918 , Comiskey Park hosted the World Series between the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox . The Cubs borrowed Comiskey Park for the series because of its larger seating capacity . The Red Sox defeated the Cubs four games to two . Games one , two and three were played at Comiskey Park . The Red Sox won games one and three . It was the last Championship for the Red Sox for 86 years . Attendance was under capacity in that war year . The best crowd was game 3 , with some 27 , 000 patrons . This was an ironic case — all three teams would see a long drought afterward . In 1919 , the White Sox lost the infamous " Black Sox " World Series to the Cincinnati Reds , five games to three in a nine - game series . Games three , four , five and eight were played at Comiskey Park . The White Sox won game three and lost games four , five and eight . In 1959 , the White Sox lost four games to two to the Los Angeles Dodgers . Games one , two and six were played at Comiskey Park . The White Sox won game one and lost games two and six . Comiskey also saw post - season action in 1983 , when the White Sox lost the American League Championship Series to the Baltimore Orioles , 3 games to 1 , with games 3 and 4 being in Chicago . All - Star Games . Comiskey Park was the site of three Major League Baseball All - Star Game s , and each of them marked a turn in the direction of dominance by one league or the other : This coincidental connection of White Sox ballparks to significant points in All - Star history would continue at U . S . Cellular Field . Beginning with the game at the Cell in 2003 , new rules awarded the winning league home field advantage in the World Series . The American League All - Stars won the 2003 All - Star Game on Chicago ' s South Side , and began an American winning streak that continued through 2009 . Fans . From the 1970s until its demolition in 1991 , Comiskey was the oldest park still in use in Major League Baseball . Many of its known characteristics , such as the pinwheels on the " exploding " scoreboard , were installed by Bill Veeck ( owner of the White Sox from 1959 to 1961 , and again from 1975 to 1981 ) . Another Veeck innovation was the " picnic area " , created by replacing portions of the left field walls ( the side of the field not facing the setting sun ) with screens and setting up picnic tables under the seating areas . This concept was later extended to right field . During Veeck ' s second ownership , he installed a shower behind the speaker horns in the center field bleachers , for fans to cool off on hot summer days . From 1960 to 1990 , Sox fans were also entertained by Andy the Clown , famous for his famous Jerry Colonna - like elongated cry , " Come ooooooooooon , go ! White ! Sox ! " . On August 20 , 1965 , The Beatles performed at the ballpark . Starting in the 1970s , Sox fans were further entertained by organist Nancy Faust who picked up on , and reinforced , the spontaneous chants of fans who were singing tunes like , " We will , we will , SOX YOU ! " and the now - ubiquitous farewell to departing pitchers and ejected managers , " Na - na - na - na , na - na - na - na , hey - hey , GOOD - BYE ! " Before he became an institution on the north side with the Cubs , Sox broadcaster Harry Caray was a south side icon . At some point he started " conducting " Take Me Out to the Ball Game during the seventh - inning stretch , egged on by Veeck , who ( according to Harry himself ) said that the fans would sing along when they realized that none of them sang any worse than Harry did . Harry would sometimes broadcast from the center field bleachers , where he could hobnob with fans and get a suntan ( or a burn ) . The largest crowd ever at Old Comiskey Park was a crowd of 55 , 555 ( which was 11 , 063 over capacity ) on May 20 , 1973 for a doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins , which also had the promotion of " Bat Day " . By contrast , just over two years earlier , the smallest attendance at the park was recorded , with a puny number of 511 souls showing up for a game on a Thursday , May 6 , 1971 against the Boston Red Sox . " The Night Disco Died " . The most famous ( or infamous ) promotional event ever held at Old Comiskey was " Disco Demolition Night " , organized by longtime Chicago radio personality Steve Dahl and White Sox promotions manager Mike Veeck ( Bill ' s son ) on July 12 , 1979 . Between games of a make - up doubleheader between the White Sox and the Detroit Tigers , Dahl and his crew destroyed a pile of disco records that fans had brought in in exchange for a ticket with a discounted price of 98 ¢ ( US ) in honor of Dahl ' s station at that time , WLUP - FM , the frequency of which was 97 . 9 MHz . More than 50 , 000 fans were in attendance , along with another 20 , 000 who crashed the gates even though the game was sold out . After the demolition , several thousand fans , many of them intoxicated , stormed the field , stealing equipment and destroying the infield . The nightcap of the doubleheader was canceled and forfeited to the Detroit Tigers . Transitions . When Bill Veeck re - acquired the team , he took out the center field fence , reverting to the original distance to the wall ( posted as 440 in the 1940s , re - measured as 445 in the 1970s ) . . . a tough target , but reachable by sluggers like Oscar Gamble and Richie Zisk and other members of a team that was tagged " The South Side Hit Men " . They were long removed from their days as " The Hitless Wonders " . During that time the ballpark also featured a lounge where one could buy mixed drinks . This prompted some writers to dub Comiskey " Chicago ' s Largest Outdoor Saloon " . Final years . In 1969 , Astroturf was installed in the infield only much like Tim McCarver Stadium in Memphis would be in the 1980s and Telus Field in Edmonton in the 1990s . This was removed in 1976 . The outfield in all three stadiums had remained grass . During the last 8 years of its existence , Comiskey ' s annual attendance surpassed the 2 million mark three times , including the final season when the team contended for much of the year before losing the division title to the Oakland Athletics . White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf received more than $ 200 million in public financing for the new stadium after threatening to move the club to St . Petersburg , Florida . An interesting phenomenon occurred in the Illinois state legislature , in that the Speaker literally stopped the clock on the evening of June 30 , 1988 so that the legislature could report that the money had been granted on June 30 , and not July 1 . The stadium now called Tropicana Field was constructed by officials in St . Petersburg in an effort to lure a Major League Baseball club to Florida . The deal was sealed in a last - minute legislative maneuver by then - governor James R . Thompson . Comiskey Park was demolished in 1991 , a process that started from behind the right field corner , and took all summer . The last portion to come down was the center field bleachers and the " exploding " scoreboard . The site of the old park was turned into a parking lot to serve those attending games at the new Comiskey Park ( later renamed U . S . Cellular Field ) . At the time Comiskey was demolished , Chicago ' s two baseball stadiums were a combined 157 years old . Bill Veeck once remarked that " There is no more beautiful sight in the world than a ballpark full of people ! " On its best days , Comiskey was stuffed to the gills , with 55 , 000 people or more lining the aisles and even standing for nine ( or eighteen ) innings on the sloping ramps that criss - crossed behind the scoreboard . The nearly - fully enclosed stands had a way of capturing and reverberating the noise without any artificial enhancement . As a Chicago sportswriter once remarked , " Wrigley Field " yayed " and Comiskey Park " roared " . " ' Old ' Comiskey ' s home plate is a marble plaque on the sidewalk next to U . S . Cellular Field , and the field is a parking lot . Foul lines are painted on the lot . Also , the spectator ramp across 35th Street is designed in such a way ( partly curved , partly straight but angling east - northeast ) that it echoes the outline of part of the old grandstand . Shortly before the park ' s demolition , the ballpark was featured in the movie " Only the Lonely " . John Candy ' s character ( on a first date ) arranged to have a private picnic on the stadium grass under the lights with his date ( Ally Sheedy ) . Candy referenced the stadium ' s impending demolition during the date . When the Sox won the 2005 World Series , their victory parade began at U . S . Cellular Field , and then circled the block where old Comiskey had stood , before heading on a route through various south side neighborhoods and toward downtown Chicago .