The Chicago White Sox, established in 1901, are one of Major League Baseball’s oldest teams; they’re also one of the American League’s eight original franchises.
Originally known as the Sioux City Cornhuskers, the team would move to Chicago under the direction of manager Charles Comiskey. The team immediately adopted the “White Stockings” name after it was rejected by Chicago’s current National League team – the Cubs. The Chicago Tribune shortened the last part of the team’s name to “Sox” for headlines. This change saw a majority favor the nickname, resulting in a permanent name swap.
The Sox have a total of three World Series championships – winning the first in 1906 against their crosstown rivals, followed by two subsequent victories in 1917 and 2005. The White Sox are responsible for many uniform innovations: They were the first team in sports to have players’ last names on uniforms in 1960.
Read on to see how White Sox branding has changed throughout history.
Logo History
1901–1902: Chicago uses a red block-letter “C” for its first logo.
1903: The logo changes to blue and receives a modification to its appearance.
1904–1911: Various modifications are made to the block-letter “C.”
1912–1916: For the first time, the Sox make a significant change; they move away from the “C” logo and feature the word “Sox.” The “S” serves as the focal point with the “O” and “X” entangled within.
1917: The font becomes thinner and minor detailing on the letter “S” is changed.
1918–1931: In celebration of a world championship, the Sox go for an intricate logo. A white sock appears over a blue and gold globe with an eagle on top and two bats crossing underneath. The words “world champions” appear over top, and the image is placed over a red, white, and blue badge.
1932–1935: The intricate logo is ditched for the word “Sox,” which now appears in a new red format in a diagonal layout. A baseball is inside the letter “O” and a yellow bat appears in the background.
1936–1938: The Sox return to a previous resemblance of the mainstay “S” with the “O” and “X” entangled within.
1939–1948: The club switches to a cartoon baseball player with a bat, which bears the team name. In the background is a large red outline of a baseball.
1949–1959: A new cartoon of a winged-sock appears in white with a blue shading around it and the city name in red.
1960–1975: The club switches to a more simplistic logo of a sock outline with a baseball player on it.
1976–1981: The club sticks to red and blue coloring. A new logo of a cartoon baseball player is depicted over the city and team name.
1982–1990: The shade of blue changes slightly.
1991–Present: They revert to a classic look with the team name displayed in a simple black, diagonal layout.
Chicago White Sox WinCraft 1901 27″ x 37″ Vertical Banner
Notable Uniform Changes
1906: One of Chicago’s earliest uniforms was a simple black and white design with the city name displayed in the front.
1910: The Sox unveil a new design for the home uniform with the team name spelled in a vertical layout along the buttons. The uniforms keep the black and white color scheme.
1912: The team debuts the “S-O-X” logo that would become iconic in sports.
1914: The Sox add pinstripes to the home uniform and cap.
Chicago White Sox New Era MLB Team Classic Alternate 39THIRTY Flex Hat – White
1917: The team modifies the uniform to celebrate America’s patriotism during World War I. Stars appear on the “S-O-X” logo, and an American flag is added to the sleeves.
1918: The stars and flags are removed; the uniforms return to a plain look.
1925: The team changes the road uniform from a simple gray to an eye-popping, all-blue display with white pinstripes. These uniforms would last only one year.
1929: The team switches up the “S-O-X” logo on the road uniform to show the full city name.
1932: For one season, the team unveils a third uniform with a new logo that consisted of a “C” engraved into a letter “S” with a baseball and crossing bats. The team also unveils a new primary logo, which is the team name in a block-style, diagonal font with orange-red coloring (instead of the traditional blue/black.)
1940: The team reverts to the classic “S-O-X” logo, but as a change, it appears much bolder and blockier so that the letter “S” stands out.
1942: For a short time, the White Sox change the look to a simple cursive font that displays the team name in red. The blue trim is also thickened, and a patch on the left sleeve is added.
1950: The White Sox debut the logo that mostly resembles the team’s present-day look with the addition of pinstripes.
1957: The team modifies the logo to feature red and dark blue as primary colors. The other design elements remain the same.
1964: The team debuts powder blue road uniforms with the city’s name on the front in block print. The White Sox became the first team in sports to have players’ last names on uniforms in the early 1960s.
1967: Chicago modifies the font on the powder blue road uniform for a fancy cursive look. The team name is also added below the city name in white.
1971: Chicago keeps the previous designs but switches things up to replace the dark blue font with vibrant red.
1976: Chicago ditches the button-down style and opts for a simple white and navy color scheme. The team uses a combination of white and blue to create four different uniforms, with the city name appearing on all of them.
1982: The Sox make another drastic change, opting for a red, white, and blue color scheme. The team name is placed on both the home and road uniform, along with player numbers on the pants. The hats change to combinations of red, white, and blue and horizontal stripe designs are added to the center of the uniform and sleeves.
1987: Chicago scraps the colorful uniforms but keeps the team colors the same. Instead of the vibrant design, the Sox opt for a classic look with a cursive font that displays the team name at home and the city name on the road uniform. The white hats are replaced by simple blue hats with red brims, and player numbers are displayed in navy blue instead of red on the pants.
1990: The Sox lead the league with a famous throwback uniform that inspires other teams to partake in similar traditions of wearing old but modified uniforms. The Sox were the first team to start the trend.
1991: The team goes back to a simple black and white coloring with the previous logo, and player numbers are now placed on the chest of the uniform instead of the pants. These uniforms have seen little to no change since.
Todd Frazier Chicago White Sox Majestic Cool Base Player Jersey – Black
2013: The team wears retro ’80s throwback uniforms with the vibrant red, white, and blue coloring.
2016: The uniforms closely resemble the style that was introduced in the early 1990s, with the black and white as staple colors.
Looking Back to Look Forward
Throughout history, the White Sox have worked their way up to the World Series a total of five times – emerging as the champions for three of them (1906, 1917, and 2005). For a team that’s been around for over century, they have been quite particular about the uniform numbers they retire. It appears that they give credit where it’s truly due.
Since their inception into the league, the White Sox have only retired 11 uniform numbers:
No. 2 – Nellie Fox
No. 3 – Harold Baines
No. 4 – Luke Appling
No. 9 – Minnie Miñoso
No. 11 – Luis Aparicio
No. 14 – Paul Konerko
No. 16 – Ted Lyons
No. 19 – Billy Pierce
No. 35 – Frank Thomas
No. 42 – Jackie Robinson
No. 72 – Carlton Fisk
Be a part of #WhiteSoxNation today by keeping up with the team’s latest apparel and fan gear. Look no further than Fanatics.com – the one stop shop for all White Sox essentials!
Sources
- http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/list_by_team/55/Chicago_White_Sox/
- http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2005/10/x_marks_the_baseball_team.html
- https://www.pediment.com/blogs/news/54348485-chicago-white-sox-roots-trace-back-to-sioux-city
- http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/2005_WS.shtml
- http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/cws/history/retired_numbers.jsp
- http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHW/
- http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/cws/history/year_by_year_results.jsp
- http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/cws/history/uniforms_logos.jsp
- http://uniformcritics.com/baseball/mlb/chicago-white-sox/
- http://www.thisgreatgame.com/1901-baseball-history.html
- http://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?page=lukas/041202
