View source for Charles Comiskey

{{short description|American baseball player, manager, team owner (1859–1931)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Charles Comiskey
|image=1909 Charles Comiskey.jpg
|caption=Comiskey c. 1909
|position=[[First baseman]] / [[Manager (baseball)|Manager]] / [[Owner]]
|birth_date={{Birth date|1859|8|15|mf=y}}
|birth_place=[[Chicago, Illinois]], U.S.
|death_date={{Death date and age|1931|10|26|1859|8|15|mf=y}}
|death_place=[[Eagle River, Wisconsin]], U.S.
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=May 2
|debutyear=1882
|debutteam=St. Louis Brown Stockings
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=September 12
|finalyear=1894
|finalteam=Cincinnati Reds
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
|stat2label=[[Home run]]s
|stat3label=[[Runs batted in]]
|stat4label=[[Stolen base]]s
|stat5label=Managerial record
|stat1value=.264
|stat2value=28
|stat3value=883
|stat4value=416
|stat5value=840–541
|teams=
'''As player'''
* [[St. Louis Browns (NL)|St. Louis Brown Stockings/Browns]] ({{Baseball year|1882}}–{{Baseball year|1889}})
* [[Chicago Pirates]] ({{Baseball year|1890}})
* [[St. Louis Browns (NL)|St. Louis Browns]] ({{Baseball year|1891}})
* [[Cincinnati Reds]] ({{Baseball year|1892}}–{{Baseball year|1894}})
'''As manager'''
* [[St. Louis Browns (NL)|St. Louis Browns]] ({{Baseball year|1883}}–{{Baseball year|1889}}, {{Baseball year|1891}})
* [[Chicago Pirates]] ({{Baseball year|1890}})
* [[Cincinnati Reds]] ({{Baseball year|1892}}–{{Baseball year|1894}})
'''As Owner'''
* [[Chicago White Sox]] ({{Baseball year|1901}}–{{Baseball year|1931}})
|highlights=
* 2× [[World Series]] champion ([[1906 World Series|1906]], [[1917 World Series|1917]])
* 4× [[American Association (19th century)|American Association pennant]] (1885–1888)
* [[St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum|St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame]] 
|hoflink = National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
|hoftype = National
|hofdate=[[1939 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting|1939]]
|hofmethod=Old-Timers Committee
}}

'''Charles Albert Comiskey''' (August 15, 1859 – October 26, 1931), [[List of baseball nicknames|nicknamed]] "'''Commy'''" or "'''the Old Roman'''", was an American [[Major League Baseball]] player, [[manager (baseball)|manager]], and team owner. He was a key person in the formation of the [[American League]] and was also founding owner of the [[Chicago White Sox]].<ref name="baseball biography_comiskey">{{Cite web |title=Charlie Comiskey |url=https://baseballbiography.com/charlie-comiskey-1859 |access-date=December 27, 2007 |publisher=Baseball Biography}}</ref> [[Comiskey Park]], the White Sox's storied baseball stadium, was built under his guidance and named for him.<ref name="baseball biography_comiskey" />

Comiskey's reputation was permanently tarnished by his team's involvement in the [[Black Sox Scandal]], although he was inducted as an executive into the [[Baseball Hall of Fame]] in [[1939 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting|1939]].<ref name="baseball biography_comiskey" />

==Early life==
Comiskey was born on August 15, 1859, in [[Chicago]], the son of Illinois politician [[John Comiskey (politician)|John Comiskey]]. He attended public and parochial schools in Chicago, including [[St. Ignatius College Prep|St. Ignatius Preparatory School]], and then attended [[St. Mary's College (Kansas)|St. Mary's College]] in [[St. Marys, Kansas|St. Mary's, Kansas]]. He played baseball at St. Mary's and played for several professional teams in Chicago while apprenticed to a plumber and working at construction jobs, including driving a brick delivery wagon for the construction crews building the fifth Chicago City Hall, which stood from 1873 to 1885.<ref name="Black Sox White">{{Cite book |last=Hornbaker |first=Tom |title=Turning the Black Sox White: The Misunderstood Legacy of Charles A. Comiskey |date=March 14, 2014 |publisher=Sports Publishing |isbn=978-1613216385 |pages=11–20}}</ref>

==Baseball career==
{{multiple image 
 | total_width = 400
 | align = center
 | caption_align = center
 | image1 = Charles Comiskey, St. Louis Browns baseball card, 1887.jpg
 | alt1 = 
 | caption1= An 1887 baseball card showing Comiskey as a St. Louis Brown
 | image2 = Charles Comiskey Old Judge 1888.jpg
 | alt2 = 
 | caption2 = An 1888 baseball card showing Comiskey as a St. Louis Brown
}}

===Playing and managing career===

Comiskey started his playing career as a [[pitcher]], and moved to [[First baseman|first base]] after developing arm trouble. He is credited with being the first to play hitters off first base, allowing him to cover balls hit to more of the infield. He entered the [[American Association (19th century)|American Association]] in 1882 with the [[St. Louis Cardinals|St. Louis Brown Stockings]].<ref name="bio_comiskey">{{Cite web |title=Charles "The Old Roman" Comiskey |url=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/blacksox/comiskeybio.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080113052839/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/blacksox/comiskeybio.html |archive-date=January 13, 2008 |access-date=December 27, 2007 |publisher=University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law}}</ref> He managed the team during parts of its first three seasons and became the full-time manager in 1885,<ref name="bio_comiskey" /> leading the Browns to four consecutive [[American Association (19th century)|American Association]] championships and a close second in 1889.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1889 American Association Season Summary |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AA/1889.shtml}}</ref> He also played and managed for the [[Chicago Pirates]] in the [[Players' League]] (1890), the [[St. Louis Cardinals|Browns]] again (1891), and the [[Cincinnati Reds]] in the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] (1892–1894).<ref name="managerial record">{{Cite web |title=Charlie Comiskey |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/comisch01.shtml |access-date=August 2, 2016 |website=Baseball Reference}}</ref>

===As an owner===
[[File:Charles Comiskey circa 1910.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.6|Comiskey, circa 1910]]
Comiskey left Cincinnati and the majors in fall 1894 to purchase the [[Western League (1885–1899)|Western League]] Sioux City Cornhuskers in [[Sioux City, Iowa]] and move it to [[Saint Paul, Minnesota]], renaming the team the St. Paul Saints.<ref name="bio_comiskey" /> He had compiled a .264 [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]] with 29 [[home run]]s, 883 [[run batted in|RBI]] and 419 [[stolen base]]s. As a manager, he posted an 839–542 record.
After five seasons of sharing the Twin Cities with another Western League club in [[Minneapolis]], Comiskey and his colleagues arranged to share Chicago with the [[National League (baseball)|National League]], whose club (the [[Chicago Cubs]] today) played on the West Side. The St. Paul Saints moved to the South Side as the White Stockings (also the original name of the Cubs; it was eventually shortened to White Sox) of the renamed [[American League]] for the 1900 season. The American League then declared itself a major league starting in 1901.<ref name="bio_comiskey" />

[[File:Charles Comiskey.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.6|Comiskey, circa 1910]]
As owner of the White Sox from 1900 until his death in 1931, Comiskey oversaw the construction of [[Comiskey Park]] in 1910 and won five American League pennants (1900, 1901, 1906, 1917, 1919) and two World Series (1906, 1917).<ref name="bio_comiskey" /> He lost popularity with his players, who eventually came to despise him. The players' animosity towards Comiskey has been cited as a major cause of the [[Black Sox scandal]], when eight players on the AL champions conspired to "throw" the [[1919 World Series]] to the NL champion [[Cincinnati Reds]].<ref name="bio_comiskey" /> Comiskey was notoriously stingy (his defenders called him "frugal"), even forcing his players to pay to launder their own uniforms.<ref name="bio_comiskey" /> Traci Peterson notes that, in an era when professional athletes lacked free agency, the White Sox's formidable players had little choice but to accept Comiskey's substandard wages. She writes: "[[Charles Risberg|Swede Risberg]] and [[Claude Williams (baseball player)|Lefty Williams]] made less than $3,000 a year (${{Inflation|US|3000|1919|fmt=c}} today). [[Shoeless Joe Jackson|Joe Jackson]] and [[Buck Weaver]] made only $6,000 a year (${{Inflation|US|6000|1919|fmt=c}} today). [[Eddie Cicotte]] had been promised a $10,000 (${{Inflation|US|10000|1919|fmt=c}} today) bonus if he could win 30 games in a season. When Cicotte closed in on the 30-game goal, Comiskey had him benched to keep him from reaching the mark."<ref name="bio_comiskey" /> Comiskey's stated reason for having manager [[Kid Gleason]] bench Cicotte was that with the Sox headed for the World Series, he had to protect his star pitcher's arm (Cicotte ended up with a 29–7 record in 1919 ). In one incident, he promised his players a bonus for winning the 1919 pennant&nbsp;— the "bonus" turned out to be a case of flat champagne.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=June 2, 2018 |title=Chicago White Sox: Shoeless Joe Jackson Awaits Justice 50 Years After His Death |url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/908953-chicago-white-sox-shoeless-joe-still-awaits-justice-50-years-after-his-death |access-date=December 15, 2022 |website=Bleacher Report}}</ref>

When the scandal broke late in the 1920 season, Comiskey suspended the suspected players via telegram, admitting that he knew this action cost the White Sox a second straight pennant. However, he initially defended the accused players and, in an unusual display of largesse, provided them with expensive legal representation. He ultimately supported baseball commissioner [[Kenesaw Mountain Landis]]' decision to ban the implicated White Sox players from further participation in professional baseball, knowing full well that Landis' action would permanently sideline the core of his team.<ref name="bio_comiskey" /> Indeed, the White Sox promptly tumbled into seventh place and would not be a factor in a pennant race again until {{Baseball year|1936}}, five years after Comiskey's death. They did not win another pennant until {{Baseball year|1959}} and another World Series until {{Baseball year|2005}}.

==Legacy==
[[File:Grave of Charles Comiskey (1859–1931) at Calvary Cemetery, Evanston 1.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Comiskey mausoleum at Calvary Cemetery]]

Comiskey is sometimes credited with the innovation of playing the [[first baseman|first base]] position behind first base or inside the foul line, a practice which has since become common.<ref name="bio_comiskey" /> Later, he had played a large role in the dissolution of the [[National Baseball Commission|National Commission]], baseball's former governing body, following a quarrel with [[Ban Johnson]].<ref name=Affair/> He was inducted into the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame]] in 1939.<ref name="baseball biography_comiskey" /> He was also named to the [[St. Louis Cardinals]] Hall of Fame in May 2022, as the selection of Cardinals managing partner [[William DeWitt Jr.]] for his accomplishments as manager of the St. Louis Browns.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hummel |first=Rick |date=May 27, 2022 |title=Holliday, Javier, Comiskey named to Cardinals' Hall of Fame |url=https://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/cardinal-beat/holliday-javier-comiskey-named-to-cardinals-hall-of-fame/article_520a61d4-6210-5472-8623-2c192cca8dc1.html |access-date=May 27, 2022 |work=[[St. Louis Post Dispatch]]}}</ref>

Comiskey died in [[Eagle River, Wisconsin]] in 1931 and was buried at [[Calvary Cemetery (Evanston, Illinois)|Calvary Cemetery]] in Evanston. Comiskey's son [[J. Louis Comiskey|J. Louis]] inherited the team but died a few years later. The trustees of his estate were going to sell the team, but J. Louis' widow [[Grace Comiskey|Grace]] was able to gain control of the team and avoid a sale. Her two children, [[Dorothy Comiskey Rigney]] and [[Chuck Comiskey|Charles "Chuck" Albert Comiskey II]] (who served in the White Sox front office in the 1940s and 1950s before he became owner),<ref name="NYT">{{Cite news |date=August 28, 2007 |title=Charles Albert Comiskey II, 81, a White Sox boss, is dead |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/28/sports/28comiskey.html?_r=0 |access-date=February 22, 2014 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> became co-owners of the team following Grace's death in the 1950s.<ref name="Affair">{{Cite news |last=Creamer |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Creamer |date=February 24, 1958 |title=The Comiskey Affair |url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1958/02/24/the-comiskey-affair |access-date=February 22, 2014 |work=[[Sports Illustrated]]}}</ref> Dorothy sold controlling interest in the team to [[Bill Veeck]] in 1958, but Chuck remained a minority owner until 1962.<ref name="TBT">{{Cite book |last=Purdy |first=Dennis |title=The Team-by-Team Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball |publisher=Workman Publishing Company |year=2006 |isbn=0-7611-3943-5 |location=New York City}}</ref>

When the White Sox moved to a new ballpark in 1991, the [[Comiskey Park]] name was retained from their previous home (since 1910). It is now known as [[Rate Field]]. A statue of Comiskey stands near center field in the new ballpark.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Charles A. Comiskey Historical Marker |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=248553 |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=Historical Marker Database}}</ref>

==Career statistics==
===As a manager===

{| class="wikitable" Style="text-align: center"
|-
!rowspan="2"|Team!!rowspan="2"|From!!rowspan="2"|To!!colspan="3"|Record
|-
!{{Tooltip|W|Games won}}!!{{Tooltip|L|Games lost}}!!{{Tooltip|Win %|Winning percentage}}
|-
|[[St. Louis Cardinals|St. Louis Browns]]||1883||1883
|{{WinLossPct|12|7}}
|-
|St. Louis Browns||1884||1889
|{{WinLossPct|465|214}}
|-
|[[Chicago Pirates]]||1890||1890
|{{WinLossPct|75|62}}
|-
|St. Louis Browns||1891||1891
|{{WinLossPct|86|52}}
|-
|[[Cincinnati Reds]]||1892||1894
|{{WinLossPct|202|206}}
|-
!colspan="3"| Total
!{{WinLossPct|840|541}}
|-
!colspan="6"|{{Tooltip|Ref.|Reference}}:<ref name="managerial record" />
|}

==See also==
* [[List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball player-managers]]
* [[List of St. Louis Cardinals team records]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*{{Cite journal |last=Riehle |first=Dave |date=Summer 2004 |title=Say It Ain’t So, Charlie! The 1897 Dispute between Charles Comiskey and the St. Paul Labor Trades and Labor Assembly over the Opening of Lexington Park |url=https://rchs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/RCHS_Summer2004_Riehle.pdf |journal=Ramsey County History |location=St. Paul, Minnesota |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=14–18}}
* {{Cite book |last=Axelson |first=Gustaf W. |url=https://archive.org/details/commylifestoryof00axel |title="Commy": the life story of Charles A. Comiskey, the "Grand old Roman" of baseball and for nineteen years president and owner of the American league baseball team "The White Sox," |publisher=Reilly & Lee Co |year=1919 |location=Chicago |via=Internet Archive}}

==External links==
{{wikisource|works=or}}
{{commons category}}
*{{Baseballstats|br=c/comisch01|brm=comisk001cha}}
*{{Baseball-reference manager|comisch01}}
*{{bbhof|comiskey-charles}}

{{1939 Baseball HOF}}
{{Baseball Hall of Fame members}}
{{St. Louis Cardinals HOF}}
{{1885 St. Louis Browns}}
{{1886 St. Louis Browns}}
{{1887 St. Louis Browns}}
{{1888 St. Louis Browns}}
{{St. Louis Cardinals managers}}
{{St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame}}
{{Cincinnati Reds managers}}
{{Chicago White Sox HOF}}
{{Chicago White Sox owners}}
{{Black Sox Scandal}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comiskey, Charles}}
[[Category:1859 births]]
[[Category:1931 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century baseball players]]
[[Category:19th-century American sportsmen]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball player-managers]]
[[Category:Chicago Pirates players]]
[[Category:Chicago White Sox executives]]
[[Category:Chicago White Sox owners]]
[[Category:Cincinnati Reds managers]]
[[Category:Cincinnati Reds players]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball first basemen]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball owners]]
[[Category:Minor league baseball managers]]
[[Category:National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:St. Louis Browns (AA) managers]]
[[Category:St. Louis Browns (AA) players]]
[[Category:St. Louis Brown Stockings (AA) players]]
[[Category:Troy Haymakers players]]
[[Category:Dubuque Red Stockings players]]
[[Category:St. Paul Apostles players]]
[[Category:St. Paul Saints (Western League) players]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Chicago]]
[[Category:Comiskey family|Charles]]
[[Category:People from Eagle River, Wisconsin]]
[[Category:St. Ignatius College Prep alumni]]
[[Category:Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Evanston, Illinois)]]