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Show ' GOHSXET Wii ' Old Roman Also Saw Cincinnati Cin-cinnati and Chicago Play in 1870. CHICAGO, Sept. 30. Charles Albert Comiskey, known as the "Old Roman," president of the pennant-winning White Sox, is indeed the "grand old man of baseball." Ever since he upset his father's fath-er's hope some forty years ago by taking up baseball instead of becoming a plumber he has been connected with baseball in various capacities, having traveled around the world with the Chicago and Xew York teams in 1013-14 and being instrumental in the progress of the game from the early days of the Fport. Although he celebrated his sixtieth birthday in August, Comiskey still is as active as he ever was, excep that he does not play. It did not require much plumbing to convince the Sox president that this was "i another field, so disregarding the appren-. appren-. ticeship under which father placed hlrn, 0.' he joined the Milwaukee baseball club as a third baseman in l7ti. He was 17 years old and Ids salary was $60 a month. Before Be-fore -this time, however, Comiskey played sand-lot baseball with his pals and became quite proficient in the art of handling a baseball. Comiskey is accustomed to seeeing hig team win pennants. In fact, he started j the pennant-winning business bank in ' 1S&5, when, as captain and manager of the ! St. Ixmis Browns, his team won the American association pennant in 1SS5-6-7-8. The Browns participated in, the world's series of those years, winning one series, losing two, and tying one. Once With Reds. In 1S92, he became captain and manager of the Cincinnati Reds, and while acting in that capacity met Byron B. Johnson, then engaged in newspaper work in that city. Comiskey and Johnson saw the financial fi-nancial possibilities of another major league and were the chief factors in the expansion of the old Western league into the American league. Following three years as first baseman and manager of the St. Paul club in the Western association, Comiskey became manager of the Chicago Western association associa-tion club in 1S9S, and in 1900 took the club as president and owner in its first year in the American league. In 1900 and 1901 the team won the American league pennants, pen-nants, thus giving Chicago its first championship cham-pionship team since the days of IS $2, when Anson's club captured the final National Na-tional league trophy. Since 1900, Comiskey has headed the White Sox. He is owner of Comiskey park, styled "the baseball palace of the world." and holds the distinction of being the only player who rose from the ranks to the position as sole owner of a major league ball club. As in Days of Yore. This year, as president and owner of the team, Comiskey will have the opportunity of witnessing a contest for the world's honors In baseball between Chicago and Cincinnati, as he did when a boy in 1870. In that year the invincible Cincinnati and ' the original Chicago White Stockings played a two-game series to determine V.. the championship of the United States. rJ" V Comiskey, then clad in knee pants, saw ; V the Chicagos win one of the games by a score of 16 to 13, before a crowd of 52,000 persons. He is one of the few prominent baseball men living today who witnessed that game. The White Sox president has never said whether he received his baseball inspiration inspira-tion at that time, but it is recorded that he began playing town ball very soon after aft-er that memorable series. Under the leadership of Comiskey, the White Sox team always has been popular with the fans. In 1910, when he built his mammoth concrete baseball stadium, he kept bleacher seats at 25 cents because he said he owed loyalty to this class of followers of the game, who supported him when he first came to Chicago, and he has continued to charge $1.00 for box seats, while the price has been raised in most of the largest cities. |