New Book Captures Magnificent Memories Of Old Comiskey

By Dan Schlossberg

With talk of a new ballpark on Chicago’s South Side, it’s high time to remember what was lost when Speedway Wrecking demolished the original Comiskey Park in 1991.

Author Ken Smoller, a rabid White Sox fan now based in Massachusetts, does just that in a well-illustrated new book called Last Comiskey, published by Eckhartz Press.

That ballpark was home of the Sox from 1910-1990, when it was replaced by “the new Comiskey,” later called U.S. Cellular Field and most recently Guaranteed Rate Park (not Guaranteed Win Park, unfortunately for ChiSox fans).

The book features a foreword by former White Sox shortstop and manager Ozzie Guillén, who was on the field for the last season of the celebrated ballpark.

Once nicknamed the “Baseball Palace of the World,” old Comiskey was the baseball home of Frank Thomas, Carlton Fisk, Robin Ventura, Jack McDowell, and even Sammy Sosa — players who helped the club emerge as a surprise contender in its final season.

Bill Veeck installed the game’s first exploding scoreboard in Comiskey Park when he owned the Chicago White Sox.Photo byWikimedia

“During the historic final season of Comiskey Park, my goal was to capture the ballpark from every angleto preserve my childhood memories,” the first-time author explained. “This book provides an opportunity to share these photographs with White Sox and baseball fans, many of whom never got the chance to see the Baseball Palace of the World before it was gone.

This book is a companion piece to the same-named 2023 documentary Last Comiskey by Matt Flesch. Tom Shaer, longtime Chicago sportscaster and Emmy Award winner, served as Senior Editorial Consultant on the Last Comiskey book.

“When the history of the game is written, Comiskey Park is really important,” Guillén wrote in his foreword. “We may have taken that history for granted while we were playing there. At the end of the day, you think back about how many great memories took place at Comiskey Park.”

The project initially started as a diversion for Flesch, a first-time filmmaker, during the Covid-19 pandemic. As the producer, writer and director of the film, he created a documentary that captured all the key moments from Comiskey’s final season, including the surprising pennant chase by the young underdog team, which included closer Bobby Thigpen, whose 57 saves were then an American League mark.

The film features interviews with many of the 1990 players as well as media, vendors, security guards, executives, long-time organist Nancy Faust, and lifelong fans.

It includes home movies, stories, and photographs from fans.

One of those contributors was Smoller, a photo journalist photographer who founded the sports travel website Stadium Vagabond and has photographed more than 2,350 stadiums in 48 states and 24 countries

He took thousands of never-before-published images during Comiskey’s final season and its last decade. Most of these photographs have never been seen by the public and, instead, were in boxes of 35mm film negatives for decades.

The goal of the book is to serve as a permanent companion that will provide a physical and tangible reminder of the last days of Comiskey Park. The book blends both Smoller’s photographs along with the content from the Last Comiskey documentary, supplemented by new material to provide greater context.

This book is being released at a potentially auspicious time given current White Sox attempts to replace new Comiskey Park. For many years, White Sox faithful have longed for a ballpark that evoked the same kind of pride as the original Comiskey Park.

With the news of a potential move to the South Loop, Sox fans are dreaming of a new ballpark that is more like Comiskey 1.0 than Comiskey 2.0. This book will help remind everyone of the magic of the Baseball Palace of the World.

Initial feedback about the book has been good, as these comments show:

Last Comiskey is a love letter to an underrated ballpark for an underappreciated legacy baseball franchise. Even better, thanks to Ken Smoller's fantastic photography — taken when he was a mere teenager — the book is a soothing voyage to a less complicated, more colorful era of the national pastime. You don't need to be a White Sox fan to deeply enjoy and appreciate it.

— Ken Davidoff, New York Post

My favorite type of a book is a biography. Not of humans, mind you, but of ballparks. Last Comiskey is a stellar example of a biography of Comiskey Park, lovingly told with great quotes, heartwarming anecdotes and hundreds of beautiful photos. From organist Nancy Faust and Disco Demolition Night to its final game in 1990 and its ultimate razing, the story of this landmark is all here.

— Joe Mock, webmaster of BaseballParks.com and sports-facilities beat writer for USA TODAY Sports

I grew up 20 minutes from Comiskey and went to many Sox games, concerts and even Disco Demolition there while growing up. To be on the team and on the field for the last game there ever was the most memorable day in the major leagues for me. This book brings back so many great memories of that magical last season and wonderful history of the great ballpark.

— Donn Pall, White Sox Pitcher (1988-1993); Lifelong White Sox fan and Evergreen Park, IL native

Last Comiskey is a profound work, professionally and personally stirring memories of a ballpark that was unique in its visuals, scents, quirks, noise, intimacy, and history. We gathered there to have fun and enjoy baseball. I’m grateful to Matt Flesch and Ken Smoller for rekindling such beautiful times.

— Dan Evans, White Sox Executive (1981-2000); Assistant General Manager, Director Player Operations

Last Comiskey is available free of charge on YouTube.

According to Flesch, “My goal was to try and capture the spirit of Comiskey Park –- the way it sounded and the way it felt to be there. Most of the music in the documentary is played by Nancy Faust, who also contributed home video.

“It was such a unique experience to go to a game there, and we wanted to relive it by capturing the sights, the sounds and all of the great stories from players, fans and many others.”

Veteran baseball writer and author Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ attended the 1983 Comiskey Park All-Star Game in which Fred Lynn hit the only grand-slam in All-Star history. He also hates the corporate names the “new” Comiskey has acquired in recent seasons. E.mail Dan via ballauthor@gmail.com.