Bill Veeck Buys the White Sox and Ends Comiskey Family Control

On March 10, 1959, Bill Veeck and his investor group completed their purchase of a majority interest in the Chicago White Sox, ending 60 years of Comiskey family ownership. Dorothy Comiskey Rigney, granddaughter of franchise founder Charles Comiskey, sold her 54 percent stake for $2.7 million, valuing the club at roughly $5 million.

The sale had been brewing for two years. Dorothy and her brother Chuck Comiskey had feuded bitterly over control of the team since their mother Grace's death in 1956. Neither sibling trusted the other to run the franchise. Dorothy, worn down by the legal battles, told her lawyers to find a buyer and get her out. Veeck, who had previously owned the Cleveland Indians and the St. Louis Browns, seized the opportunity.

Chuck Comiskey held the remaining minority ownership and sued to block the transaction. The legal challenge delayed the transfer from its original date, but Veeck officially took the reins on March 10. Chuck would continue filing suits for months, though none succeeded in reversing the sale.

Veeck's timing proved impeccable. The 1959 White Sox, managed by Al Lopez, won the American League pennant, the franchise's first since the scandal-tainted 1919 team. Veeck celebrated the pennant clinch by setting off the Comiskey Park air-raid sirens, which briefly alarmed Chicago's fire department. He brought his trademark showmanship to the South Side, installing the first exploding scoreboard and running the promotions that made him a legend among baseball owners. The franchise he bought for $5 million would never be the same.