This column originally ran in The Standard-Times on Oct. 4, 2005.

By Nick Tavares

For years, right up until last year's history-changing World Series win, the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs have shared the distinction of having baseball's most frustrating histories. The Sox went 86 years between World Series victories -- 1918 to 2004 -- while the Cubs haven't won the big one since Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown was the team's ace in 1908.

But what about the White Sox? They haven't won a title since 1917 and haven't seen the World Series since 1959. Why are the White Sox left out of the pantheon of futile teams?

Well the Sox have had just as underwhelming history as their North Side neighbors.

The Sox were one of the original American League teams in 1901, and led by player/manager Clark Griffith and his 24 wins, the team captured the first-ever AL pennant. They'd be forgotten by history for the first time just two years later, when Boston won the AL pennant and the first-ever World Series.

In 1906, the Sox' "hitless wonders," batting just .230 as a team, upset the favored Cubs to capture the team's first of two World Series crowns.

Throughout the next decade, the Sox were usually competitive. They captured a second championship in 1917, defeating the New York Giants behind the play of the spectacular Joe Jackson, who at only 25-years old hit .301 and played all 162 games.

It was be the last postseason series the White Sox would ever win. After falling to sixth place in 1918, they rebounded for a first-place finish in 1919 and were heavily favored to beat the Cincinnati Reds in the Series. But the Reds triumphed in eight games.

Rumors that the White Sox threw the Series, which back then was more common than one would imagine, ran rampant. The Reds' 9-1 victory in Game — ad 10-5 win in Game 8 were especially eyebrow-raising.

Eight players were accused taking money to throw games, including Jackson, who hit .375 against the Reds. The team was likely motivated by owner Charles Comiskey, whose notoriously tight wallet had drawn the ire of most on the team. The eight players were eventually acquitted in court of any wrongdoing, but then-commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, fearing a backlash against baseball, still banned the players for life.

That set off a stretch of mediocrity that lasted all the way into the 1950s. After two consecutive second place finishes, the Sox finally broke through to win the pennant again in 1959. Led by catcher Sherm Lollar and the slick-fielding double-play combination of Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio, the Sox fell to the Dodgers in the Series in six games.

It would be another 24 years before a return-trip to the postseason. In 1983, Tony LaRussa led the club to a 99-63 record on the backs of catcher Carlton Fisk, rookie of the year Ron Kittle and pitcher Lamar Hoyt, who won 24 games for the South Siders. But the team ran into Eddie Murray, Cal Ripken and the Baltimore Orioles, who took the ALCS 3-1 en route to a championship.

Ten years later, Gene Lamont managed the club back to the ALCS behind MVP Frank Thomas. This time, it was the Blue Jays who squashed the team's title hopes, with pitcher Dave Stewart taking home series MVP honors.

In 2000, the Sox made their last playoff appearance until today. The Seattle Mariners, though, took no time in dismissing the Sox in a 3-0 sweep.

So, will history be kind to the Sox this year? They definitely have the pitching to push them through to the World Series, but their bats have been questioned all year.

If nothing else, though, they certainly are due for some good will from the baseball gods.

Nick Tavares is a columnist for The Standard-Times. E-mail him at ntavares@s-t.com.

This story appeared on Page C3 of The Standard-Times on October 4, 2005.