20 years ago today, Sox nearly left town for good
Editor's note: Daily Herald Sportswriter Marty Maciaszek was convinced he would be a lifelong White Sox fan without a team to root for 20 years ago.
This night 20 years ago was going to be one of infamy for White Sox fans.
It was going to be the beginning of the end for one of the American League's charter franchises when the clock struck midnight and June 30, 1988 was finished. The pride of the South Side of Chicago for nearly 90 years was really going to be flying south for its future summers.
The expected death of the Chicago White Sox was going to saddle fans with a couple of less-than-appealing options. One was to keep pulling for a team they loved - but owned by people they hated - that moved more than 1,000 miles away to Florida. The other was to switch allegiances to the team they loved to hate just eight miles north.
But the 88-year, love-hate relationship with the Sox was just about over in Chicago as a bill for funding to build a new stadium appeared dead.
And then, just in time, a miracle happened. Or after it - depending on the clocks used - as the bill to keep the Sox in the city passed.
How it happened in typical Illinois political fashion didn't sit well then and still doesn't today with some people. However, there is no debate it was the turning point from two decades of volatility to a current two-decade run of rarely seen stability for the Sox. Through the highs of ending an 88-year World Series drought in 2005 and the lows of a dream 1994 season shattered by a players' strike, the Sox are now firmly entrenched in their new ballpark across from where the old one stood from 1910 to 1990 on 35th Street.
There haven't been flirtations with other cities since the Sox nearly bolted for Tampa-St. Petersburg in 1988. But from 1968-88, there were more flirtations than most professional sports franchises ever endure.
Milwaukee beckoned in the late 1960s. They even played some of their home schedule at old County Stadium.
Ownership volatility had the Sox on the verge of heading to Seattle in 1975. Then Bill Veeck came in and bought the team for a second time to keep them in Chicago.
But Veeck didn't have the money to compete in the age of free agency. As he prepared to sell in 1980, there was interest in heading to Denver.
Finally, the ownership group headed by Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn felt old Comiskey Park was past its useful life and they were ready to pack up the moving trucks for Florida.
Fans who endured that era gained a harder edge and a bit of bitterness that outsiders wouldn't understand.
But those days have faded into the background. The new stadium wasn't perfect, but changes have made it better.
The team has rarely been perfect, but there was nothing better than the one that claimed the biggest prize of all in 2005.
So, unlike 20 years ago, now all Sox fans have to worry about is staying ahead of the Twins and Tigers in the standings, if Jermaine Dye can continue his torrid hitting, and when a healthy Paul Konerko can return to the lineup.
It's a much better feeling.