Sixty years ago in 1959, the Go-Go White Sox — on the strength of their pitching, speed and defense, were the talk of baseball, winning their first American League pennant and playing in the World Series for the first time in 40 years.
The Sox were 43–35 and two games behind the Cleveland Indians in the eight-team AL at the first All-Star break in early July (there were two midsummer classics that season). Sixty years ago today on July 28 — via a 4–3 victory over the Yankees at Comiskey Park behind lefty ace Billy Pierce’s 12th victory and outfielder Al Smith’s two-run homer with second baseman and eventual AL MVP Nellie Fox on base — the Sox seized first place from the Indians and never looked back.