The 1983 Chicago White Sox will always be a small part of me. As a Chicago sports fan, it was the first time one of the teams in the city actually won something (I wasn't a soccer fan then, so the 1981 Chicago Sting don't count). I still have a newspaper clipping with the photograph of Julio Cruz crossing home plate with his arms raised in celebration. I can count Greg Luzinkski among the honored alumni from the same high school I attended (shout out Notre Dame Dons!). Carlton Fisk and Harold Baines are two of my all-time favorite players.
While that team from my childhood had some differences with this squad in the present day - namely a solid pitching rotation from top to bottom - those "Winnin' Ugly" Sox are also a part of the 2026 version that's been so exciting to watch in two very important ways.
Ball go far, team go far
Just like today's group of youngsters, the gang from over 40 years could mash the baseball. According to my 1990 Chicago White Sox Media Guide, Greg Luzinski hit the ball onto the roof of Old Comiskey Park three times. The only person ever to do that in the Park's 80-year history was Ron Kittle (in 1984). Kittle, by the way, accomplished the feat twice himself in '83, his first in the Bigs. As a team, the Sox hit 157 dingers for the season, good for third most in baseball. That may not sound like a lot today - the New York Yankees already have 123 and it's not even the All-Star Break yet - but it was a different game back then. Hitting 20 home runs in a season as an individual batter was a solid total in 1983. Kittle (35 home runs) and Luzinski (32) finished the year third and fifth respectively among the home run leaders in the American League. Carlton Fisk (26) and Harold Baines (20) gave the Sox four players in the Top 25.
This year's edition of the Silver and Black are second in all of baseball with 118 home runs. Colson Montgomery and Munetaka Murakami are both already at or above the 20 homer mark. If it wasn't for a great catch by Colton Cowser on Monday, Miguel Vargas would have joined that duo. Some of those blasts have been epic too, just like those of their predecessors. Murakami hit a majestic blast that traveled over 450 feet against Arizona, and Montgomery became just the third White Sox player to hit a ball to Eutaw Street at Camden Yards on Tuesday.
Eutaw Street, meet Colson Montgomery 🤝 pic.twitter.com/TOyvf4fDAR
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) June 30, 2026
Will's boys don't quit
Another important ingredient in the White Sox success in 1983 was the ability to come through in the clutch. According to Baseball Reference, the team came from behind 47 times that season, including five walk-off wins. Jerry Hairston, the White Sox all-time leader in pinch-hits, led all of baseball in hits off the bench (in fact, he led all of baseball from 1983-85). This season's Southsiders have some of that late-game heroics themselves, having already compiled seven walk-offs (from seven different players no less).
The cliche "history repeats itself" seems to be appropriate. Both the magical 1983 squad and its 2026 counterpart have some of the same qualities. Now, let's see if, by season's end, we can proudly say that both teams put it all-together and won the division title.
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