Review Fix Exclusive: Charles N. Billington Talks ‘Comiskey Park’s Last World Series’

Review Fix chats with “Comiskey Park’s Last World Series” author Charles N. Billington, who lets us know why the 1959 White Sox were a special team worth revisiting.

About Comiskey Park’s Last World Series:

Charter members of the American League and the country’s last “neighborhood” pro baseball franchise, the White Sox are one of the few teams of the power hitting–focused modern era to win a pennant with speed, pitching and defense. Covering the 1959 White Sox from a range of perspectives, the author examines the club’s historical importance to Chicago and the significance of the ’59 “South Side Series”—the first in 40 years. Many behind-the-scenes details are discussed, from the refined media markets of Golden Age baseball to the team’s ancillary sources of revenue to the bitter legal feud between Charles Comiskey and Bill Veeck.

About the Author:

A rehabilitation administrator by profession, author and baseball historian Charles N. Billington has had a long fascination with baseball’s Golden Age. Living in the Chicago area has given him the good fortune to follow and observe the developments of both the American and the National Leagues.

Review Fix: What inspired this book?

Charles N. Billington: The inspiration for the book was the desire to fully research one of the most beloved baseball teams in Chicago history.

Review Fix: What was the writing and editing experience like for you?

Billington: The writing and editing was not very different than creating my other published pieces.  The research was easier because so much of the material from that era is now readily available online.

Review Fix: What makes it different from other baseball books?

Billington: It is different from other baseball books in that I look at the legal, economic, financial, and cultural aspects of the team’s success, how it affect the city, the team’s neighborhood, and etc.

Review Fix: What else makes the 59 White Sox featured here so special?

Billington: This was the last team to steal more bases than hit home runs and win a pennant.  It was also one of the few teams in history to win a pennant with speed, pitching, and defense.

Review Fix: How do you think they’d fare in today’s MLB?

Billington: I don’t know how they would fare today, since the game is so radically different, and batting power and pitching speed (instead of pitching skill) are emphasized so much today.

Review Fix: What are your goals for this book?

Billington: My goal is to provide those that remember and have an interest in this team with the kind of information and detail that was  never provided back in the sixteen team era. To cover an historic mid-century team with the precision that today’s media (electronic, print, social, etc) would do so.

Review Fix: What’s next for you?

Billington: I have some other ideas about historic teams from the 20th century which McFarland has encouraged  me to undertake.

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Billington: There is a great deal of media attention on this work.  I have been on national radio outlets twice, cable  television once, and will soon be on PBS with it.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14263 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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