[3] If the Sox had swept their final series against the Browns and the Indians record stayed the same, the American League would have had its first pennant playoff.
"[4] At that time, four decades was the longest stretch any major league team had gone without a World Series appearance (the crosstown Cubs had only gone 14 years after winning their last pennant).
In that sense, the Black Sox "curse", or the apparent pall cast over the franchise for some decades in the wake of the scandal, had also finally ended.
The "curse" discussion was revived by the national media during the 2005 post-season, when the Sox won their first league championship since 1959 (an even longer wait than before, 46 years).
The Comiskeys were very conservative spenders (which many hypothesize to be the reason that the Black Sox scandal even occurred in the first place) and it was not until 1958 that the family gave up majority ownership to Bill Veeck, who was an innovative marketer but lacked sufficient resources to compete with wealthier teams.
The team was then reacquired by Veeck, who sold it to current majority owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who also owns the NBA's Chicago Bulls on the West Side of town.