Eighteen years ago today, the White Sox set foot on Chicago soil for the first time as 2005 World Champions.
The White Sox returned home to Midway Airport a day after claiming the World Series title with a sweep in Houston.
Chairman of the Board Jerry Reinsdorf carried the World Series trophy off the plane much to the delight of the thousands that greeted the team on the city’s southwest side.
This was the first time since Oct. 17, 1917 that the Sox returned home as champions. On that day, the trains carrying the Sox from New York were greeted by ”brass bands, fluent orators, cheering bugs and various other incidentals” at the LaSalle Street station, according to the Chicago Tribune. The newspaper tabbed the event a “superroyal reception.”
The public celebration for the 2005 Sox was a little bit larger in scale. The day after the team landed at Midway a massive victory parade that traversed through the city’s neighborhoods and wound up in the Loop was held.