"Let's Go, Go-Go White Sox" is the

fight song A fight song is a rousing short song associated with a sports team. The term is most common in the United States and Canada. In Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand these songs are called the team anthem, team song, or games song. First associated ...

of the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

. The song first appeared in

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

during the White Sox' run for the AL pennant—the team's first league championship since the infamous

Black Sox Scandal The Black Sox Scandal was a Major League Baseball game-fixing scandal in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for money from a gambling syndicate led ...

of 1919. It was written by former White Sox minor leaguer

Al Trace Albert J. Trace ''(aka'' Albert Joseph Trace; ''né'' Feinberg; 25 December 1900 – 31 August 1993) was an American songwriter and orchestra leader of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. His popularity peaked in the Chicago area during the height of th ...

and his friend Walter "Li'l Wally" Jagiello. The duo then bounced the song off

Tom Fouts Tom C. Fouts (November 24, 1918 – May 24, 2004) was a farmer, author, and comedian. He was popularly known as Captain Stubby of the musical group Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers who were regularly featured on "WLS The Prairie Farmer Station" ...

, leader of

Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers was a country-comedy band that performed largely in the Midwest United States from the late 1930s into the 1960s. Members * Tom C. Fouts (Captain Stubby) November 24, 1918 - May 26, 2004. Comedy, played novelty ...

, a popular country band in the Chicago area best known for performing on WLS Prairie Farmer Radio from 1949 to 1960, writing and performing radio comedy (played by rural Illinois and Indiana radio stations well into this century) and writing and performing Radio and Television advertising jingles. The song was released on Jagiello's label, Drumboy Records. Later, the song was only heard sporadically until June , when team scoreboard operations and TV production director Jeff Szynal dusted off an old record of the tune. He put together a video montage and ran the words across the JumboTron in center field at

U.S. Cellular Field Guaranteed Rate Field is a baseball stadium located on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It serves as the home stadium of the Chicago White Sox, one of the city's two Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, and is owned by the state ...

during a turn-back-the-clock game against the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

, the team that defeated the White Sox in the

1959 World Series The 1959 World Series featured the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers beating the American League champion Chicago White Sox, 4–2. Each of the three games played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum drew record crowds, Game 5's atte ...

. The White Sox won the game on a

walk-off home run In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. For a home run to end the game, it must be hit in the bottom of the final inning of the game and generate enough runs to exceed the opponent's score. Because the opponent will not ...

A. J. Pierzynski Anthony John Pierzynski (; born December 30, 1976) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Minnesota Twins (1998–2003), San Francisco Giants (2004), Chicago White Sox (2005–2012) ...

, and the song has blared over the stadium speakers ever since in rally situations. It became an instant hit, as fans of several generations caught on. In

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, the White Sox won 99 games en route to their first division title in five years, their first postseason series win of any kind since the

1917 World Series The 1917 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1917 season. The 14th edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion Chicago White Sox against the National League champion New York Giants ...

(in the

Division Series The Division Series is the quarterfinal round of the Major League Baseball playoffs. Four series are played in this round, two each for both the American League and the National League. 1981 season The first use of the term "Division Series" date ...

), their first

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

appearance since , and their first World Series championship since . In the 2005 postseason,

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

played clips of the song in their playoff coverage.

WGN-TV WGN-TV (channel 9) is an Independent station (North America), independent television station in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it is sister station, sister to the company's sole radio property, talk ra ...

also played the song during the victory parade on October 28, over a series of clips that interwove action footage from 1959 and 2005.

Lyrics

White Sox! White Sox!
Go-Go White Sox!
Let's go, Go-Go White Sox
We're with you all the way!
You're always in there fighting,
And you do your best.
We're glad to have you out there in the Middle West.
We're gonna root-root-root-root White Sox.
And cheer you on to victory.
When we're in the stands,
We'll make those rafters ring;
All through the season,
You will hear us sing.
Let's go, Go-Go White Sox,
Chicago's proud of you! White Sox! White Sox!
Go-Go White Sox! Root-Root-Root for the White Sox.
We'll cheer you on to victory.
When we're in the stands,
We'll make those rafters ring;
All through the season,
You will hear us sing.
Let's go, Go-Go White Sox,
Chicago's proud of you! (Play ball!)
White Sox! White Sox!
Go-Go White Sox!
Let's go, Go-Go White Sox!
Chicago is proud of you!

External links

Fight song on the White Sox Interactive website
in RealMedia format {{authority control 1959 songs Chicago White Sox Major League Baseball fight songs Songs about Chicago