Some More of Chicago's Innovations-- Part 2: White Sox Exploding Scoreboard

Chicago can credit its rebirth after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. It was a spirit on innovation, entrepreneurship and ambition that led to its recovery and continues on to this day. //// Phil Rosenthal would like to add ten more things to the list of Chicago innovations. //// #10. SCOREBOARD AS ENTERTAINMENT //// White Sox owner and showman Bill Veeck introduced his pinball-inspired "exploding" scoreboard at Comiskey Park in 1960 (the year after the Sox appearance in the World Series). To say entertaining scoreboards have caught on is putting it mildly. //// Even the Cubs with their beloved old-fashinoned, hand-operated scoreboard say they desperately need a massive video screen. //// That 1960 scoreboard was cued by Sox homeruns with strobe lights, electric pinwheels, sound effects and two-three-four or so fireworks. There was even a modest Sox-o-Gram message board and its own sound system. //// That original 1960 scoreboard reportedly cost $300,000, about $2.3 million today. Last season, the Seattle Mariners installed a scoreboard with a 202-by-57-foot video screen in Safeco Field for $15 million. //// So Next Time You're Entertained By a Scoreboard, Thank Bill. --RoadDog