Castle: Charles Comiskey’s papers may be up for sale

From George Castle at the Chicago Baseball Museum on June 20, 2016:

If you want to possess a chunk of the start of White Sox history, just contact Billy Kellens, a direct descendant of the American League co-founder who moved the White Sox to Chicago from St. Paul in 1900.

He’ll be glad to talk – under one important condition. You must be appreciative of history and not in it for a strictly profit motive as a memorabilia collector.

What Naperville, Ill. pharmaceutical sales manager Kellens possesses are the letters and thoughts of his great, great grandfather — Sox founder Charles A. Comiskey (1859- 1931). Kellens, ever loyal to the family team, ended up on the right side of a 1959- vintage family split as the holder of Comiskey’s writings. Kellens himself worked for the White Sox as a visiting team clubhouse attendant and bat boy during the 1980s.

“I’m looking to see it go to someone to use it for the benefit of baseball,” said Kellens. “Museums, the Hall of Fame, so research can be done on it, and papers and books can be gleaned from it. The research is so great. It doesn’t see the light of day very often. They’re amazed by it. I’ve had some offers on it, but it was not going to a research person. It would have gone to a collector.”

Read the full article here (PDF): http://www.chicagobaseballmuseum.org/files/CBM-Billy-Kellens-20160620.pdf



Originally published: June 22, 2016. Last Updated: June 22, 2016.