Dorothy Elizabeth Comiskey Rigney (December 26, 1916 – January 22, 1971) was an American businesswoman who owned 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) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

from through . She is one of the few women to have served as principal owner of a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

team.

Biography

Rigney was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

to John Louis Comiskey (1885–1939) and Grace Elizabeth Reidy (1894–1956). She was the eldest grandchild of Charles Comiskey, and inherited control of the White Sox upon the death of her mother. In 1941, she married White Sox

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

and future executive Johnny Rigney. For most of her tenure as owner, Dorothy was in a running battle for control of the team with her younger brother,

Chuck Chuck () is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV produce ...

, who was the team's second-largest stockholder. When Dorothy put the team on the market after the 1958 season, she initially wanted to sell her 54% stake to her brother. However, Chuck made such a lowball offer that Dorothy instead sold the White Sox to Bill Veeck, ending the Comiskey family's 58-year control of the franchise. Dorothy Rigney also owned and raced

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

horses. One of her most successful runners was multiple

stakes race The following is a glossary of North American horse racing. Additional glossaries at: *Glossary of Australian and New Zealand punting *Glossary of equestrian terms This is a basic glossary of equestrian terms that includes both technical term ...

winner, Fast Hilarious, whose wins included the 1969

American Derby The American Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race first run at Chicago's old Washington Park Race Track on the city's South Side and raced there until 1905 when the facility was closed following the state's ban on gambling, and horse ra ...

and the 1971 Gulfstream Park Handicap. She died at a

Maywood, Illinois Maywood is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, in the Chicago metropolitan area. It was founded on April 6, 1869, and organized October 22, 1881. The population was 23,512 at the 2020 census. History There was limited European-Am ...

, hospital in 1971 at the age of 54."Dorothy Comiskey Rigney Dies At Loyola Hospital", ''Oak Park Oak Leaves'', Wednesday, January 27, 1971, Oak Park, Illinois, United States Of America

References

1916 births 1971 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American racehorse owners and breeders Businesspeople from Chicago Chicago White Sox owners Comiskey family Women baseball executives Women sports owners {{baseball-business-bio-stub

Biography

See also

References