‘Last Comiskey’: A White Sox fan film that’s a trip back to the 1990s

CHICAGO – He’d never made a film or even thought about doing so, but downtime during the pandemic gave him some time to reconsider.

When another documentary about a Chicago team and the end of their era came along, Matt Flesch immediately thought about his own fandom with a team on the south side of town.

“So when the pandemic struck in 2020 and “The Last Dance” came out on the Bulls, my brother Mike and I were just sitting around,” said Flesch, a lifelong White Sox fan, of when the thought came into his head. “Let’s do something, let’s do something creative.”

That would be a documentary on their favorite team in their fandom of the team called “Last Comiskey,” which features the 1990 Chicago White Sox season in the final year at Old Comiskey Park.

The first of three parts of the documentary was released on Thursday with the others due out later in March.

While it’s not a season that would immediately come to mind unless you were a die-hard supporter, it was a moment in time for the Fleschs. They were in their teens when that group took the field, it was as special as any season they’ve watched the franchise.

“That season was supposed to be a bummer of a season, it was supposed to be the last year at the park, they were maybe going to win 60 or 70 games, and it turned out to be one of the most fun summers as a Sox fan ever,” said Flesch of the 1990 team. “The White Sox defied expectations, they won 90-plus games, they had a ton of young players come up that year and there were many, many memorable games.

“I have a huge affinity for old Comiskey Park as well, just a great old stadium.”

So the quest to make “Last Comiskey” began with perhaps a bit of help due to the pandemic. Since video calls became more common when people were staying at home, it was easier for Flesh to connect with players that were on that team along with others that were associated with the club.

A number of media members also took part, including former WGN-TV sports anchor Rich King.

Yet it was the fans that fueled this documentary, providing their pictures and videos to help paint a portrait of what that last year at Comiskey Park was like for those who lived it.

“It was me and my brother, big fans, and then reaching out to other fans, and kinda collaborating to get all these videos together,” said Flesch.

In the end, he hopes that “Last Comiskey” does two things for viewers who didn’t live through that era: Introduce them to the style of play of the 1990 White Sox that is different from today while getting a sense of how special the old ballpark was for Chicagoans for 80 years.

“It’s really digging into what made that stadium a festival, like a circus, and a community in and of itself,” said Flesch.

Larry Hawley spoke to Matt Flesch about the “Last Comiskey” documentary along with what he hopes people take away from it after watching it and has the story from WGN News Now in the video above.