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Today in White Sox History: October 18

A steamy start to a South Side tradition.

1969

A little-known studio musical group had released an oddly-named song. On this date, it broke into the Billboard top 100 chart and would eventually move all the way to No. 1.

The group was called Steam, the song, “Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye).” Thanks to the efforts of White Sox organist Nancy Faust, it would become the song Sox fans used to “serenade” pitchers being removed from games.

Today, you can hear it played at practically every stadium in America, but the tradition started on the South Side!

In April 2021, ESPN had a special short documentary on the history of the song, and how through the efforts of Faust it became the fan base’s anthem before spreading to other teams, leagues and sports.