Chicago White Sox, World Series Champs....Our little slice of history...

First off, let me say that none of this would be possible without my wonderful wife, who made it possible to share a once in a lifetime event.

<<(our tickets in the "Cell" provided sleeve/lanyards) I'm going to concentrate on some personal history and the game we attended, game 2.

I was born and have lived on the South/Southwest side of Chicago for all but 7 years of my life. My wife has been a South Sider all her life. My Brother and I stood in line at the old Comiskey park 5 minutes before gametime and scored great tickets numerous times in the early 80's, often getting seats over the visitors dugout (much to the visitors dislike to be sure). In the last two seasons at old Comiskey, the Mrs and I (and family) went to as many games as we could get tickets to...we still have the many trinkets they handed out for the final season. The Mrs' Mom was Bridgeport born, and the house she grew up was in the area that is now the SW lot of "The Cell". She accompanied us to many of the games in old Comiskey's last year. I think she put in a word for the Sox to "The Big Guy" for all of us...Who needs Angels in the Outfield when you've got God's ear ;) . We were loathe to accept the new park, but when we finally did, we were very happy to find that there were bathrooms every hundred yards, and vendors of every kind almost within shouting distance of any seat in the park. We didn't like the original upper deck, fortunately we could usually get better seats than that. We were going to a fair amount of games, and then in '94, I thought I hit paydirt. I did a cellphone/radio/CD player transfer for a policeman who works security at Sox games. I was able to remove his Sox parking sticker (players lot) and put it on a clinger sheet for him. He was so thankful for the good install that he told me: "Keep it, and if you go to Gate 4 and ask for me, I'll get you in the upper deck or better.". Needless to say, I was thrilled (as the Sox were in first place that year as well). Alas, it was a dead end....Baseball went on strike 4 days later :( . The strike did take the wind out of our baseball sails, we would go to a game if someone offered tickets, but we really didn't start buying tickets again until 2000.


<<(A.J. Pierzynski takes a swing)
Many folks we know were trying to get tickets, I was going on two computers with different browsers and had the "Your wait time is less than 1 minute" message for both games one and two from 12:01 CST until I gave up (45 minutes later). I had told the Mrs: "If we get four, we'll go as a family, If we get 8, I'd like to take my Dad and brothers to the second game. Alas I got zilch...but she did score. After some family discussion my Mrs set on my Dad going. Luckily, our seven year old really wasn't interested in going (we had to leave two regular season games early this year because she was "bored"). The Funny thing is....we had to twist Dad's arm...he thought it was too much hassle to go....but we all really wanted him to be there. So I called the motivator....MOM!, even she was having trouble. So while Dad was over on the Thursday before, I told him: "Dad, we really want you to go to this game" Followed up by: "We've never been to a game together" (I later found out he hadn't been to a game in 40 years!), and finally: We bought these tickets with the idea that you were going...it won't be the same if you don't. He finally agreed to go Saturday afternoon (needless to say, we had others stacked 5 deep waiting if Dad decided not to go).

<<(Buehrle strikes one out)
Game day came, Dad showed up around 3 p.m. . We had a light dinner, and headed down Archer Ave to the old neighborhood; McKinley Park (just outside Bridgeport). It started to rain....Dad was looking for something to suck...but it never did. We parked right at 35th and Wood, waited 30 seconds for a bus that had 12 people on it (we know from experience that the 35st bus is the most underutilized Sox transportation). We had our CPD "security" check two blocks from the park, and we were dropped off right in front of "The Cell" 30 seconds later. We went to gate 3 and took the escalator up to the upper deck, Section 522 (Straight above and just behind 1st base). We hadn't yet been to the reworked upper deck, they took the highest rows of seats out, and lowered the angle of the remaining seats....no more vertigo like when the park first opened 14 years ago. The best part was....we were covered! Not only covered, but far enough back under the cover that the rain wasn't even blowing in to our seats. From the ground, we would have appeared in the middle of the UD. We had hats/gloves/plastic and were very comfortable for the whole game. We've been to many games at "The Cell", but the noise level in the upper deck is about four to five times louder than on level 1, 2, or 3. It's amplified by the roof that just reflects it back onto the field (as I've been told). It certainly was rattling our ears! Even with a full house, everyone was amazingly civil (being there were no Astro's fans in our section). Daughter #1 had her homemade sign: "Do the math: Astro's = Lastro's" (which made it on NBC 5 for 12 seconds after the game out in front of the Park).


<<(Dad and ux) The Game: What a roller coaster! Again, Dad was looking for it to suck, every time the Sox failed to hit (or the Astro's scored) the "humbug" hand came out. We also had to contend with standing for every third strike pitch from inning 7 on...for either team. Everyone was on their feet when the bases loaded before Konerko's grand slam. Dad was commenting during the whole game that Konerko almost never swings at the first pitch....ever...and took that moment to blow his nose....and actually missed it!!!! (We watched it at home on the PVR about a dozen times). Needless to say, he was watching intently when Podsednik cranked his game winning homer. After the hugging/high 5's/handshakes were over (everyone was everyone's best friend), we decided to bolt. The run down the ramps was quite the party (and very fast). We stopped out front for our Channel 5 shot, hopped on a bus right in front...and even got seats! We were home by 11 p.m. ! Bridgeport was up for grabs, 35st was thronged, and groups of people were banging/rocking our bus!

<<(The wonderful Mrs. and Daughter #1)
The next morning, the wonder of it all hit Dad, all he could talk about was how it was the best game he'd ever been to, thanks for taking him, and (the above mentioned) it was 40 years since his last game.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime game, thank you dear for making it possible for us all.

P.S. I apologize for the font weirdness...blogger wont let me fix it the way I want...