I sure picked an eventful day to start my blog about the Chicago White Sox! Not only did the Sox retire the Big Hurt, Frank Thomas’s jersey number 35 today, they also officially now have Manny Ramirez after claiming him off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers…But more on that later.
I am a blogger from Northbrook, Illinois, and I am a life-long White Sox fan. Now, anyone from the Chicago-land area must be asking themselves what a girl from the northern suburbs of Chicago is doing rooting for the southside Sox over the northside Chicago Cubs. Well that’s just the way I was raised, and I’m glad I was because it’s nice to actually win playoff games every once in a while.
My family has had White Sox season tickets since 1992, the second year of the new Comiskey Park, now U.S. Cellular Field. I was almost three years old at the start of the 1992 season, and even then at such a young age, White Sox baseball became a part of me. In my younger years, I referred to the ballpark as “The Screamin’ Place,” and loved it for the excitement and sights and sounds. I had to cover my ears for the fireworks, of course, whenever Frank Thomas or one of the other Sox sluggers hit a homerun. The big booming noises were scary for childhood me.
As I got older I began to really appreciate the game and the intricacies of it. I played softball for many years, so I understood all the force outs and tagging up rules that many girls my age never paid attention to. It wasn’t until I was 12 years old, however, that my love for White Sox baseball really took a serious turn.
Like many devoted Sox fans, my family attended the annual SoxFest convention every winter. The year 2002 was no different, or so we thought. My parents and I were waiting for the opening ceremonies to begin when a couple women with White Sox credentials around their necks started talking to us about or relationship with the team. Based on little 12-year-old me with my pigtails, complete with White Sox hair scrunchies, they understood that we were serious about our team.
The two women chose me to go up on stage and catch a ball from pitcher Mark Buehrle to kick off the SoxFest weekend. I was then invited to throw out the Opening Pitch on Opening Day of the 2002 season! Standing on the mound at U.S. Cellular Field and hurling the ball over pitcher Gary Glover’s head (He’s 6’5”.) was a dream come true. That whole experience changed my life and helped me realize what I wanted to do with the rest of it. My goal was, and still is, to work for the White Sox.
Flash forward almost eight and a half years, and here I am at the University of Southern California, working to get my degree in Public Relations with a focus on Sports Media Studies to make my dream of working for the White Sox come true. That, my online friends, is why I am writing this blog. I want to share my love and knowledge of White Sox baseball, as well as learn some things myself.
I plan to fill the blog with White Sox news updates, trades and transactions, current standings, and other little tidbits of information I see interesting or important for the typical fan to know. I’ll also throw in a little bit of White Sox history. We wouldn’t be the playoff-contending team we are today without the foundation laid out by our history, and I believe it is important to acknowledge that.
For now, I’ll leave you with the fact that the White Sox are only 4.5 games behind the first place Minnesota Twins in the American League Central Division, but the new addition of batting hero Manny Ramirez should help the White Sox in their fight to regain first place.
Fun Fact: Before playing on the Los Angeles Dodgers, Manny played for the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox. The White Sox next 2 series are in Cleveland and Boston, respectively. Manny should feel comfortable hitting a few homeruns in his old territories, don’t ya think?
