pyroguysr's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALCS Pennant Winners! I was 5 years old the last time my Chicago baseball team went to the World Series. My father wasn't even born the last time any Chicago team won a World Series. I don't remember being "into" baseball at the time and, if you can imagine it, we didn't have a television either (I don't think we acquired one for year or so). I do remember my dad being down in the basement in early October doing some work or in the kitchen listening to the radio intently while I played in the living room. I also remember the quiet cheers of encouragement dad would give when his "boys of summer" scored a run. When I got older, he took me to a game or two when someone (usually his foreman) gave him some tickets. Other times my gradeschool class would go on a "field trip" to a baseball game (nuns are surprisingly huge fans of sports!). These trips inevitably ended up at the grand old green and white stadium that has since been moved a block south. When the northern team looked like it was going all the way in the Summer of '69, we temporarily "changed sides" and made it to an August game, only to watch as that New York expansion team buried any thoughts of a pennant. I became involved in pyrotechnics in the '90's and we would have our yearly "meeting" at a baseball game, enjoying food, beer and the camaraderie that is hard to achieve outside of the military. That's the trust and friendship of knowing someone will cover your back in a dangerous situation where one mistake can kill you. Then, as I developed into a writer, I had the pleasure of meeting and befriending a writer and sports fan by the name of Dan Helpingstein who wrote critically about his favorite team, pulling no punches about their rise and fall in the world of baseball. In it all, we all shared a common bond. We loved the team that was innovative in so many ways. They were the team that introduced putting players names on the back of the uniform. That introduced fireworks into the game each time the team scored or hit a home run. The team that had gone through so much turmoil and the team that was one of the oldest in the league. As my dad used to tell me, "We are South Siders." We have long stood in the shadow of those "doormats of the National League" to the north. We are the Rodney Dangerfield fans - the ones that "don't get no respect." To us, U.S. Cellular can stick it's name where the sun don't shine because it will ALWAYS be (reverential pause here) Comiskey Park. All during the 90's we played better than our northern counterparts, but they always drew larger crowds. We lacked respect, despite what we did. But now we shall demand respect... Somehow, I feel my dad is looking down upon all this and cheering happily, for our team has clinched the pennant and heads off to the World Series... They are... THE CHICAGO WHITE SOX! 12:18 a.m. - 2005-10-17 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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