When I saw the White Sox encouraging the blackout scheme for their home game(s) of the ALDS, my thoughts first turned to the 2008 ALDS, and how the attempt to recreate the magic in Game 163 lost a lot of its charge when they didn’t have a chance to send the other team packing.
In 2021, just like 2008, the White Sox have to win tonight. Then they have to win again. And even if they do that, they’ll have to win on the road in order to stand a chance of advancing. It’d be cool if the Sox could play a blackout game where a win has a major reward, rather than merely the avoidance of a massive punishment.
Alas, this is the hand White Sox fans have been dealt, and one they’re used to receiving. They’re required to make their own fun while hoping the team can once again take charge of the enjoyment factor.
If you’re looking for inspiration, Matt Kelley of MLB.com recapped all the series where a team rallied from down 0-2 in the Divisional Series era. There are more teams than you’d think:
- 2017: Yankees over Indians
- 2015: Blue Jays over Rangers
- 2012: Giants over Reds
- 2003 ALDS: Red Sox over A’s
- 2001 ALDS: Yankees over A’s
- 1999 ALDS: Red Sox over Indians
- 1995 ALDS: Mariners over Yankees
Three of those comebacks were stamped with all-time, gold-leafed October moments — Ken Griffey Jr’s slide in 1995, the Derek Jeter flip in 2001, and José Bautista’s bat toss in 2015. Like those teams, the White Sox will probably need a signature performance or two in order to get the job done. Unlike those teams, they’d have to finish said job away from home.
* * * * * * * * *
Whether the White Sox survive the weekend, at least the postseason appearance generated a few worthwhile articles about the those who spend their summers following them.
The New York times wrote about the unique impact of the White Sox’s Latino-heavy lineup, which dovetails with an article in the Chicago Tribune by Stephanie Casanova about the team’s Latino fan base, which fans say is more prominent and more welcomed than those in other cities. I particularly enjoyed the lede:
One of Ramon Navarro’s most prized possessions is a White Sox Starter jacket, the one his grandpa, Reyes Pineda, used to wear all the time.
“The man was never not repping the team,” Navarro said of his grandfather. “There’s a photo of my First Communion, and there’s my grandpa in the church right in front of the big family picture with his nice satin White Sox starter jacket on. Over top of a shirt and a tie.
“There’s pictures of us en el rancho in Michoacan with some of his family, and it’s like 90 degrees outside. I still remember because it was hot and the man’s wearing that jacket,” he added.
Also in the Trib was this column from Christopher Borrelli about the bleachers at Guaranteed Rate Field, which has developed its own identity as of late. As somebody who has only made it to Sox Park once this year, I mainly only hear about it with regards to fights, but Borrelli paints a more detailed picture, with an assist from BeefLoaf.
Indeed, one night I attended, here’s what I saw in the bleachers:
A row of fans from Chatham.
A cluster from Bridgeport.
I met fans from Old Irving Park. Austin. River North. I saw two men in matching steelworkers polos, and a row of women in matching José Abreu jerseys. I saw porkpie hats, neck tattoos, dresses, cargo shorts, overalls. I often saw the day-off recline — arms outstretched, body tilted backward. I saw two people — two! — reading physical newspapers. Whenever a play was close, the section turned in unison, like eager geese, to see a replay on the scoreboard. What I saw was not overly rowdy or ugly but buoyant. At worst, charming pirate behavior. A man complained about his lemonade to a concession worker, and the whole row began taunting: “MY LEMONADE! MY LEMONADE!” Go back to the fancy sections, with its cup holders and bucket seats. Pretensions just will not do back here, in these green metal benches stretching from Section 160 to Section 164, between bronze statues of Carlton Fisk and Paul Konerko, the finest seats in Chicago.
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