White Sox Fans Are Fired Up For Baseball On The Southside
- Chandler Giampietro
- Apr 10, 2022
- 3 min read
MLB opening day has come and gone. Just over a month ago, White Sox fans were unsure if there would be an opening day on the Southside. Rest assured, the Sox completed their first series of the season in Detroit to open the season. The Sox will now host the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday to open their home season at Guaranteed Rate Field.
A near three-month lockout regarding a new collective bargaining agreement between the MLB Players Association and the owners raised concern if there would even be a season this Summer. The abbreviated offseason saw the Sox make improvements at second base and right field while bolstering the back half of the bullpen. A palpable excitement coursed through the veins of Sox diehards in anticipation of opening day.
Offseason additions of White Sox share expectations on the teams performance this year.
“Every year around this time I get so excited for opening day. Just ask my fiancé, since we got tickets for the Sox home opener that’s all I have been able to think or talk about.” Matt McAley is a lifelong White Sox fan and has been going to Sox games since 2000 with his dad and friends. “I should not be as excited as I am. I have been to that stadium hundreds of times. It is like I go to the same parking spot, go with the same people. It is a type of excitement I don’t get from anything else,” McAley added.
For Sox fans, there is a certain buzz in the air. Despite the injury bug biting the Sox early in the year, fans are very optimistic for the pale hose upcoming season.
“I am very excited for opening day. I feel like the White Sox are a 90 plus win team again this year. If pitching and defense hold up on their end, no one is going to stop us from our goal of winning it all,” said Bolingbrook native Joey Fox.
The White Sox are heavily favored to win the American League Central Division this year. Since 2016, fans on the Southside have endured abysmal losing seasons due to the rebuilding stage Sox general manager, Rick Hahn implemented. However, fans have seen the light at the end of the tunnel with playoff appearances in each of the last two seasons.
Guaranteed Rate Field is finally beginning to fill up, and not just when the Sox play the Cubs. The excitement around the club is intensifying and Sox fans' passion for the team has been on full display recently.
“There is nothing like it. Getting to work for my favorite team and now that we are good just makes it that much better! You saw it last year with the blackout game. Even though there are some fair-weather fans, you can tell who the diehards are. I can’t wait to get out there and be with fans and just get to make those connections. It is such an exciting time to be a White Sox fan,” said White Sox employee Darrel Dupit.
The grilled onions aroma and sea of black and white that fills those plastic green chairs creates an aura of excitement like none other for the Southside faithful. The home opener provides hope for the fans. With a solid team core and improved off-season additions, Sox fans are expecting more than just 81 home games this season at the Rate.
Source List
Matt McAley: mattmcaley@aol.com
Joey Fox: jfox14@mail.roosevelt.edu
Darrel Dupit: darreldupit@yahoo.com
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