Sox and the City: A Fan's Love Affair with the White Sox from the Heartbreak of '67 to the Wizards of Oz

233 Pages·2007·3.56 MB·English

by  Richard Roeper

S City
OX
a n d
t h e
A Fa n ’s Love Affair with the
White Sox f r om the Heartbreak
o f ’67 to the Wizards of Oz
RICH ARD ROE P E R
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Roeper,Richard,1959-
Sox and the city :a fan’s love affair with the Wh i te Sox from the heartbre a k
of’67 to the Wizards ofOz / Richard Roeper.
p.cm.
ISBN-13:978-1-55652-650-3
ISBN-10:1-55652-650-4
eBook ISBN:1-55652-688-1
1. ChicagoWhite Sox (Baseball team)—History.2. ChicagoWhite Sox
( Ba s eb a ll te a m ) — An ecdo te s .3 . Ba s eb a ll fans—Ill i n oi s — Ch i c a go. I .Ti t l e .
GV875.C58R64 2006
796.357’640977311—dc22
2006010392
Cover and interior design:Scott Rattray
Front cover image:© Terrence Fogarty 2004,www.terrencefogarty.com
© 2006 by Richard Roeper
All rights reserved
Published by Chicago Review Press,Incorporated
814 North Franklin Street
Chicago,Illinois 60610
ISBN-13:978-1-55652-650-3
ISBN-10:1-55652-650-4
eBook ISBN:1-55652-688-1
Printed in the United States ofAmerica
5 4 3 2 1
For my father

Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction ix
1 In a Choke Hold 1
2 The Mick Goes Deep 9
3 Don’t Start Believin’ 37
4 Eight Men Out 47
5 Front-Runners 59
6 A Sox Fan in Cubbie Nation 65
7 Winning Lucky 87
8 That ’70s Show 95
9 Hey Now,They’reAll-Stars 119
10 Sox Culture 123
11 We Loved the ’80s—Sort Of 149
12 Stretch Drive 163
13 Take Me Out to the Mall Game 167
14 The Curse Is Reversed 185
Epilogue:Coming Home 195

Acknowledgments
Thanks to Robert and Margaret Roeper,Lynn and Nick Zona,Bob and
Co ll een Roeper, L a u ra Roeper, Sam Sa u n ders , L a u ra Le Q u e s n e , Jo h n
LeQuesne,Emily Roeper,Caroline Roeper,and Bobby Roeper.
Thanks also to Bill Adee,GraceAdee,Leslie Baldacci,John Barron,
Anna Butler,Michael Cavoto,Richard Cavoto,Susan Carlson,Michelle
Ca rn ey, Jen n i fer Ci m i n i ll o, John Cru i ck s h a n k , D a rcie Divi t a , Don
Du pree , Roger and Chaz Ebert , L a u ra Emeri ck , Robert Feder, Wen dy
George,Amanda Kammes,Drew Hayes,Don Hayner,Susanna Homan,
S teve Hu n t l ey,Jon and Liz Ka p l a n ,John Ki eh l e ,Tim Ki n g,D avid Kode s k i ,
Rick Kogan,Janet LaMonica,Todd Musburger,Brian Musburger,Steve
Pa ll o t to, D avid Plu m m er, Phil and Jennie and Zach a ry Ro s en t h a l , t h e
S h em p s ter, Nancy Stanley, Neil Stei n ber g, Ken Sw a n born , G w y n n e
Thomas,ChristyVan House,JennifferWeigel,JoyceWinnecke,and the
Wisers:Paige,Jim,Audrey,and Jack.
ToAnnabelle:Kisses.
A dugout curtain call for Mark Liptak ofWhite Sox Interactive and
White Sox Encyclopediaauthor Richard C.Lindberg—Sox fans who have
forgotten more about the history ofthe team than I will ever know ofit.
To my assistant,Lia,her husband,Sam,and their son,Konstantinos
Papadopoulos:Eυχαριστv!
Thanks to Luis Ap a ri c i o, Di ck All en , Ha rold Ba i n e s , Ma ggl i o
Ordonez,and Tadahito Iguchi.
Big thanks to my editor,Yuval Taylor.
Great thanks to Sheree Bykofs ky and Ja n et Ro s en .You alw ays bel i eve .
vii

Introduction
For most of my lifetime,the ChicagoWhite Sox have been the second
team in the Second Ci ty.Wh en ever I’m on the road and men ti on that
I’m from Chicago,the automatic assumption is that I’m a Cubs fan.Peo-
ple start waxing rhapsodic about the glories of Wrigley Field (the most
overra ted venue in all of s ports) and the trials and tri bu l a ti ons of t h e
Cubbies—the most romantic,the most lovable,the most endearing los-
ers,ever.Maybe this year will be the year when the Cubs finally end that
d ro u ght of ,what is it,754 ye a rs wi t h o ut a World Series appe a ra n ce? Th a t’s
the kind ofcrap I have to hear.
Finally,I have to cut them offand say,“Actually,I’m a Sox fan.”
“You’re a Red Sox fan?”they say.
“Uh,no.White Sox.I’m a White Sox fan.”
“Oh.”
Th a t’s all they ever say:“O h .”It’s as if I ’d said,“Actu a lly,I ’m more of
a fan ofFri s bee Foo tb a ll fe a tu ring three - l egged dogs .”Th ere’s just no qu i ck
re acti on to the fact that I’m a Wh i te Sox fan.Pri or to 2005,i ft h ere wa sa
re s pon s e ,i t’s usu a lly a men ti on ofthe movie Ei ght Men Ou tand the infa-
mous 1919 Bl ack Sox ,the on ly profe s s i onal team in the history ofs port s
to con s p i re to throw a ch a m p i onship seri e s .Pete Rose got kicked out of
b a s eb a ll after he had played for two dec ades and been a manager.Ei gh t
g uys on the Sox were thrown out ofthe game while they sti ll had careers .
Great.Thanks for bringing that up.
Forget about the Curse of the Bambino or the Bartman ball or any
ofthat nonsense.Ifever a team should get cursed,it wouldn’t be because
t h ey sold the gre a test player in the game to another te a m ,or a fan re ach ed
ix