My life and that of my friend Robert have taken some parallel paths since we met as college freshman in 1975. We both married, had kids, and found careers in law and social justice.
Sadly, baseball has lead us down tragically different paths. I moved to Los Angeles and adopted the Dodgers in the 1980’s, while Robert returned to his hometown Chicago and became a White Sox fan. He took a different road, and as Robert Frost wrote, “That has made all the difference.”
Over the last three seasons, the White Sox record have won 162 games but lost 324. In the 2024 season they lost more games in a season than any team in baseball history. The Dodgers have done better. While we had rough years in the 80’s and 90’s, the Dodgers are the dominant team of this era, mostly winning our division and the last two World Series.
Through it all, Robert has remained a loyal, if sometimes grumpy, fan. He has been a season ticket holder for over 35 years and has really sweet seats on the field level behind home plate.
In spite of our divergent paths, our friendship has remained strong and we have a tradition of attending our respective team’s visit to each other parks. This year, with the Dodgers going to Chicago for three games in June, we made plans in March for me to fly out.
That’s where the pigs come in because no one, and I mean no one in baseball expected that when June rolled around the Dodgers and the White Sox would both be leading their divisions.
Choose your analogy. Pigs are flying. Hell has frozen over. The White Sox are playing winning baseball. They are six games above .500. They are tied for first place in their division. And in something Robert is quick to point out- they have a better record than the Cubs.
Robert is as surprised as everyone else. “The ownership traded away every player of value for years,” he told me, “They sold the floorboards and some of the roof out of this team, year and after year.” I asked him what it feels like to be winning. “I have hope. It feels like it is baseball again where they are in contention every day. It’s fun!”
When asked how he is dealing with Cubs fans, he said, “So far, I’m just carrying a certain smug satisfaction. It still feels early, but if we make the playoffs, I’ll start to believe.”
I asked about the role of Pope Leo, a lifelong White Sox fan, in all this. Robert said, “I’m not going to say the Pope blessed this team, but I’m not going to say he didn’t.” (The team is having a Pope hat giveaway in August. The game is already sold out.)
Some Local Color:
The ballpark is great, with good food, enthusiastic fans, and certain local “quirks.” At Dodger Stadium, you can get Dodger dog or a Dodger dog. That’s pretty much it. In Chicago you can get a Polish Sausage, a bratwurst, an Italian sausage and a hot dog. You can get elote and good tamales. You can get Chinese food.
The fans can be rowdy. At one point, the announcer and the billboard admonished us to “Please do not use profanity. There are children present.”
They have a weird obsession with the Green Bay Packers. At random exciting points during the game, the crowd will start spontaneously chanting, “Green Bay sucks.” I asked a fan why they are chanting this. “Because Green Bay sucks!” he told me. I left it at that. See photo of young fan wearing a cheese grater hat. I was told this was a Green Bay reference.
They also have the ugliest mascot in baseball. Local fan call him, in a fairly apt description, “Booger Man.” They have a shower in outfield for fans to use on hot days.
Dodger fans were well represented, about 25 percent of the crowd. And in spite of the new found rivalry, Robert and I are still friends.
Postscript: By the end of the weekend, the White Sox had taken two our of three games from the Boys in Blue. The White Sox are for real!
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.