I have never lived in Chicago, and have not lived within 450 miles of Chicago at any point of my lifetime. This means that the number of White Sox games I have had a chance to attend in person is very limited. I have attended just six games at US Cellular Field. I have seen the Sox play twice at Kansas City and once at St. Louis. That's it, my entire body of work attending Sox games. I do, however, have a knack for picking games. It seems like almost every game I have been to has been something special or amazing. Here are the five craziest things I have seen in my nine Sox games.
#5)15 Foul Balls By Chris Singleton On Saturday, July 17th, 1999, I attended my very first White Sox game after a long time of waiting. The Sox were in St. Louis for a three game interleague set. I was excited to see my hero Frank Thomas as well as some of these younger guys they had been bragging about. One of these players was Chris Singleton, who was a good rookie having what would be his best season.
In his at bat in the 7th inning, he managed to draw a walk. Nothing special about a walk really, but it's the at bat itself that was crazy. In this at bat, Chris Singleton saw 19 pitches, with every strike coming on foul balls. 15 to be exact and one of them nearly landed where I was sitting, hitting just one row in front of me. Now the baseball-reference box score says that at bat saw 9 pitches, but I can guarantee you it is a typo that was supposed to say 19. I've still never seen anything like that at bat, definitely not in person and not even watching games on TV.
#4)David DeJesus Loses The Ball Mark Buehrle started this game and was just pitching ok. The 7th inning started with the White Sox trailing 3-2. After a few hits, the Sox were tied 3-3 with 2 outs. Tadahito Iguchi came to bat with Pablo Ozuna on 2nd base. Iguchi hit a mostly harmless fly ball to centerfield and David DeJesus started in then took an awkward approach toward corralling the ball. At this point, I realized he had lost the ball in the dusky haze.
I immediately jumped up and said "Go! Go! Go!" to the surprise of all the people around me because they must have been sure he would catch it. Then, DeJesus made the important motion that let everyone know he lost the ball, he put his hands out like "I don't have it!" and it fell behind him. I was cheering loudly as Ozuna scored to give the Sox a lead they wouldn't give back.
#3)James Baldwin Collects His Only Career Triple James Baldwin should have never had a bat in his hand in a major league game. In 44 career at bats, he hit .091 and never hit a home run. He collected only 4 hits and only 2 RBI. I apparently chose the best batting game of his career to attend. This was the same game as #5, July 17th, 1999 vs. the Cardinals. He was not pitching particularly well, having us down 4-0 after three innings. In his first at bat, he struck out which is what he did 20 of the 44 at bats in his career. Then in the 5th inning, the Sox bats came alive.
Wilson had gotten on in front of Baldwin who was coming to bat with two outs. Somehow, after accumulating a 1-2 count, James hit the 4th pitch to deep right center field. What happened was, the RF dove and missed the ball, leaving the CF a long track to collect the ball. By the time he did, Baldwin had lugged himself all the way to third base for his first and only career triple. If I wasn't there, I wouldn't have believed that it ever happened. Besides accumulating an RBI, he also scored a run in that inning, a rare feat for his career.
#2)The White Sox Score & Score & Score June 20th, 2006, I was on a trip with my friend to Chicago. We had tickets to the White Sox game that night against the St. Louis Cardinals and I was expecting a really good game. It started off with the Cardinals leading 1-0 going to the bottom of the third. Then all hell broke loose. Mark Mulder was making the start for the Cards that night, and it's one that he probably wishes he could forget.
It will be easier just to write what happened that third inning than to break it down: Crede doubles; Anderson doubles(Crede scores); Ozuna flyout; Iguchi singles(Anderson scores); Thome singles; Konerko singles(Iguchi scores); Dye singles(Thome scores); Pierzynski HR(Konerko, Dye score); Uribe singles; Crede HR(Uribe scores); pitching change(Brad Thompson) Anderson Ks; Ozuna singles; Iguchi singles; Thome BB; Konerko singles(Ozuna, Iguchi score); Dye groundout. That's 11 runs on 12 hits and a walk between two pitchers.
This was the single best inning I have ever witnessed any team to have in person and the most runs I have seen the Sox score on tv or in person in just one inning. I never thought that inning would end. I figured if they just kept going forever, maybe the Cards would just forfeit. The White Sox went on to score 2 in the 4th, 6 in the 6th and 1 in the 7th to make the final score 20-6, the largest run total I have personally seen from the Sox. This offensive outburst was amazing to behold and I will probably never witness anything like that again in person.
Immediately after the game, the Cards placed Mark Mulder on the DL, and he would not return to pitch a game until August 23rd against the Mets, when he would again give up 9 ER in 3 or fewer innings.
#1)AJ Pierzynski Walks Off On The Dodgers June 18th, 2005 is without a doubt the best finish I have ever seen in any game I have been to. The Dodgers had built a 3-1 lead and taken it all the way into the 9th inning. The Dodgers decided to bring in Yhency Brazoban, who I had never even heard of prior to this outing. He started off the inning by walking Iguchi and Iguchi moved to second on a ground out by Big Hurt. He got Konerko on a fly ball to CF. With two outs down by two runs and a man on second, our chances to win this game were waning.
Then, Carl Everett came up to the plate and singled to RF, allowing Iguchi to score. Now it was 3-2. Rowand came up next with Willie Harris pinch running for Everett. Willie Harris managed to steal second base. Then Rowand knocked him in on a single to CF in a 7 pitch at bat that had come down to the last strike. Now the game was tied 3-3 and we could win it.
Up came AJ Pierzynski, and his job would be just to knock in Rowand for the win. Rowand spent much of AJ's at bat attempting to go on hit and runs. AJ continued to hit foul balls(5) and built up a 3-2 count, all the while Rowand unable to advance beyond first. Then, on the 9th pitch of the at bat, Yhency decided to just challenge AJ right down the middle. This was a big mistake. AJ hit the ball hard to left center and it cleared the fence for a walk off home run, on Turn Back The Clock Night.
Fireworks After The Game
The stadium went absolutely crazy, the noise was deafening. The fireworks were going off and it was almost impossible to hear Nancy playing Nah Nah Nah Nah, Hey Hey Hey, Goodbye on the organ. The best part of all of this was that I was with my dad and even though he was a huge Dodgers fan, he was a good sport about it. This moment will always rank above some other non-World Series winning moments for me because I was there to experience this in person. I will never forget it, and it was probably the best regular season game of the World Series year.
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