Once nearly the Trop's tenant, the White Sox are creating a buzz with the city's first Series game since 1959.
By MARC TOPKIN, Times Staff Writer
Published October 23, 2005
CHICAGO - The White Sox could have been in St. Petersburg on Saturday.
If things had worked differently in the late 1980s, the White Sox would have moved to Tampa Bay. And if everything else were the same, they would have opened the World Series on Saturday under the slanted roof of what is now Tropicana Field.
"That's true," Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said. "But we're all better off."
That could be debated, as Tampa Bay waited until 1998, then got the Devil Rays, who under dubious ownership and management finished last seven of their eight seasons and, well, you know the rest.
But things turned out pretty well for the Sox, who Saturday hosted the first World Series game in the Windy City since 1959.
"This is great for Chicago," said Jerome Holtzman, the longtime Chicago Tribune writer who is now baseball's historian. "It's one of the best things to happen to the city of Chicago. We've been very patient."
Excitement was palpable leading up to Saturday's first pitch, with a Sox banner hanging from Harry Caray's restaurant and Sox shirts and caps everywhere, including the statuesque lions at the entrance to the Art Institute of Chicago. A late afternoon rain and hail storm couldn't dampen the enthusiasm at sold-out U.S. Cellular Field.
"You can definitely tell it's the World Series, just the way the fans were coming in and everybody was cheering," Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle said. "You could feel the buzz around."
"This," Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said, "is the ultimate thing."
Even Reinsdorf, who has won a half-dozen NBA championships as Bulls owner, has been overwhelmed by the magnitude of the Sox's accomplishment in getting to the Series. No telling what would happen if they win their first championship since 1917.
"I've been through this a number of times in basketball, but this is different," Reinsdorf said. "This is so much bigger. It's unbelievable. After 88 years for the White Sox to have a chance to win a World Series, and to be in the World Series for the first time in 46 years, I can't comprehend it. It just feels different. I'm just numb."
Reinsdorf insisted he was treating Saturday as a normal work day, spending time in his office doing paperwork and making calls, snacking on cheesecake and Chinese food in the clubhouse, then watching Wheel of Fortune and having dinner.
But he normally doesn't carry a 1917 half-dollar in his pocket for luck, and he normally isn't inundated with e-mails that he stays up late answering, and he normally isn't walking around urging Sox fans to be sympathetic to Cubs fans.
"I would hope our fans, now that they've had the satisfaction of getting to the World Series, would root for the Cubs to get to the World Series," he said.
