My kid sister does a lot of work as part of the White Sox volunteer corps. She goes to those events all the time and pitches in. And we aren't talking about the type wearing high heels looking for the players --she brings the elbow grease. So last Saturday night they offered the Samaritans of the South Side discounted tickets, then entered the names of those who bought the tickets into a raffle to see who got to present the umpire with the lineup card. Well, she wins! And I find myself back on the field pregame once again, almost exactly five years after I painted the black to Mark Buehrle with my 55 mph screwball.
Unlike last time, when I was allowed to loiter out there near the dugouts, there was some serious stuff going on at the Cell this time. The White Sox were honoring the Little League World Series United States champs Jackie Robinson West and Hall of Famer Tony La Russa, which brought the White Sox brass onto the field with me, as well as five local news crews and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn. The chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, Kenny Williams, all within earshot. La Russa was wandering around, a bit put out it seemed, probably because he had to sign autographs for a half hour or so and this dude behind home plate was still hounding him for an autograph after he met the obligation. I just gave the former skipper the head nod, which he returned and let him catch up with people he wanted to talk to like Herm Schneider.
I wore a gold t-shirt because the Sox asked fans in an email to wear gold in support of the little leaguers, so thats what I did. I didn't realize I would be standing directly in front of the families on the field though, so just about everyone shot me confused looks because no one remembered seeing a white dude when they were on ESPN (lol).
I even had to move out of the way so they could take a group shot on the field with their families behind them. It would have been pretty easy to stay in that shot, but instead I settled for taking a selfie with Ann Haley, the founder of their league.
They rolled out the red carpet for those kids. They each got a Sox jersey with their number, they were all announced and got to run the bases, high-fiving the White Sox as they ran from third to home. They stood in front of the dugout with the players for the national anthem. A nice moment for them, followed by recognition for Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa.
The governor is slick man -- he doesn't ever turn it off. He saw my sister's volunteer corps shirt and ran with that. We rode the elevator together after the festivities. He was talking about how we really need to run with this and try to get Little Leagues going again, especially with urban youth. Well, if you read this, Governor, my Little League field when I was a kid hasn't been used in over a decade, as the league folded long ago. Mueters Park in Markham at 163rd and Hamlin. Its on Google Maps as the Markham Boys League Field, and it's as good a place to start as any.
In my day, my dad was the league president, and my mom stocked and ran the concession stand. We had to go around and pick up a mitt full of litter, throw it away, and then you'd get 50 cents worth of candy, win or lose. That's why I was honored to take a photo with Miss Haley, because she certainly wasn't in it for the money when she got involved with her local Little League. And you know what else? Her ceremonial first pitch was better than La Russa's! He went with the cagey vet move of walking and waving towards the plate and just sort of shuffled up there, while she actually threw the ball. Bad form, skip. Pretty stoked to get his bobblehead, though.
So after all that, I'm still out there on the field. My sister goes over and says hello to Robin Ventura, then Mark Parent escorts her to home plate. Pleasantries are exchanged all around and finally she turns in the lineup card, then we are ushered off as Gene Honda orders the crowd to their feet and the Sox run out to their positions.
A really cool experience, and while it was old hat for me, my sister was on cloud nine. Proud of you, sis. Really glad I wore the gold to honor the little leaguers. The alternative would have been the 83 jersey, but then they wore them that game and I would have looked like the world's oldest bat boy.
The game was a typical rough-to-sit-through 2014 White Sox affair. No offense early, a late rally to make things interesting, then the bullpen goes and just takes a big smelly dump on the mound. But hey, fireworks after, and that's never bad.