Today was one of those days that makes being a White Sox fan completely worth it. Freddy pitched well enough to win, Ozzie got ejected, Konerko and Rios went yard, and the Pale Hose picked up their first series win on the season.
If not for Alex Rios' booming walk-off homerun, the main focus of this game would be the questionable umpiring. With Rios and Teahen on in the fourth, Alexei Ramirez hit a deep fly ball to left. Eric Byrnes couldn't catch it and the ball bounced out of his glove and off the yellow line. Ramirez would only get a double. Bobby Jenks couldn't preserve the tie in the ninth, letting Jose Lopez and Ken Griffey Jr. reach base. A Casey Kotchman fan interference ground-rule double somehow scored pinch-runner Jack Wilson from first because Fieldin Culbreth believes 1+2=4. All of this wouldn't matter, as Konerko took former disappointing White Sox reliever David Aardsma deep to left-center on the third pitch of the at-bat. A.J. Pierzynski would then fly out to center leaving the Sox with their final bullet. Carlos Quentin grinded out a six pitch walk, and was replaced at first by Jayson Nix. The pinch-runner proved unnecessary, as Alex Rios grooved a high fastball into left. How hard did he hit it? Aardsma walked off the mound as soon as contact was made.
Something else awesome also happened at the game today. My roommate Dan and I drove up from Champaign to see the Sox play. 45 minutes before the first pitch, two Chevy Pride Crew members walked up to us and asked if I'd like to participate in the 4th inning trivia question. I said yes and was taken to the Fundamentals deck during the third. I was asked to name today's starting lineup with positions in 30 seconds. I would have never been able to post here again if I screwed up. I won, got an autographed John Danks picture and $45 in Comiskey Cash. The best part? Hearing the crowd of 25,253 cheer for me. Best game of the season, bar none.