Giolito’s No-No Kicks Off Virtual Sox Spring Break!

Weeks ago, there was a lot of speculation over how the White Sox might replace their canceled SoxFest. Why not go virtual with it?

It seemed a logical time, late January, to still generate interest in the team and season — and break up a winter we didn’t even yet know would stretch so long and ugly — by producing some sort of virtual event.

But the White Sox punted on that idea, even as several other MLB clubs did proceed with virtual “fan caravan” style events.

The good news is that here in spring training, where it counts even more to give fans access, the White Sox are coming through, with Virtual Sox Spring Break.

The Spring Break gives fans inside access to the team, kicking off on Friday at 3 p.m. Central with a look back at Lucas Giolito’s Aug. 25, 2020 no-hitter vs. Pittsburgh. Not only will Giolito be participating in the look back, but bullpen coach Curt Hasler (who will surely provide some insight into whether he felt Lucas was “on” that day) and Adam Engel (the defensive hero who preserved the no-no with a dramatic catch for the 27th out) will be there.

All the fun takes place over at the White Sox YouTube channel. And it’s a place you should probably be routinely checking, or subscribing to, because the team seems to have taken a cue to what we did last summer at Sports Illustrated by providing a lot of Zoom interview footage there now.

There are no promises at the Spring Break site, but the setup seems to be Monday-Wednesday-Friday events, for who knows how long.

On Monday (February 22) at 3 p.m. Central, Rick Hahn hosts a virtual town hall, with Jason Benetti and Len Kasper weighing in as moderators. Next Wednesday (February 24), it’s a coaches roundtable, with Tony La Russa, Frank Menechino and Ethan Katz appearing to chat with fans and answer questions.

At the Spring Break site, you can submit video questions for any future virtual event.

If you’re watching today, feel free to share insights from the event in the comments. If this proves fun and newsworthy enough, we’ll do stories on each event during Virtual Sox Spring Break.

In case any of you don’t want to poke around for it, here’s the embed of the half-hour special. Highly recommended, a really great job on all counts. Well done, Sox.