Growing up in Naperville, Illinois, and moving to Grand Rapids when I was three, I don’t remember much about my life back home; besides weekend visits to my family and the city, the only thing I carry with me still today is my sports teams. Reflecting on my first experience with these teams, I am reminded of one of the biggest parts of my life: the Chicago White Sox.

The first professional sports game I got to experience was a White Sox game. I was barely two years old when I went, and my brother was still a baby. I remember not knowing what was happening, but I loved every part. I sat there in my little White Sox jersey on my dad’s lap, and for all nine innings, I sat there waiting for the next crack of the bat; that moment sparked a new love in me that I still have today, almost sixteen years later, but when I went to this game back in 2007, I would have never known how amazing my team would turn out to be.

Win or lose, I followed every update of the season, and until about last season, I was beginning to worry about the White Sox as a team, but then it clicked.

This is the team that shook Guaranteed Rate Field and touched every Southside fan who had been waiting for the “it” season since 2005. But before that, they were so much more than just another team. 

The AL Central leader with ninety-three wins. That is the 2021 season win count for the Chicago White Sox. The team that beat the Yankees for the 2021 Field of Dreams game that not only went down in history books but any Southside fans’ hearts. 

These are just small parts of the season without deep diving into every firework show put on during home games after a home run, and these alone don’t even begin to show the accomplishments in the record book through the years that sculpted them to this season. 

Three World Series titles hang like charms under their belts as they wait for the next season to add to their collection. The team that had NBA star, Michael Jordan, play during his basketball break proved that it takes not just a person but a team to make magic happen. 

It isn’t just the fans who have their heart set on the team.

Bill Veeck, who was one of the owners of the Chicago White Sox back when they still played at Comiskey Park, once said, “If there is any justice in this world, to be a White Sox fan frees a man from any other form of penance.”

This is the magic of having a team that can always show up, win or lose, rain or shine. This team has given hope to anyone and everyone who will watch with their hearts on their sleeves and will continue to do so for years to come.

Life can bring me many places, but one thing is for sure: you can take the kid out of the Southside but can’t take the Southside out of the kid. With this season and many to come, the White Sox have nothing but time to reshape and sculpt into a dream team once again, and I, for one, know that I will be sitting on the third base line watching the ball fly in amazement the same way I did at my first game.