Chicago White Sox, Fan Friendly Spring Training
©2006
L Rybak
Fan Friendly Spring
Training Trip to RememberBy Lisa Rybak
March 22,
2006White Sox fans filled
Tucson Electric Park this past weekend to watch the World Champions face the
Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs in exhibition play. Friday’s 10-9 loss
against the Rangers featured starting pitcher Mark Buehrle and home runs from
A.J. Pierzynski and Jermaine Dye. Javier Vasquez looked solid on the mound in a
9-3 victory over the Cubs on Saturday while Joe Crede went 4-4 with a home
run.Prior to the games, fans
lined up against the blue fence leading into the park hoping to get a glimpse of
their favorite player. They were not disappointed as members of the White Sox
strolled through, waving and smiling while listening to good luck wishes.
Virtually all of the non-roster invitees and players from the minor league camp
familiarized themselves with the fans by stopping to sign autographs from the
fence. Inside the park, fans
stood in front of the dugout, tossing T-shirts, baseballs, hats, and
Sharpie’s back and forth to their favorite players who returned them
signed. Cameras were flashing as the players walked into the dugout, and
“Ozzie” chants rang out as the manager waved to the crowd.
The fans saw most of the
starting lineup play during the two games including Paul Konerko, Tadahito
Iguchi, Juan Uribe, Jermaine Dye, A.J. Pierzynski, Joe Crede, and Brian
Anderson. They also got to see the lesser known players in action that had
signed autographs for them prior to the game such as Ryan Sweeney, Javier Lopez,
Darren Blakely, Jerry Owens, Robert Valido and Sean Tracey.
Some fans made the trip to
Phoenix on Sunday to see the Sox take on the Brewers at Maryvale Baseball Park.
It had not rained in Arizona in over 130 days, but it drizzled on and off all
day and was unseasonably cold. The crowd groaned when the game announcer
mentioned over the loud speaker that the temperature in Chicago was 44 degrees,
while the temperature at the ballpark was 48 degrees. The Sox went on to lose
to the Brewers 8-7 in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Posted: Tue - March 28, 2006 at 09:55 AM
