Will packed ballpark become a more common site on Sout' Side?

It was a cloudy, overcast, all-around-crummy Saturday in Chicago. Most definitely not the stereotypical image of a beautiful day for a ballgame.

No crummy attendance jokes on Sout' Side -- not Saturday, at least. Photos by Gregory Tejeda

Yet the stands at Guaranteed Rate Field were packed.

I WENT TO that particular ballgame, where the Chicago White Sox managed to get beat up upon by the New York Yankees. Yet the ballpark was packed with people -- officially just over 36,000 people bought tickets.

And even accounting for people who got discouraged from showing up because of the rain (who wants to get drenched, or have to wear a crude poncho to try to keep dry), there were still 30,000 plus people actually in attendance.

Which is significant because Chicago Cubbies fanatics would have us think that the White Sox are the ball club nobody cares about and nobody ever goes to see -- because EVERYBODY feels the need to go out to Beautiful Wrigley Field instead!

Because everybody loves the Cubs. It's only natural. Or so they'd have us think.

PERSONALLY, I'VE ALWAYS felt that the Cubs were the ballclub that managed to draw a solid number of tourists -- thereby inflating their overall attendance figures. If you take actual interest in the two teams, I'd say they come out about even.

A loaded parking lot made me thankful I took the 'el'

Except to the Cubbie fanatics, who want to believe they're the only ones who count. Almost like how Donald Trump's political backers explain away their guy's constant decline in poll ratings. Their people are the only ones who matter, and who should be paid attention to.

Not intimidated by Yanks -- this year, at least

To which I give the giant raspberry. As in ptbthhhhhb!

Or should we call it the Bronx cheer? Which might actually be appropriate because of the way the White Sox this weekend managed to produce what might well be the highlight of 2019 by beating up on the Yankees.

THE BRONX BOMBERS are the ball club who are in first place in their division, despite the injuries to so many key ballplayers, although on Saturday shortstop (and star) Didi Gregorius was back in the lineup.

Real 'South Side Hit Men'

But the White Sox have managed to hold their own, wining two of three games the teams played back in April, then managing to win a majority of games they played this week.

Technically, the White Sox won their "series" this year against the Yanks. Not bad, considering the team started out this season awful -- and it has taken this massive stretch of winning ways (including against the Yankees) just to get back to a .500 (half) winning record.

Is this going to be the beginning of the so-called rebuild White Sox management keeps insisting will turn the South Side Hit Men into a championship calibre ballclub by about 2021 or 2022?

WAS THE WELL-PACKED ballpark on Saturday (all of last week actually) a sign of what we're likely to see in coming years.

Can Sox keep winning Tue. and Wed. at Wrigley?

Or was this just a fluke and likely the highlight of the upcoming decade we're likely to get out of the Guaranteed Rate Field crew.

I did notice one significant change from recent years -- the number of people arriving at the ballpark wearing No. 7 jerseys (for Mickey Mantle) or No. 2 (for Derek Jeter) were on the decline. In fact, the most popular bit of garb Saturday night was worn by the fans who got the freebie promotional Hawaiian shirt -- covered with White Sox logos instead of tropical floral patterns.

And I have to admit to one plus brought about by being forced to buy a seat in the outer reaches of the upper deck -- my seat was sheltered by the upper deck roof. Meaning I remained dry all the way through the Saturday night rainfall that caused a rain delay.

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Maybe Sox been better off if they hadn’t played for a 3rd day straight

(NOT IN) BALTIMORE – We finally got to see Chicago White Sox baseball this week, although the game got so ugly so quickly, I wonder if we’d have been better off getting another day off.

The game played Wednesday (in the afternoon, rather than as originally scheduled in the evening) was the first game of this three-game set that the White Sox were able to get in against the Baltimore Orioles.

ALL OF THE riots had officials convinced they’d rather not risk having angered Baltimore protesters (upset over black abuse by police officers) attack fans trying to get to and from Camden Yards.

Plus, it also reduced the number of police officers who would have to be on detail to maintain order at the ballpark, thereby allowing them to be on patrol in other parts of Baltimore – although there was evidence Tuesday that the worst of the outbursts had passed.

So what we got was a White Sox/Orioles game in which no one was allowed to attend. Attendance was literally zero. People who showed up were locked out.

The teams still got in a ballgame to count toward their 162-game season count. But the other games that were meant for this week will be made up during a special trip to be made to Baltimore in mid-May (when the White Sox will be traveling from Toronto to Houston).

I WASN’T ANYWHERE near Baltimore on Wednesday, although I made a point of watching part of the WPWR-TV broadcast, listening to announcer Ken Harrelson tell us about what turned out to be dreadful activity on the field.

Cameras kept showing us a group of Orioles fans who converged outside a gate that sort of gave them a view of the game. Their “Let’s Go, O’s!” chants could be heard throughout the ballpark – while several panoramic television shots confirmed for us that there truly was no one sitting in the stands.

I’m sure at a time like this in Baltimore, this wasn’t the biggest concern. But it had to be a business blow to the Orioles, since ball clubs usually count on concessions stand sales from the people who attend the game for a significant part of their revenue.

If no one was on hand on Wednesday, they weren’t to buy overpriced beer and hot dogs, nor any barbecue from the stand named for one-time Orioles’ star Boog Powell.

I CAN THINK of one positive aspect of Wednesday’s circumstance – having a game played literally with zero attendance wipes out what I always thought was a stupid statistic cited by the Charleston Riverdogs of the South Atlantic League.

Back in 2002, they claimed to have played a game before zero fans – although it was really a stunt since the roughly 1,800 people who showed up for the game deliberately were locked out of the ball park until after the fifth inning; at which point the game became official.

Now, we have a real zero attendance statistic for a professional ballgame; even lower than the 413 people who attended a White Sox/New York Yankees game at Yankee Stadium in 1966, or the 653 who saw the Oakland A’s play the Seattle Mariners in a game in 1979. For the record, the ’66 Yankees and ’79 A’s (despite the presence of future Hall of Fame ballplayers Mickey Mantle and Rickey Henderson, respectively) were truly awful ball clubs.

The record for lack of fans in the stands now has some legitimacy.

ALTHOUGH ONE CAN argue that all of this is trivia, and that the only thing that matters about a sporting event is the on-field action.

If that is the regard, then “blech!” is the only reaction we should have, particularly since White Sox starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija seemed determined to do his best impersonation of a Chicago Cubs pitcher (which he once was).

Six runs given up in the first inning alone; the final score was 8-2. The White Sox’ incompetence level settled down, but it was also the kind of game one quickly wants to switch the channel on.

Even the WTTW Prime rebroadcast of the PBS “Last Days in Vietnam” documentary seemed more appealing to watch!

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EDITOR’S NOTE: That “No attendance” minor league ballgame was plotted as a publicity stunt by Mike Veeck, team owner and son of the Hall of Fame baseball owner Bill Veeck. For the record, the younger Veeck’s ball team lost 4-2 to the Columbus (Ga.) Red Stixx in that game.

White Sox attendance? Truly a dull issue

Do you want to know what gets more old, moldy and boring than anything else? Constant “pontification,” so to speak, about why the Chicago White Sox aren’t drawing more people to attend their ballgames.

One of the reasons why I go out of my way to ignore sports talk radio in Chicago is that baseball talk will easily turn into rants about why more people don’t go to White Sox ballgames.

IT WAS JUST last week that the Chicago Tribune felt compelled to use the “heft” of its editorial page to rant about White Sox crowds only averaging 59 percent of U.S. Cellular Field capacity.

Which personally I think is a good, solid level – if not quite spectacular. Then again, I’m old enough to remember the days when ball clubs thought they had good seasons at the gate if they reached total attendance of 1.5 million.

Now, teams that fall short of 3 million want to believe they have failed. It’s just nonsense.

The newspaper claimed it was “call(ing) that bluff” that White Sox fans demand a quality ball club on the field before they’ll offer consistent support.

“SOX FANS, WHERE are you?” the newspaper asks us.

What a waste of newsprint. It strikes me as being one of the most trivial editorials the Tribune published since the day a few years ago that the newspaper felt compelled to endorse the television presidential candidacy of Matt Santos (played by actor Jimmy Smits) on the program “The West Wing” because in the show’s storyline, the Santos campaign got the endorsement of a fictional Chicago Tribune.

No wonder some people think editorials are a waste!

That editorial claimed an average White Sox attendance of 23,815 per game, compared to a more recent report by Crain’s Chicago Business that puts the average attendance at 24,188 people per game.

BUT AS THE business-oriented newspaper reported on the website, the increase is because the White Sox had exceptional attendance for their three-game series against the Minnesota Twins and the Los Angeles Angels.

And there is reason to believe that games will continue to draw well during the month of August, which means the average will continue to tick upwards ever so slightly.

Particularly when the New York Yankees make their lone appearance of the season in Chicago. That series always draws well (even that one season a few years ago when the Yankees didn’t play the White Sox in Chicago until the final three-game series of the season in late September).

There is a fully-legitimate reason why attendance was down in the early part of the season, although the people who want to engage in these rants usually don’t want to pay attention.

A LOT OF season-ticket holders dropped their plans following the dreadfulness that was 2011.

When a team does not have a high level of season-ticket holders who buy their sears in advance and get counted in the attendance figures even if no one shows up, they have to count on the whims of daily ticket sales.

Those people who just decide on the spur of the moment to try to go to a game. Considering how expensive all sports events have become these days, those people are more likely to decide to just watch the game on television – regardless of the team. Bill Veeck used to say that owners were absurd to think fans were obligated to support the local ball club – yet another tidbit we seem to want to ignore.

Which is why I found it interesting that Crain’s reported how the White Sox are offering partial season-ticket packages – trying to get people to buy in bulk for what is left of the season.

MY GUESS IS that come the off-season, the White Sox should be able to use this year’s success (particularly if the team winds up playoff-bound) to bolster their sales for 2013.

That will be the time when the team will gain the financial benefits of this year’s play.

And as for those individuals who want to say that all of this does not apply to the Chicago Cubs, I’d say they are the freak of nature. No one should think that they are the way a ball club ought to operate – on any level.

You want a real Chicago baseball debate?

INSTEAD OF RANTING about empty seats in the building across from the parking lot that once was Comiskey, ask questions about what is so appealing about ballplayers stumbling about in, as folk singer Steve Goodman described it, ‘an ivy-covered burial ground.”

Lou Novikoff was the Cubs outfielder back in the 1940s whose problems in playing major league-quality ball were related to his belief that the ivy was poisonous.

You’d think Cubs fans would be tired all these years later of ballplayers who do their best impersonation of “The Mad Russian” on the playing field. Why they aren’t is the real question we should be asking!

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A DAY IN THE LIFE (of Chicago): Life imitating art too closely for comfort?

“Maybe being a rebel in my family would have been selling patio furniture on Route 22.”

“Nobody takes it seriously, your honor. It’s the way we are. We got nothing better to do. We sit around talking.”

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Television may well just be fiction. Yet what should we think when its scenes become way too real?

Because when I heard of the in-court statement made Thursday by organized crime figure Arthur Rachel about why he risked so much while in his 70s age-wise to try to commit more criminal acts, I couldn’t help but remember a scene from the first season of The Sopranos.

COULD ACTOR JAMES Gandolfini’s “Tony Soprano” character have hit the nail on the head as to why many people feel compelled to get involved in the outfit (a.k.a., the mob, organized crime, the Mafia) and stay there.

For the record, the first line about being “a rebel” was Soprano explaining to his daughter, Meadow, why he didn’t try to pursue options in life other than following in the footsteps of his father and uncle.

The second line was what Rachel said during his sentencing hearing on Thursday before U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber when “da judge” asked him for a straight answer as to why an aging man who has spent a significant amount of his time incarcerated would even think of doing anything criminal.

Some people just seem incapable of conceiving any other life for themselves except for the rut in which they have landed.

IN FACT, WHAT may be the most troublesome part of Rachel’s ramble is his believe that, “What’s past is past.” As though we shouldn’t be concerning ourselves too much about anything he did.

So now Rachel gets his 104 months of time in a federal prison, of which he will have to do at least 88 months before he can be considered for early release. If he makes it (he’d be pushing nearly 90 by then) it will be a miracle.

Yet I can’t help but think the same attitude that we found all too entertaining a decade ago on television will ensure that the one-time jewel thief with organized crime connections already has a replacement in place – someone who probably equally feels their choices in life are inevitable.

What else is notable these days along the shores of Lake Michigan between Winnetka and Whiting, Ind.?

MO’ MONEY IN THE WORKS?: The minimum wage has come a long way since the days I worked jobs that legally paid it. I’m aging myself, but I recall the days of getting $3.35 an hour. Now, in Illinois, it is $8.25, and officials are considering measures that could eventually boost it to $10.55.

Which would be better than the measure being pushed by Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., D-Ill., for a federal minimum wage law -- $10 per hour, which is bound to tick off all those states who call themselves “pro-business” but are really more concerned with putting corporate interests ahead of workers.

Jackson introduced a bill this past week calling for the federal minimum wage increase – just as he promised he would last month at various events, including a labor rally on the East Side neighborhood that paid tribute to the 10 people who were killed during picketing outside the now-former Republic Steel plant.

The worker in me says “good luck” to Jackson’s effort, which I’m sure will provoke a political brawl that may make the Republic Steel dust-up look like some love taps by the time this is all over.

WHO OWES WHOM?: There have been countless reports coming out of the sports sections and broadcasts in recent weeks – Chicago White Sox attendance stinks.

A team that is in first place in its division as we approach mid-season is barely getting 20,000 people into their stadium per game. White Sox fans should be ashamed of themselves for not supporting the ballclub better.

Which is a batch of bull (not Bulls)! I’ve never understood the belief that a ballclub is somehow entitled to capacity crowds for every ballgame. Teams that can draw well should thank their lucky stars for those moments, and not act as though it is the order of the world.

The reality is that attendance depends heavily on season ticket sales. After last season’s disaster, many White Sox fans cancelled their packages. That is the factor holding back the crowds this season. Now if this season’s good play doesn’t give them a boost for 2013, then there may be a legitimate issue.

Until then, just pipe down and enjoy the ballgame.

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White Sox readying to set foundation for a decade of on-field mediocrity

The way things are looking these days, I expect the 2010s are going to be a period of mediocrity for the Chicago White Sox.

Forget about any American League championships or World Series titles. Heck, this team will be lucky to get a lone playoff appearance – as in they’ll be the team that gets knocked out in the first round.

NOT EXACTLY WHAT White Sox fans desire, particularly since many still want another league championship to help verify the historic legitimacy of 2005. Six seasons and counting since the White Sox actually fulfilled the goal of 29 of the 30 major league teams.

The Chicago Cubs seem more interested in promoting ivy and cheap beer, but that’s a commentary for a different day – and an issue upon which I sympathize for legitimate baseball fans who happen to be deluded enough to pay attention to activity north of Roosevelt Road.

What’s causing me to be in this depressive funk?

It is the fact that everybody seems to be counting down the days until the season’s end – which is Wednesday when they play their final game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

I’M SURE THERE are many people who are eagerly anticipating an announcement by the ballclub that field manager Ozzie Guillen (who, like it or not, has been one of the most successful in team history) has been let go.

As in fired! Dismissed! Terminated! Canned! Stuffed in the toilet bowl of life and flushed into the Chicago River!!!!!!!

Which is an act that I think would be a mistake.

Yes, I’m one of the few people who’d like to see Guillen remain with the ballclub for another season – and for much longer if there are signs that the funk of 2011 can be overcome.

THIS WAS AN annoying season for White Sox fans – who at times rooted for a team that showed signs of why it was a legitimate contender for a championship this season. With the way the players played, I can't envision how Guillen could have done better?

With that depressing season start back in April, the only reason the White Sox remained serious contenders until early September was because everybody else in the American League’s central division was mediocre to bad.

Put Justin Verlander and his 24 victories on the New York Yankees (which may happen someday, regardless), and the Detroit Tigers without the league’s real MVP become depressingly mediocre.

Everybody wants to blame it on Ozzie, even though one could say he did the best he could with a roster provided to him by General Manager Ken Williams that had as its big bat a ballplayer who had one of the worst seasons ever in major league history.

WHAT WHITE SOX fans ought to be desiring is a serious assessment by their favorite team as to whether Adam Dunn is worth retaining – even though I realize his multi-million dollar contract would make him difficult to unload without taking a serious loss.

Had Dunn ever started hitting this year at the rate he had throughout his career (38 or more home runs per season for seven straight seasons), this would have been a radically different season.

What needs to be determined is if 2011 was truly an aberration? Or are the Chicago White Sox such a funk hanging around Dunn’s neck that there is no way he will ever amount to anything as a ballplayer here?

Does he need a change of scenery in order to regain his hitting stroke? If so, then the White Sox ought to unload him for whatever little they can get – even though they will then get forever mocked for trading him away to see him hit hard and heavy for another team.

INSTEAD, TOO MANY people are focusing on the quickie fix that really doesn’t fix anything (that, and wondering if Tuesday’s game against Toronto will be the last for pitcher Mark Buehrle with the White Sox). They want to say that Guillen is such an emotional drag with his outspoken temperament that the team needs a character change.

They’re willing to believe the speculation that Guillen and Williams (who have known each other since those 1980s days when both played for the White Sox) just hate each other too much to continue working together.

It makes me wonder how many of these people are the ones who didn’t like it back when Guillen was hired for the 2004 season. I recall a few who wanted former White Sox catcher Carlton Fisk to be considered as a manager (who fits their idea of a U.S. baseball manager closer than an outspoken Venezolano, and I couldn’t help but notice one newspaper columnist who proposed the idea of Fisk as manager, with Frank Thomas as some sort of hitting coach.

Of course, I have never got the sense that Fisk wanted to do the work of being a baseball manager, and have always sensed that Thomas merely wanted to be the former star who hangs around the team while also engaging in his own life out-of-baseball.

SO I DON’T know why people would seriously want that alternative, particularly since so much of the White Sox’ public image is tied up in Guillen.

Dump Ozzie and replace him with some conventional baseball man, and you’re going to see the White Sox become just another generic team. They’d be completely ignorable.

And you just know that would sway into the local perception and attendance – where the Cubs this season managed to sell just over 3 million tickets while the White Sox are going to have to have one heck of a late-season surge to surpass 2 million.

We all know that attendance surge ain’t gonna happen.

NOW BEFORE YOU complain to me about those attendance figures, I realize that many of those 3 million Cubs tickets were part of season-ticket packages that wound up going unused. There’s no way 3 million fans packed their way into Wrigley Field this year.

But unless serious thought is put into the on-field product by the White Sox, that 1 million-plus attendance gap will grow larger and larger in coming years, and the amount of attention paid to the team will drop back to the early Jerry Manuel years.

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