August 9,1977
vs. Seattle Mariners
at Comiskey Park

The White Sox returned home after the sweep in Kansas City and had a simple message for the Royals and anybody else who thought their hat-tipping antics were "bush." That message, essentially, was "screw you."

"I don't know who gave you the idea we might stop acknowledging the applause after our home runs" Chet Lemon told Dave Condon. "We never gave it any thought....

August 5,1977
vs. Kansas City Royals
at Royals Stadium

The White Sox held a team meeting after the routing the Royals and agreed to tone their act down.

"I think we're learning our lesson" Bart Johnson explained. "Being in first place is reason enough to get the other team angry, you don't have to give them other reasons." He also said that it was OK to acknowledge your fans, but not to the point of getting the other team mad. "We've...

July 31,1977
vs. Kansas City Royals
at Comiskey Park

The Sox and Royals concluded their big series with a Sunday doubleheader. 50,412 screaming, singing, joyous fans turned out for this one, the Sox' first gate of 50,000 plus since 1973. They witnessed one of the great classics in White Sox history in the first game, followed by a Royal blast in game 2. After the games, the Royals, two players specifically, let loose.

At around this time another growing Comiskey...

July 30,1977
vs. Kansas City Royals
at Comiskey Park

Game 2 of the big showdown with the Royals was very much like the first. A large crowd of 34,945 turned out, turned on and remained on 11 throughout. "Once again, chairs were optional" wrote Bob Verdi in his game summary.

The Royals once again did not take long at all to take charge of the proceedings. George Brett led the game off by torching starter Francisco Barrios for a home run, and...

July 29,1977
vs. Kansas City Royals
at Comiskey Park

The Sox came home and ran their winning streak to six with a win over Detroit on the 26th. The Tigers snapped it the next day, leaving the Sox up by four games going into a four game weekend showdown with the second place Royals. The series saw a level of crowd noise, fan emotion and good times not seen on the south side since, well, the beginning of the month.

45,919 jammed the ballyard for the...