TO BE PUBLISHED!!! This championship is dedicated to...

[Realist]

To my mom who will have passed away way too young 3 years ago on October 8th. My bother and I took her to the clincher in '93 and I really miss watching games with her or calling her and asking her what she's doing and getting the reply, "Watching the game".

Hopefully God will give all of our folks that have moved on to better things a few hours off from strumming their harps so they can watch the playoffs with us.



[whew. good cry. I think I needed that]

[ChiWhiteSox1337]

My dad, who was around back in 1959 but never saw them win the World Series. He passed away last year on 5/15 after we watched the White Sox vs Twins. Rarely did we ever get a chance to watch a Saturday night game together, since he was usually at work...

[Wsoxmike59]

I hoist a glass to toast my late father (Red) who died on July 13, 1977. (the night of the famous NY City black-out) I inherited his love of the game and the White Sox. (ironically I was at the Sox game the night he died!)

I'll always have a mental image of my father watching the Sox on the old b/w tv out on the back porch, after a long days work and watching them battle the hated Yankees for the pennant.

Also to my wife's father Rich who died July 18, 1988. Two men who loved their White Sox, and passed the torch on down to their children.

Thanks Dads...for everything, this celebration would be that much sweeter if you were here to enjoy it with us. But I feel you already are!

[chisox59]

For Nellie Fox, Sherm Lollar, Ted Kluszewski, Bubba Phillips, Billy Goodman, Dick Donovan, Early Wynn, Al Smith as well as the living icons Billy Pierce, Minnie Minoso, Jim Landis and all who made it easy and fun to be a White Sox fan. To Bob Elson and Jack Brickhouse for filling my ears with wonderful moments and telling me the history of the game as they saw it. Lastly to my dad who introduced me to the game and made me a lifelong fan.

[chisoxfanforever]

To my Dad, who was the only sox fan in a sea of cub fan relatives. And to my Grandpa, who was as much of a diehard fan as I am! Thanks for teaching me to be a sox fan and taking me to Sox games at old Comiskey. I wore my late father's hat to the final home game on Sunday! I will cherish that hat forever. To the 2005 Sox. Thanks for a great summer!! Keep it going through October!

[soxjim]

To my dad and grandpa thanks for being SOX fans.

[Daver]

Words cannot describe the feelings I have right now after watching the team I have followed for thirty years finally grasp the Brass Ring, a feat that I sometimes wondered if I would ever see. Thank you uncle Jerry for steering me on the right course early, you took me to see the Sox at Old Comiskey and bitched about Bill Veeck trading away all his decent players, it’s a shame you couldn’t be around when they finally accomplished the goal, I did the next best thing, I wore your hat from 1977 for the final game of the World Series.

[spiffie]

My grandfather, with whom I watched thousands of Sox games, and with whom the last real conversation I had with him was watching a Sox/Cubs spring training game...I dumped some of his ashes on the dirt in foul ground by 3rd base last year...I like to think he saw everything year, and was yelling at Crede to get his act together the whole time

He'll be in my thoughts on Tuesday...

[TornLabrum]

To my Grandpa who was a Sox fan very possibly from their start (he was born in 1889) and who told me stories about Ed Walsh, Joe Jackson, and the guy who seemed to me to be his personal favorite, Buck Weaver. When he died in 1972, the Sox were about to reverse their fortunes with Dick Allen, but he didn't live to see it.

[TomBradley72]

To my sister Sarah who we just lost to leukemia in August. Not the biggest baseball fan in the world...but allowed me to convince all three of my great nieces/nephews to be White Sox fans...and always let me take everyone to a Sox game when they were visiting from Iowa.

She would have been the first one to call me this afternoon.

[Vernam]

Originally Posted by BarbG

You're going to make me cry people.

I know how you feel. Just as I was reading this thread, Fox32 showed Big Frank greeting the guys as they got off the team bus in Chicago, which contributed to my getting choked up a little.

But I'm going to save any tears for the World Series. My dad was born in 1911, died in 1999. Grew up on Leavitt near what is now UIC. Was old enough to remember the 1919 team, and he swore the aftermath of that is what turned him into a diehard. Couldn't help rooting for the underdog, all through the '20s, the '30s, the '40s, the '50s, the '60s, the '70s, the '80s, and the '90s. The '94 season was the last that he managed to follow; after that, Alzheimers prevented him from keeping tabs on the team. The strike made me bitter for a while, I'll admit, because it cancelled any chance he'd see a Series championship.

Now, going to the game with my kids makes us feel connected to my dad. I'm not a mystical person, but I do feel his presence at the park, even though he saw 99 percent of his games across the street at old Comiskey. So I sure hope you all are right, that departed ones will see a championship at last.

Here's one for Jean Shepherd, too.

Vernam

[ChiSoxGirl]

To my maternal grandpa, who I remember sitting on the couch with and watching the Sox with back in the late 80s. He taught me the very basics of baseball- what the R-H-E means in the line score, what a line score even was, and the other basics of the game- and I know he's got to be so proud. He died in 1990 when I was just 10 1/2 years old, so this is the third division championship he's missed, but this is, by far, the most special and the one I think he would've enjoyed the most. When I last visited his grave in July, I said a special prayer to him, thinking to myself, "Grandpa, this season is for you. We're winnin' it all this year."

[Uncle_Patrick]

My Uncle Bud (my Grandma's younger brother) was the man who encouraged the love of the White Sox in me, my brother (our father is not much of a baseball fan), my uncles, and my cousins. He never had a lot of money, but had season tickets at old Comiskey for many years. He took me to a bunch of Sox games. He never saw a White Sox World Series victory in lifetime (he was born in 1919 and died a few years back), but he always remained faithful to the team, even when the organization took away the seats he had as a season ticket holder for the 1983 playoffs. Like my grandma, he was a life long Southsider (born in the Southside of Chicago, later spend many years in the suburb of Riverdale, where he first lived with my mom's family and later his own). He gave me my first piece of Sox memorablia (a team poster of the 1982 White Sox team which hung on my bedroom wall for several years until my mother decided to through it out). He made me a White Sox fan. Every time the Sox do well, I think of him (along with my grandma, who is, thankfully, still with us and still following the White Sox and who, despite living in a retirement home on the northside, still proudly declares herself a southsider).

[nordhagen]

I thought of that today myself as I watched and thought of my dad, who took my brother and I to Sox games since they were at night while my mom took us to Cubs games since they were during the day (unfortunately my sister chose the dark side). But we were there in 83 on the night they clinched a tie for the West title and 2 1-2 years later he passed away from brain cancer. I remember having a lot of similar thoughts in the last night game at the old park as the fireworks show was going on. I'm just glad he made sure my brother and I had plenty of chances to see the right team on the right side of town.

[ChiSox14305635]

To my Dad, who was a huge basketball fan (Lakers of the '70s & '80s, Bulls of the '80s & 90's), but nonetheless, found the time to take me to my first game in 1983. He was as excited when Fisk hit a walk-off shot as I was. It's a moment I'll never forget.

Love you Dad, and I miss you.