It Rains but White Sox Pour It On

Fans cheered as soon as the White Sox emerged from the dugout to warm up Sunday night.

Ready to celebrate? You bet, especially after a five-month wait.

Their roar only got louder during a colorful ceremony before the major league opener against Cleveland, a celebration of Chicago’s first World Series winner in 88 years.

When the final out of the Game 4 clincher in Houston was replayed on the large center-field scoreboard at the end of a video retrospective, four championship banners hanging beneath outfield light poles were uncovered. As fans cheered, fireworks went off behind the left-center-field fence.

One banner saluted the team’s World Series championships in 1906 and 1917, another was for last year’s winner, a third hailed the team’s American League champions and the fourth marked its division winners. After the fireworks came another video tribute, accompanied by Queen’s “We Are The Champions.”

“It was awesome,” said fan Pat Valiska of suburban Highland Park. “We’ve waited a long time for this.”

The ceremony also featured the unfurling of an American flag as big as the outfield during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and then a flyover by two jets.

As for the game, the White Sox enjoyed that too, beating the Indians, 10-4, in a game delayed nearly three hours by rain in the fourth inning.

The game was tied, 3-3, in the bottom of the inning when rain stopped play for 2 hours 57 minutes. Chicago quickly took control after the delay as new White Sox Jim Thome hit a two-run home run.

The game ended at 1:10 a.m. CDT.

Cleveland, which chased Chicago for the AL Central title a year ago only to falter in the final week, sustained an early loss when starter C.C. Sabathia had to leave after 2 1/3 after he strained an abdominal muscle while delivering a pitch. He will be re-examined today.

Sunday night presented the first chance for the White Sox and their followers to celebrate in their own ballpark, since the team clinched all three of its playoff series on the road last season.

“This is kind of a circus atmosphere out here,” catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. “We just want to get to where we can focus on baseball.”