White Sox were in New York on fateful day

Ten years ago today, the White Sox were in New York City, preparing to a play a series against the Yankees.

After playing the Indians in Cleveland the night before, Mark Buehrle was trying to catch up on some sleep when the phone rang in his hotel room.

“I remember Kip Wells called my room at 8 or 9 in the morning,” Buehrle said. “I kind of yelled at him for calling me that early. I woke up and realized what was going on after turning the TV on.”

The Sox were centrally located in New York City. In lower Manhattan, the twin towers of the World Trade Center were attacked by terrorists.

The White Sox’ traveling party was not directly in harm’s way, but the memory of being so close to the attack will never be forgotten.

“Just being freaked out and scared the whole time,” Buehrle said when asked how he felt after the attacks. “I met some guys in the lobby to see what was going on and what our plans were. Just kind of hanging out with a couple of guys in the room and watching TV.

“I was freaked out. I remember going from one guy’s room to my room and I felt like someone was going to come out of a room, or jump out of the staircase or something, and attack you. It was just being tense for a couple of days.”

Ozzie Guillen was coaching with the Montreal Expos in 2001, and he was back home in Miami during an off-day on Sept. 11.

“I think it was a shock for everybody,” Guillen said. “Nobody thought it could happen in this country. A bad thing we overcame. We came together. We got better people. We like each other a little bit more.

“I think we learned from the bad spirits. This day, no matter what happens anywhere, it’s the one people notice the most, one day that nobody’s going to forget about it. This country, they always remember things.”

Hollow victory:The White Sox beat the Indians 7-3 in 10 innings Saturday at U.S. Cellular Field.Considering they won their first game of the season on a walk-off home run #8212; Alex Rios#146; grand slam decided the outcome #8212; the postgame mood should have been positive.Instead, manager Ozzie Guillen was overly disgusted, considering the Sox loaded the bases in the first, eighth and ninth innings and didn#146;t score.#147;To be honest with you, that sums up the White Sox#146; season right there,#148; Guillen said. #147;The only thing we did good was win.#147;That was a big win because I think after you play that many innings and have how many opportunities, and you don#146;t take advantage of that, I was sitting here and it would have been pretty ugly.#147;I#146;m glad we won. In the meanwhile #133; whew. It was tough when you see that over and over and over. You are asking what#146;s going on and what happened? What are we thinking?#147;You are missing a very interesting Sunday paper tomorrow if we lose this game. Sorry guys.#148;Dunn doings:Adam Dunn made a rare appearance Saturday, and the designated hitter was 1-for-4 with a walk and 2 strikeouts.Dunn went down swinging with the bases loaded and two outs in the first inning. He came up with runners on first and second in the ninth and struck out again.Did manager Ozzie Guillen consider pinch hitting for Dunn in the ninth inning?#147;I thought about it,#148; Guillen said. #147;But in the meanwhile, hey, this man is making $14 million and he has to earn it. He has to earn it. The reason we brought Dunn here is to hit with people on base. I thought about it, yes, I did.#147;That#146;s a lot of money to pinch hit. Blame him. A lot of people were blaming me. No, blame him. That#146;s the reason we brought him to this ballclub, to hit with people on base.#148;About time:Before hitting his first career grand slam in the 10th inning, Alex Rios was 0-for-12 with the bases loaded this season.#147;It was great,#148; Rios said. #147;We battled through the whole game. It was a long game and to do that, it#146;s good.#147;Sometimes you get in stretches where it#146;s hard to score runs. We had one of those games tonight, but we came through.#148;sgregor@dailyherald.com