Sox fans dress for funeral but celebrate until the end
The white towels were put away toward the end at Sox Park on Monday night, signaling surrender, but a funereal gloom never did descend on Sox fans, not even when darkness fell on the last Sox Pride Blackout of the year.
Sox fans were full of vim and vinegar, especially on the center-field Fan Deck, which gave a great view not only of the field and the pitches, but the grandstand when it was in full towel-waving splendor early on. That's where the fans kept shouting, whether the players could hear them or not.
They chanted, "Let's go White Sox," but also at one point broke into, "Where's your black shirt?"
A guy in the front row wearing an A.J. Pierzynski jersey shouted, "C'mon, A.J., hit one here," when he came to the plate. A woman in a black shirt with an image of a hand on the front wearing a 2005 championship ring on an extended middle finger chided the Sox throughout.
When DeWayne Wise played a ball less than gracefully, she shouted, "Come on, Wise, get your head in the game!"
"Take yourself out," a guy nearby added. "If you were Wise, you'd walk off the field." And then he chuckled to himself.
Yet for the most part Sox fans were supportive, even as the game got away. It had to reach the 6-2 final score for one woman to call out, "Starting to look like the Cubs out there."
Speaking of which, one fan in the center-field bleachers watched the entire game with a grocery bag over his head labeled "Cubs Fan." And it really seemed to be a Cubs fan, too: He kept holding his phone up in front of the eye holes to send text messages in the middle of the inning.
Earlier, fans were full of confidence as the Sox tried to tie the American League division series with the Rays and send it back to Tampa for a rubber game. Hours before the first pitch, Keri and Erik Hart of Lake Zurich were enjoying a snack of beer and cookies in the parking lot outside the stadium.
"We're hopeful with Gavin Floyd pitching today," Erik said. "I've been a Sox fan for about 10 years now. It's just a family influence. I grew up with a lot of Cubs fans, but other portions of my extended family are Sox fans.
"Actually, we have a more enjoyable time coming down here with the tailgating and other things. You don't get that same experience at Wrigley Field. You go there and it's just a bunch of bars."
Of course, winning a championship occasionally helps too, as Keri reminded.
"Yes, every three years would be nice. It beats once a century," she said. "We've been here before, so we know what to expect and how to play the game. They've never been in that situation, so they're not used to the pressure."
The Harts had what looked like a victory cigar resting on the back bumper of their car, but hopefully they had it before the game, because there was no chance to celebrate later.
Even so, Sox fans never gave in to despair. Even in the ninth inning, pockets of chants and flag waving broke out. Fans stuck around to boo the Rays as they celebrated after the last out but then cheered the Sox one last time as Bobby Jenks led the bullpen relievers back to the clubhouse, waving to the fans all the way.
In the end, though, maybe one guy standing in line for the restroom put it best when he chanted, "Let's go Blackhawks!"