Flair For The Game: A Twins Winner in Extras!

One of the best things about living in Chicago is having to 2 ball clubs in the city. I'm a born and raised Southsider but my heart belongs to the boys on the Northside. I live, eat, sleep and breathe Chicago Cubs baseball from February-October. The Cubs will always be the #1 baseball team in my life but i absolutely love baseball in general and root for other teams. Among them are the Minnesota Twins. Much like the Colorado Rockies, they're a smaller market team that often flies under the radar and relies on their farm system to develop major league ballplayers. Since the Twins are in the AL, i decided to go to the Sox/Twins game to see the divisional match-up. I'm not that Cubs fan who REFUSES to go to US Cellular, like i said i love watching baseball and won't pass up watching the game i grew up on. In fact, not many know this.....but i was once a Chicago White Sox fan. Yes folks, you read that correctly i once rooted for the southsiders.

Like i said before, i was born and raised on the southside. I remember being a LITTLE kid and going to then Comiskey Park. My brother liked the White Sox and so he kind of pushed them on me. My mom, dad and sister have always been Cubs fan but of course being a little kid i rebelled and rooted for the Sox. Often my school would give away Sox tickets for anything from Perfect Attendance to Honor Roll. I use to get tickets all the time and my brother would take me because the rest of my fam refused to go to a Sox game lol. My favorite player was Ozzie Guillen, followed by Frank Thomas and Robin Ventura. But i'll never forget going to 1 Sox game in particular. Like i said, Ozzie Guillen was my absolute favorite player. He was a stud at shortstop, how could i not like him? Anyways, at this 1 game i remember getting one of those mini baseball bats, the ones that had the Sox logo on it. I remember it being my dream to meet Ozzie and to get him to autograph my bat. I stood by the dugout waiting for him to come in........i waited and then finally......Ozzie was running to the dugout. It was me and about 3 other little kids waiting for him and screaming his name. "OZZIE! OZZIE! CAN I HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH? OZZIE! PLEASE" Ozzie looked at us........and said "I AIN'T SIGNING NO AUTOGRAPHS" I remember standing there in complete disbelief. What kind of person says no to little kids? I literally had to be 5 or 6 years old. It wasn't so much what he said but the way he said it. With such disgust and hostility in his voice. As soon as he said that he ran into the dugout......i was so angry that my favorite player was such a jerk! I turned around and walked to my seat and said, "I WILL NEVER ROOT FOR THIS TEAM AGAIN! I HATE THEM!" And.....since then.......i haven't rooted for them. My mom and dad swooped in and had me watching Cubs baseball at every opportunity from then on out. And i couldn't be more grateful. One moment is all it took for me to forever hate the team on the southside and adopt the Chicago Cubs as my favorite team. I haven't looked back and wouldn't have it any other way. I have so many great memories because of the Cubs and even though we have yet to win a World Series i still hold out hope. It's easy to be a fan of a winning team but it takes a special kind of person to be a fan of a team that isn't accustomed to winning.

I tell that story because every time i return to US Cellular i'm flooded with flashbacks. Every time i see Ozzie, my blood boils and i remember the words he shouted to 4 little kids almost 20 years ago. I will always hold a grudge against Ozzie and the Chicago White Sox. Is it unfair? Maybe. But put yourself in my shoes as a little 5 year old just wanting to meet their idol. Looking back on it, it was probably the best thing to happen to me. I'm a strong believer that everything happens for a reason........

So now that i've explained that.....here are my pics from the Twins/Sox game Friday Nite.