White Sox fans ecstatic as team inches closer to American League Championship Series
The Chicago White Sox have turned a season that started with very low expectations into a playoff run that has the South Side believing.
As one would expect, the excitement stretched from Cleveland to Chicago's Bridgeport neighborhood.
After over 100 losses last season, not many thought they'd be celebrating the White Sox in October at Cork & Kerry at the Park, 3259 S. Princeton Ave.
"If you told me at the beginning of the season that the White Sox were even going to make the playoffs in general, I would have called you crazy. I would've called you insane," a fan at the bar said. "Looking at this right now, we got it!"
With another win against the Cleveland Guardians on Monday night, the young team continues to exceed expectations.
"You expect you got to playoffs, and it's just too overwhelming, and they just don't seem to care," said Chris Ramos, From The 108 podcast.
'They're fun, I love the energy. They're all young, having a good time. They all have good chemistry, you can tell," said Mickey Bossard, "and they are not media trained like me."
For Bridgeport businesses like Cork and Kerry, Bossard, who is a bar back there, says 33rd Street will be mobbed with fans during the home game and they are ready.
"The amount of things I had to stock today, there's probably 200 cases of beer in there, and we didn't even get the hard liquor yet," Bossard said.
Apparel merchants are seeing booming business too.
"Anything that you can think of that is black with the White Sox logo is literally what people are looking for," said Stephanie Ganal, owner of Grandstand Sox at 600 W. 35th St.
Ganal said when White Sox fans are not watching the game, they are in her store stocking up on apparel.
Wednesday is the first "blackout" game of the playoffs at Rate Field, referring not to broadcast restrictions, but to fans wearing all black. Already on Monday night, Ganal said her store sold out and had to get another shipment of some postseason hats, and fans went for playoff hoodies and official blackout jerseys.
"I think Wednesday is going to be the craziest that we have seen here on the South Side in many years," she said.
"We got the pope on our side, so I think we got divine intervention," one fan said.
While fans at the Ramova Theater official watch party say Pope Leo XIV may have something to do with this winning streak, people across Bridgeport have faith this team can go the distance.
"I don't see a team that they couldn't match up well enough against that they don't go to the World Series," Ramos said.
The White Sox say if you're coming to the game on Wednesday, there will be street closures and heavy traffic, so plan ahead and take public transportation.
Tickets for Wednesday are sold out. Tickets are being listed on resale for nearly $400 a seat at the least.
