Over the weekend in Seattle, the White Sox were greeted every day by long lines of fans waiting for the Kingdome gates to open. When they left after games, they saw a gathering of squealing fans, this one lining both sides of barricades leading to the players’ parking lot.
Those nightly love-ins were in sharp contrast to what the Sox expect this week when they return to Comiskey Park for the first time without Roberto Hernandez, Wilson Alvarez and Danny Darwin. If barricades are needed, they will be used to protect Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and General Manager Ron Schueler from angry fans.
The 10-day, 12-game homestand against Anaheim, Oakland, Seattle and Toronto could end with the Sox leading the American League Central, but it will begin Tuesday night with fans expressing their feelings about the July 31 trade that brought six minor-leaguers from San Francisco. Their reaction adds a new element to an environment that was already showing signs of hostility.
Albert Belle and Jaime Navarro, two leading causes of the 1997 Sox’s underachievement, were regularly booed at Comiskey in July. Frank Thomas, the league’s leading hitter, was taken aback when fans booed him during a 3-1 loss to Detroit July 29.
“It’s happened before, but not at a time when I was hitting well,” Thomas said. “Booing is part of it. I accept it, because we’ve been down. But I was shocked that day.”
Thomas understands the cycles that franchises go through. He remembers a lot of years when the Kingdome was the quietest place in baseball. It didn’t start to rock until the Mariners won a division title in 1995.
“They’ve got a cult following now,” Thomas said. “They’ve done well and they’ve got a lot of outstanding young players. You can’t be jealous of what they’ve got.
“It’s great for the game. Besides, it’s not like Chicago. You don’t have two (baseball) teams and an NBA champion vying for people’s attention. There’s a lot to do in Chicago. The Chicago fan is not going to accept anything but the best.”
Despite losing Harold Baines and the three veteran pitchers in trades designed for the fairly distant future, the Sox still believe they can be the best–in the Central, anyway. They actually gained a half-game on Cleveland while on the road and trail the sliding Indians by three games entering a stretch in which the Sox will play 22 of 34 games at home.
While the initial shock of the nine-player San Francisco trade was followed by a few days of dismay, most Sox players appear to have regrouped. They hope their fans can also get over any lingering bitterness from losing four veteran players while they were within 3 1/2 games of first place.
“I think people should forget it now,” outfielder Dave Martinez said. “It’s over. They did what they did, and now it’s time to focus on the present.”
Reinsdorf first claimed that fans were 80 percent positive in their initial response to the Sox’s trades. Others in the front office believe that estimate may have been high but still insist the reaction they have received has been more positive than negative.
Either way, it does not figure to have much effect on an already disappointing level of attendance. The Sox rank eighth in the AL with an average crowd of 24,050 at Comiskey Park. The club cites low attendance as the reason it reneged on a spring-training promise to add an impact player or two for the stretch run.
Advance sales have been slow for the series against Anaheim, which begins with Navarro facing rookie right-hander Jason Dickson. But the Sox expect big crowds for this weekend’s series against Seattle.
“If the fans want to cheer, cheer for the guys who are here,” Martinez said. “We’re all trying hard. We’ve all got one thing on our mind–to win. We never have quit.”
