Comiskey Park fans, often accused of being indifferent and apathetic, were anything but that Saturday night.
They booed loudly and justifiably as the White Sox blew a 5-1 ninth-inning lead, falling into a 5-5 tie with Minnesota. They booed louder in the 10th inning when the Sox fell behind the Twins 6-5 on an unearned run.
Then they cheered wildly in the bottom of the 10th when Mike Cameron’s two-out RBI single tied the game 6-6 and sent it into the 11th.
The crowd–19,823 fans–seemed emotionally drained and was almost quiet when the Twins scored the go-ahead run and led 7-6 in the top of the 11th.
But in the home half of the 11th, they rose and cheered again when successive two-out singles by Frank Thomas, Albert Belle and Wil Cordero tied the game 7-7. Greg Norton then won it when he laced a full-count single to center to drive home Belle for the 8-7 victory, in which the Sox pounded out 20 hits.
The Twins’ four-run ninth wasted fine pitching performances by James Baldwin and Keith Foulke, who combined to hold Minnesota to one run through seven innings.
Amid boos, right-fielder Magglio Ordonez misplayed Terry Steinbach’s sinking drive into a triple that scored Todd Walker from first with the tying run in the ninth.
Thomas’ unusual base-running misadventure drew even louder boos in the bottom of the ninth. Thomas, who had struck out three times, advanced Mike Caruso to third on an infield single. But inexplicably, Thomas tried to reach second base and was thrown out to retire the side.
An error by first baseman Norton, greeted by still more boos, put the Twins in position to score the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th. The run came home while the Sox turned a double play.
