Southsider for Life
I’m Jim McGuire, and I am a White Sox fan. Yeah, that is obvious, but I figure why not start with the obvious. I will take the obvious further, though, and say that I am a proud and passionate White Sox fan. Now you may be asking how anybody can be such a fan after the Southsiders lost a Major League record 121 games, but I am, and I won't shy away from that. There have been times I have been frustrated by the play on the field. I wrote an article last September about the White Sox becoming a punchline after a series in Baltimore. There have been times I have been frustrated by the decisions from the front office. Trading away Marcus Semien and Fernando Tatis, Jr. from our farm system so we can get Jeff Samardzija and James Shields, respectively, can make anyone question their team’s front office. But such prior frustration has not kept me from coming to the Southside on many spring and summer nights before, and 2025 will be no different. After all, I am a proud and passionate White Sox fan.
Whether it was old Comiskey Park or what is now Rate Field (yeah, they dropped the Guaranteed part of the name), the Southside has been home for me. I have watched some memorable moments. I celebrated division championships in 2000, 2005, 2008, and 2021. I watched Hall of Famer Frank Thomas in his prime, Magglio Ordonez go from prospect to All Star, Paul Konerko come of age, and Ozzie Guillen go from Rookie of the Year shortstop in 1985 to American League Manager of the Year in 2005. I saw Mark Buehrle no hit the Texas Rangers on a chilly April night in 2007 and Andruw Jones hit his 400th career home run in July 2010. I saw Jose Abreu win the American League Rookie of the Year in 2014, and watched him win the American League MVP in the Covid-shortened season of 2020. I saw Buehrle’s #56 and Konerko’s #14 be immortalized at the park, and the 2005 team be forever immortalized as World Champions after 88 years
Just as I had a front row seat to many of such highs, I also had that same front row seat to some lows. I saw Minnesota pitcher Francisco Liriano toss a no hitter against the White Sox in 2011, promising starts in 2006 and 2015 end with no playoff appearances, and what was supposed to be a championship window of opportunity starting in 2021, get slammed shut, with the culmination being the 2024 season.
I’ve also experienced some moments on the road. I took batting practice at Wrigley Field before an afternoon game vs. the Cubs in 2010. I appeared on ESPN at the start of their baseball broadcast, surrounded by a throng of Phillies fans at Citizens Bank Park in 2007. I had the joy of seeing my team play at old Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park in 2005, and then in Texas and Oakland in 2006 as defending world champs. I had the pleasure of meeting the legendary radio voice of the Detroit Tigers, Ernie Harwell, in 2002, and saw Hall of Famers Cal Ripken in Baltimore, Ichiro Suzuki in Seattle, Roy Halladay in Toronto, and Joe Mauer in Minnesota.
So you see, for me, being a White Sox fan has been special, and I would not trade all that I have experienced for anything. 2024 was lousy, but that was last year, and we are now on the cusp of a new season. The White Sox are not expected to be competitive again this year, but we do have some potential bright spots on the horizon, primarily amongst our young pitchers in the system. Noah Shultz and Hagen Smith are the top two left handed pitching prospects in all of baseball. Colson Montgomery has risen through our system with fanfare, and there is enthusiasm over what we obtained from Boston in the Garrett Crochet deal. The last front office regime of Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn talked about a championship window in 2021. There is no talk about that now with this new front office led by Chris Getz and Josh Barfield. Getting back to relevance and competitiveness will take time and patience, and more importantly, better development and fundamental play. There will be some lean and tough moments ahead, and I recognize that. No big free agent will be signed, as the focus will be on our younger players getting the time on the field for their development, and I recognize that, as well. I don't want to see money getting spent just for the sake of spending it. That accomplishes nothing. When we do become relevant and competitive again, I certainly do not want us on the hook for bad contracts. For me, 2025 is about the future, that potential for seeing a light at the end of what is a pretty dark tunnel right now. I am going to be out at the ballpark, just as I have been for all these years previously, and I look forward to seeing what moments, whether they be high or low, up or down, are in my future.