It was the kind of weekday afternoon party that Sox fans dream of.
The domestic light beer flowed freely while Italian sausage and hot dogs sizzled on grills under a perfect sunny sky. Fans filled the ballpark dressed mostly in black, drinking in a magical season.
They had arrived hours early. Stereos set up at tailgates cranked dance music, periodically interrupted by a thud on a beanbag board. Scores of fans wore the now-famous “pope hat” given away by the team in August. Several more wore homemade papal robes.
It was 21 years ago this month when a Catholic priest from the south suburbs attended a White Sox playoff game at U.S. Cellular Field. Much has changed since then. The priest got a bit of a job promotion and the ballpark was renamed, more than once.
Has it all been divine intervention? Maybe. Wednesday morning, video surfaced on social media showing the priest — now Pope Leo XIV — giving a thumbs-up to people wearing White Sox gear while visiting Rome.
“As a Catholic, it’s fun to say that,” said Dan Kozlowski of Crown Point, Indiana, who sported a homemade pope hat at the game. But he also gave credit to the team’s young core on the field.
“I don’t want to take anything away from the players, they’re doing a phenomenal job,” Kozlowski said, “but I think we’re getting a little help.”
But clever pope signs aside, these White Sox were there to witness something rarely seen in Chicago: a series-clinching playoff win on the South Side. That would have to wait, as the team ultimately fell to the Cleveland Guardians by a 9-3 score.
The teams will now face off again Thursday, giving Sox fans one more chance to see the team clinch a playoff series at their home ballpark, something they have not done since besting the Cubs in the 1906 World Series.
Despite the outcome, the game continued a season that’s surpassed all fan and analyst expectations. Legions of White Sox faithful had made the pilgrimage to 35th and Shields on Wednesday for an opportunity to see the team punch its ticket to the American League Championship Series after three consecutive seasons with at least 100 losses.
The atmosphere was jubilant around Rate Field as the proceedings got going.
During the fourth inning, Sox fan Jim Horan of Streeterville stood at the top of the stairs at Section 140 — the section where the future Pope Leo sat during the 2005 World Series. The section is now adorned with a portrait of the pontiff.
Soon after Horan arrived there, Sox second baseman Chase Meidroth hit a double.
Asked how he’d remember the 2026 season, Horan echoed scores of other fans in praising the team’s unified approach.
“Overachieving, young, energetic,” Horan said of the team.
“The way things are in sports now, they’re a role model for any team, coach or player,” he said. “They’re role models for the rest of the city.”
Douglas Outlaw took the CTA from Oak Park and was one of the first fans to arrive at the park Wednesday morning, two hours before the park opened and four hours before first pitch.
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Outlaw praised the team’s unity throughout the unexpectedly successful season. He bought another ticket for Thursday’s game while hoping it wouldn’t be necessary.
“They’re doing it with — I don’t want to say no-names — not big name (players),” Outlaw said of the team’s core of players. “They’re developing a team camaraderie that is undeniable. Doing what they have to do, checking their egos.”
“They were underestimated, underdogs,” Outlaw added.
Early on, the speakers blared Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back In Town” and “Abracadabra” by the Steve Miller Band — an apparent nod to reliever Mike Vasil’s magic wand that’s become a symbol of the team’s success.
Sox fan Shane Trager of Joliet walked the outfield concourse near the batter’s eye camera. Suddenly, a loud chorus of cheers carried over from the left field bleachers during pregame introductions.
“Why are we cheering?” Trager asked himself. “I guess that’s a silly question.”
“This should be fabulous for Sox fans,” Trager said of the Game 3 crowd. “Let’s face it, we’ve had some down years these few years. The one thing about Sox fans, true Sox fans are loyal fans.”
“Watching what manager Will Venable’s been able to do to put this together, it’s been very impressive,” Trager added. “When you get a cast of characters to buy in to what they’re doing, that starts with him. You don’t have any egos. There’s not a guy on this team that is about themselves or is bigger than the team, and they sacrifice a lot for each other.”
The crowd was anxious for something to cheer about right from the start. Fifteen minutes before first pitch, deafening chants of “Let’s Go White Sox” filled the park. AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck,” for years a staple of White Sox games, signaled it was time to play ball.
Sox fans didn’t have to wait long. In the bottom of the first inning, the Sox scored on an RBI single by catcher Kyle Teel, one of the team’s highly touted young players. That lead quickly evaporated, though, as Cleveland scored four runs in the third.
Even with the loss, fans were largely upbeat as they filed out. Among them was Don Ruderman, a White Sox season ticket holder of more than 20 years.
“The team has a lot of potential, and while I would have been very excited if they won today, I don’t look at this as a one-year situation,” he added as he left Rate Field. “I may not live to see the entire extent of their success, but I’m happy for the team. I think it’s going in the right direction.”
Trajan Castro and his father, Amador, wearing Sox pope hats, had arrived at Rate Field Wednesday morning after a 90-minute drive from Round Lake Park.
At 28 years old, Trajan Amador was a little young to fully appreciate the team’s 2005 World Series.
“I’ve been waiting my whole life for this,” he said before the game began. “This will probably be the best day of my life.”
“The thing that’s special about this team, you can really tell how much they love Chicago and how much they want to do it for the fans, not just the team, but for the city of Chicago as a whole,” Amador Castro said.
The team’s out-of-nowhere success in 2026 has been a joyful surprise, and Amador is already looking ahead to the White Sox’s 2027 season.
“Next year, I think we’re going to be (expletive) legit,” he said.
Game 3 photos: Chicago White Sox vs. Cleveland Guardians in ALDS at Rate Field
In the parking lot near Gate 5, Kozlowski enjoyed a pregame celebration. Kozlowski was not extending an olive branch to Cubs fans, though. Next to his car, Kozlowski erected a flagpole featuring a White Sox flag on top, with a Cubs “L” flag beneath it.
“It’s a culmination of one of the greatest turnaround stories in MLB history,” Kozlowski, who’s been to seven other home games this year, told the Tribune. “Hopefully, it continues.”
Kozlowski said “no Sox fan with a straight face” could claim they expected the 2026 playoff run.
“I thought we were on the right track, I thought we were a year or two away, but this is special,” Kozlowski said. “We’re on house money right now.”