More Reasons to Root against That Assembly of Thugs & Convicts…

There's quite a bit of diversity of opinion among the commentators at this blog. On the one hand, Bill is cheering for the Sox, while I am actively praying they choke and tank away the series.

One of the reasons I despise the White Sox is because of their fan base.

Crass, minimally literate, and thuggish barely begins to describe the typical White Sox fan (yes I know I’m over-generalizing, but you go to the Cell with your family and after you’ve filled out the assault report with the Chicago PD, then come back and quibble with me).

In fact, these observations are such an established fact that I think it would be near impossible to argue reasonably against them. The poster child of White Sox nation is William Ligue Jr.



And it's not just the fans - the players themselves lack class. Commenting afterward on the infamous assault on Tom Gamboa by Ligue, one White Sox player offered these compassionate words:

One Chicago player, who asked to remain nameless (off the record...Frank Thomas) was quoted as saying, "What the [deleted expletive] do I care about some Royals coach? He probably deserved it. Tom Gamboa's never done nothing for Frank Thomas." Luckily, several Kansas City players cared enough to rush to Gamboa's aid, before security and police officials could take the trash out.

And don't even get me started on Mark Buehrle and his ridiculous whining about everything from the "lighting system" at Ameriquest Field to Greg Maddux allegedly throwing balls with illegal stuff on them.

Need more evidence?

John Williams was interviewing a man identified as "the president of the White Sox fan club" just after they had clinched the AL Pennant last Monday night on WGN radio and although Williams was asking this guy how it felt to finally reach the World Series and questions related to the Sox - the only responses this guy could manage were things like: "Cubs Suck!" and so on and so forth.

The entire interview (which was ostensibly about the Sox), he had nothing to say about his own team - his only concern was to reveal his utter contempt for the Cubs.

In any event, here’s even more evidence which speaks to the character of the louts who comprise the fan base for the MLB team on the South Side of Chicago (The Astros are only beginning to learn what Cubs fans have known for a long, long time):

Biggio's wife slapped at White Sox's ballpark
Guillen issues apology to Astro, condemns fan
By JOSE DE JESUS ORTIZ
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle


Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen issued a public apology on behalf of his organization to Astros second baseman Craig Biggio, whose wife was slapped by a fan in the stands at U.S. Cellular Field.

"I feel like it's our fault, and I talked to (Biggio) about it, and he knows we're sorry," Guillen said. "He knows it was something we couldn't control. It wasn't like a fight. (The fan) hit the lady and left."

The incident occurred on Sunday night during Game 2 of the 101st World Series at Chicago's ballpark, where several members of the Astros' traveling party were harassed.

"He slapped her and ran," Biggio said of the fan who struck his wife, Patty. "She ran after him. My brother-in-law ended up putting him against the wall. That's pretty sorry."

Asked if Patty had been hurt, Biggio said his New Jersey-raised wife held her own.

"You don't slap a New Jersey girl and get away with it," he said. "That happens sometimes. It's terrible. It's over."

Added Guillen: "I wish she would have grabbed something and broken his head. If that happened to my family, it would have been a big problem. ... People should just go to the game and not bother people next to you, or you're not a White Sox fan or a baseball fan. Just enjoy the game. Drink if you want to drink; just respect the people next to you."

No criminal complaint was made against the fan, according to Chicago police.

Chicago defended

Biggio, manager Phil Garner, general manager Tim Purpura, catcher Brad Ausmus and several of the Astros were adamant that a few cowardly acts weren't indicative of the White Sox or Chicago fan base.

"The word was that the guy had been gouging her a little bit, pulling her hair and just doing some stupid things, things that are just not necessary," Garner said. "Have your fun. This (World Series) is a great thing for them and a great thing for us. Cheer and be as loud as you want to be and whatever else, but don't do that.

"I can't imagine Patty Biggio ever saying anything that would incite anything, either. I just can't imagine that. Even if she had, there's no excuse."

Despite the incident, Garner said he heard the Astros' traveling party had mostly positive experiences with the fans.

Nonetheless, Guillen did not hide his disgust at the treatment Patty Biggio received.

"On behalf of the White Sox organization, I just don't think we could control that," Guillen said. "But I think the family is a big part of my life. I think especially the kids. And when that happened in the ballpark, you feel you need to be supportive.

"When you're a man and you hit a lady, no matter whose wife it is or whose sister it is, you respect them. But it's something that's tough to control. It happened so quick."

More harassment

Although Patty Biggio was the only Astros wife who was slapped Sunday, she wasn't the only member of the traveling party who was harassed. Ausmus said his wife, Liz, endured some vulgar taunts and a few vulgar hand gestures throughout the night.

"Some of the treatment that the Astros families received at U.S. Cellular Field was a huge black eye for the city of Chicago," Ausmus said. "Now, I understand that's not indicative of all the people in the Chicago area, because I have friends and relatives there.

"I know the people of Chicago are overwhelmingly good people. But if I was from Chicago, I'd be embarrassed by the way the Astros' families were treated by the White Sox fans. My wife didn't get hit or anything, but people flipped her off and were screaming at her."

The attendance at U.S. Cellular Field was announced as 41,432 for Game 2, and the crowd was obviously overwhelmingly in support of the White Sox. With that in mind, Ausmus said there was little the Astros' family members could do in response. "You don't want to get caught in a situation where you're inflaming the masses," Ausmus said. "So I think as an Astros fan at a visiting park, you pretty much have to swallow it."

'Bring him to me'

Maybe so, but Guillen insinuated that he would have definitely defended anybody in the Astros' traveling party.

"I know the security in Chicago is doing a great job," Guillen said. "And when something happens so quick, you can't blame anybody. And the guy that did it, he should be brought to Biggio, and he's the one that can hopefully get him back.

"I told the police, 'Don't put him in jail. Bring him to me in the dugout.' But hopefully, that won't happen again."

Shortstop Adam Everett heard a little bit about the incident, but he knew more than enough to form his opinion.

"That's real weak," he said. "That's bad. I don't care where you're at, to hit a woman is not good.”

I will say this – one possible benefit of the White Sox winning the World Series: if they win there’s a better than average chance that they’ll burn down the South Side of Chicago.

At the least then it would remove what has thus far been a major black eye for the entire city.