Favorite Personal White Sox Player Interaction

[KnightsOnMintSt]

Thought this would be a fun discussion. 

What are some of your favorite interactions that you have had with players? Or the best players that you have met?

I briefly got to meet Frank Thomas at a signing a few years ago.

I now live in Charlotte (which is also close to Winston-Salem and Kannapolis), so I have met most of all the top prospects since the rebuild started (Jimenez, Cease, Kopech, Giolito, Moncada, Robert, Madrigal, Burger, and Gonzalez).

I also met Jose Contreras at the Kannapolis Intimidators game last season. He was there while Rodon was on rehab assignment. I was able to take a picture with him, get a baseball signed, and he threw me a ball during the game.  

One guy that I always wished I was able to meet was Magglio Ordonez. He was my favorite player growing up. 

[Hatchetman]

Had a long conversation with Carlton Fisk at his daughter’s volleyball game many years ago. Despite his reputation he was very gracious with me. 

 

[chitownsportsfan]

Probably Ozzie at Old Comiskey when I was really young, like 7-8.  He used to sign after the game outside in one of the parking lots sometimes and that night he was out there so my dad took me over and although I didn't get anything signed I shook his hand and all that.  Very young hardly have much memory of what he said but the moment after the game has stuck with me.

Not a player but after Avi laced a ringing double a couple years ago in spring training I was about 20 feet away from Steverson and asked him why he couldn't hit like that more often.  Steverson never flinched, looked me in the eye, and gave a big old shrug.

[poppysox]

We were at Spring Training when Gene Lamont was our manager.  After the game my daughter and I asked for his autograph.  He signed that days lineup card and posed with  her for a picture,  Probably chatted with us for 10 minutes.  Always wonder why more players and baseball people don't realize the good will they create with just a couple minutes with a kid.  I have always been a fan of Lamont and it had nothing to do with his managing.

[CWSpalehoseCWS]

One of the best I've had was with Tyler Flowers of all people. I had a broken, game-used bat of his and handed it to him to have it signed. He was joking that he has signed so many during his session, and didn't know why the Sox were getting rid of all of them. It was authenticated so it had a MLB holo on it, and I had looked it up before hand to see the result. He wanted to know what the result was, so I told him. Ground into a 6-4-3 DP against the Twins. He sighed and goes, "yeah... I do that a lot."

Thomas, Pierzynski, Ozzie, Buehrle, Wise, Delmonico, Palka, Anderson, and Courtney Hawins have all been great too. I've probably met close to 200+ players at this point, so I have quite a few stories/interactions.

Some of the worst have been Sale, Aardsma, and Jenks.

[mqr]

I was sitting in center field and my buddy and I were trying to get Danks to toss us the ball he was playing long toss with. We were like 13-14 at the time. He either couldn’t hear us or was ignoring us until my friend yelled Mr Danks at him. 

He cracked up and came and signed the ball and had a little chat with us. 

[Lip Man 1]

Had more than I can remember (Jeff Torborg called me this morning for example) but one I vividly remember even though it didn't involve me was when Dick Allen cracked his bat in a game. He's walking back to the dugout with it and saw a little kid by the dugout, without saying a word he handed it to him and kept right on walking. 

[ptatc]

Outside of work, the best one when I was flying to Arizona one Spring and my seat was next to Harold Baines. Got to sit and just talk to him for the plane ride. Extremely nice guy and very fun to talk to, even though he is very quiet and soft spoken.

[Ozzie for Manager]

12 hours ago, CWSpalehoseCWS said:

One of the best I've had was with Tyler Flowers of all people. I had a broken, game-used bat of his and handed it to him to have it signed. He was joking that he has signed so many during his session, and didn't know why the Sox were getting rid of all of them. It was authenticated so it had a MLB holo on it, and I had looked it up before hand to see the result. He wanted to know what the result was, so I told him. Ground into a 6-4-3 DP against the Twins. He sighed and goes, "yeah... I do that a lot."

Thomas, Pierzynski, Ozzie, Buehrle, Wise, Delmonico, Palka, Anderson, and Courtney Hawins have all been great too. I've probably met close to 200+ players at this point, so I have quite a few stories/interactions.

Some of the worst have been Sale, Aardsma, and Jenks.

 

I will second Tyler Flowers. My son who was 10 at the time and I flew to chicago to catch 2 games. They had a extra inning game and Flowers was the last guy to leave. He saw my son at the fence leaving the parking lot in his car. He motioned to go to the end of the barricade and meet him there. He pulled over his car, opened the door and signed for 2 little kids. He looked beat but he still took the time to talk to them for a minute.

Also, that same trip Alexei Ramirez was pulling out in his ferrari or something, saw my son with his sign for him, stopped his car and motioned for the attendant to bring him the ball. Opened up his window and pointed to the sign with a big smile.

Adam Laroche stopped also. Eaton and Abreu and Melky flew right on by.

The best in the minors was Carson Fulmer, he was great, spoke for a few minutes and took a few pictures. Also, this week it was Thyago Vierra who was so personable.

Edited June 26, 2019 by pmb0928

[BigHurt3515]

I have two. I am from St. Louis so I go to every game the Sox are ever in town so in 2012 (19 at the time) I was at every game, there way early to try and get autographs. I had a picture of US Cellular field before a World Series Game with the American flag in the outfield and I brought that in a protective sleeve to hopefully get it signed by Paulie. Well he went down a big line of Sox fans on the 3rd base side of Busch Stadium and luckily I was the last one he signed for, it was pretty cool.

The other one was just last year at another Sox vs Cards game. I was on the 3rd base side near the dugout during the game and of course I was on here b****ing about the game while at the game and I saw someone mentioned they were showing Buehrle on the TV broadcast and was in the stands. A few people helped out to figure out the exact area he was in to let me know. My wife finally spotted him after scanning the crowds for an inning, it was probably the 5th or 6th and he was 2 sections over from me. I told myself whenever he gets up to leave I am going to up to the concourse and try and say hi to him and get a picture. Well around the 7th I see him and his family get up to leave, I race up to the concourse and wait for him like a creep but this was probably a once and a lifetime opportunity. So he gets up to the top, standing 5 feet from me and my wife talking to someone and he gets down and I make my move and apologized right away for bothering him and his family but asked if I could grab a picture real quick and he was more than happy to do so. I let him know I grew up watching him and he was my favorite pitcher of all time and that I was from the Jeffco area where he went to JUCO and my step dad was good friends with the hitting coach there who was around when Mark pitched and he laughed but I can't remember a damn thing he said to me lol. But he was such a down to earth guy and looked like just a random dude from St. Charles 

Edited June 26, 2019 by BigHurt3515

[wegner]

I was at Soxfest with my son when Kenny Williams walked by and I asked him who did we get back in the Chad Bradford trade and he said a very exciting catcher named Miguel Olivo who he said I was going to really like...and I did especially since he was swapped for sweaty Freddy.

The other I remember was being at Wrigley for the crosstown and I was getting Paul Konerkos autograph in the first year he was with the Sox.  I asked him if he was playing today and he said there is no DH in the National League.  I said I knew that but I thought he might be at 1B.  He looked at me like I had 3 heads since Frank played there...times change ?

[Richie]

I lived in the same condominium complex as Alexei Ramirez in River East from 2010-2012. He lived in the condo directly across from me. 

He didn't speak much English. Plus, I never tried to talk to him much. Just a friendly hello. My parents always taught me to respect the privacy of celebs/athletes. One day I was walking my dog. Alex Rios, Freddy Garcia and Alexei were all right outside behind his place. I just said "hi" - they looked at me like "Oh, here comes a fan to talk to us". I just let them be... It appeared to be a birthday party for his young daughter. The kids were playing on a slip-n-slide or something and they were drinking a beer. I remember laughing because Sweaty Freddy looked like a bum. Big white t-shirt with a stain on it, crappy jeans and tennis shoes. Alex Rios looked like he walked out of a GQ magazine shoot. 

I worked in broadcasting for a while and met DJ and Ed Farmer. Nice guys. My father was in real estate and did business with Ron Schueler. I used to go to a good deal of games in his luxury box. Met Reinsdorf there and I'm sure some other scouts, etc. I was very young. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Chisox378]

One summer day when I was 8 to 10 years old, I was coming back from a baseball game in my uniform and happened to drive past a parking lot near Midway Airport. In that parking lot there was a bus, where it seemed to be many above average sized men in suits getting off the bus. So we checked it out and it happened to be the White Sox players! Luckily I had my semi worn baseball glove with me, so I pulled it out and started to get the players autographs.  Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura, Lance Johnson and other players were scattered around me while I got their autograph and said a few words to them. I still have that signed glove to this day. 

[ChiSox59]

I once played catch with James Baldwin in the LF corner before a game when I was a little kid.  That was pretty awesome.    

[KnightsOnMintSt]

I’ve loved reading all these stories.

[soxfan49]

I used to go to the games way before first pitch and hang out where the Sox or the visiting team arrives. No Sox player stood out except Thomas and Maggs would occasionally stop their cars for us. They always had the coolest cars. It made it more fun that they didn't always stop for the thrill of it. Guys like Marte, Garland, Biddle, Olivo, Sandy Alomar, Wunsch, Koch and Willie Harris would consistently stop and talk and sign. Believe it or not Graffanino always came off as a dick. BTW I was at the park when Borchard came up. His parents' license plate read HR4JOE.

My favorite non-Sox moment from these times was getting Barry Bonds' autograph (the rumor was he would only sign the first time he was ever at a park and it held up) outside the park and then going to all 3 Giants games where he hit a bomb in every game as well as getting Edgar Martinez to stop and Ivan Rodriguez the same, two guys notoriously difficult to receive autographs from. 

[soxfan49]

On 6/25/2019 at 6:31 PM, KnightsOnMintSt said:

Thought this would be a fun discussion. 

What are some of your favorite interactions that you have had with players? Or the best players that you have met?

I briefly got to meet Frank Thomas at a signing a few years ago.

I now live in Charlotte (which is also close to Winston-Salem and Kannapolis), so I have met most of all the top prospects since the rebuild started (Jimenez, Cease, Kopech, Giolito, Moncada, Robert, Madrigal, Burger, and Gonzalez).

I also met Jose Contreras at the Kannapolis Intimidators game last season. He was there while Rodon was on rehab assignment. I was able to take a picture with him, get a baseball signed, and he threw me a ball during the game.  

One guy that I always wished I was able to meet was Magglio Ordonez. He was my favorite player growing up. 

Any of the bolded stand out as extra outgoing/nice or the opposite? Stand offish/rude?

[KnightsOnMintSt]

5 minutes ago, soxfan49 said:

Any of the bolded stand out as extra outgoing/nice or the opposite? Stand offish/rude?

Kopech is probably the nicest White Sox player I have ever met. Signed autographs outside the Knights ballpark for everyone that wanted one after every game. 

Dylan Cease is right up there with Kopech. Really down to earth. You would have no idea he is “famous”. 

I have nothing but great things to say about all those guys though. They all really seem to have time for the fans and enjoy the interactions. The White Sox have really brought some high character guys into the organization.

[KnightsOnMintSt]

 

 

[KnightsOnMintSt]

 

[wegner]

4 minutes ago, KnightsOnMintSt said:

Kopech is probably the nicest White Sox player I have ever met. Signed autographs outside the Knights ballpark for everyone that wanted one after every game. 

Dylan Cease is right up there with Kopech. Really down to earth. You would have no idea he is “famous”. 

I have nothing but great things to say about all those guys though. They all really seem to have time for the fans and enjoy the interactions. The White Sox have really brought some high character guys into the organization.

I do love that the Sox have so many players that are easy to root for.  It makes it more fun for me.

Thanks for starting this thread.  It has been a great read 

[KnightsOnMintSt]

 

[KnightsOnMintSt]

 

[hi8is]

Frank Thomas a couple times a year for a decade starting in 92...

Ozzie at spring training in 2005 joking with me and Pablo Ozuna.

Brett Lillibridge giving me a bat on the field with only press present.

My Dad and I being walked through the park by Brooks Boyer.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

No interactions with players but my dad and me and my brothers were surprised one day to see we were in the program in an ad for family day in 1972 maybe.I think Norm Cash of the Tigers told me once to fuck off or something, maybe that dissuaded me from trying again.