Guest hotsoxchick1 Posted August 24, 2003 Share Posted August 24, 2003 Unsinkable spirit Monee resident Dan is a White Sox superfan. You may know him by his alter ego, 'The Get Up Guy' BY BRIAN C. HEDGER Times Sports Writer The sun cascades over Dans garage and spills onto the bed of a silver and black pickup truck. It is late afternoon in Monee, a far south suburb that feels miles removed from the gritty surroundings of U.S. Cellular Field. Dan leans on the back fender as he talks of his love for Chicago sports -- one team in particular. "When I was a kid, we always used to listen to the Blackhawks on the radio," he says. "And, of course, I'm a Bears fan. But there's nothing like the White Sox. For me, they're it, man. I love my Sox, what can I say?" What can he say? Attached to the back of his truck is a White Sox flag. It flaps in the wind as he drives to nearly every Sox home game -- and a good number of away games, too. Sox logos also adorn the tailgate. Up in the second-story window of his house is a handmade sign with a number on it. It's the Sox's magic number. Dan is a superfan, a rare breed whose day is either made or spoiled by the outcome of a sporting event. Since the 2000 season, when the surprising Sox ran away with the AL Central, Dan has become the most recognizable Sox fan around. To his peers, he's the "Get Up Guy," a nickname earned while starting a frenetic ovation before a game. "It's a love," he explains. "It's in me. I mean, I live and die with them. I literally don't sleep very well when the Sox lose." He thinks for a second, realizes even the most devout fan should have limits, and adds a disclaimer. "I definitely love my wife and kids the most," he said. "Believe me, I've got my priorities in order. My wife and kids are first. But, I'll tell you what, the Sox are right up there near them." * * * When it comes to rooting for the Sox, Dan is no Johnny Come Lately, though he's had to correct some staunch critics. An older woman once accused him of being a fraud. He hand-delivered her a videotape to prove his legitimacy. On the tape was a shot of him celebrating the Sox's 1983 division title in the concourse of old Comiskey Park. Dan, 40, always has been a Sox fan. He grew up despising the North Siders. "They always interrupted my play time when I was a kid," he said. "I'd be outside with my friends. We'd ride bikes or whatever, but they were all Cubs fans. Every stinking day at 2 o'clock, they'd run inside to watch the Cubs. Then, when they came out a few hours later, they were all ticked off because the Cubs lost. I hated the Cubs." Conversely, Dan loved the Sox. In an ironic twist, his Cubs-loving father Tom Galligani took him to Sox games with tickets supplied by Andy the Clown -- the infamous South Side street performer/Sox backer. In essence, Tom -- a devout Cubs fan who plants a broom in his son's front yard whenever the Sox get swept -- is at the root of his son's Get Up Guy alter ego. * * * Dan didn't go looking for celebrity back in the summer of 2000, but it found him anyway. It was the first home game after the Sox swept Cleveland and New York on the road. The Sox were still congregating in the dugout when Dan got an idea. "The place was packed, but everybody was sitting on their hands," he said. "I turned to the guy I came to the game with and said, 'Man, we should see if we can get an ovation going for these guys.' " It is a vivid memory, right up there with his wedding day and the birth of his two kids. He remembers everything with exact detail, right down to the red tanktop he wore. His friend decided against it, but Dan was undeterred. "I said, 'No, we can do this,' " he said. "My buddy says, 'OK, you get up, and if people get up for you, I'll get up, too.' " Dan got up from his seat, located behind home plate. He ran up and down the aisle yelling. "Get up! Get up! Let's show these guys some appreciation!" One by one, people followed. They stood and cheered. The ovation grew rapidly. It wasn't long before he identified himself on a postgame radio show as "The guy who was yelling for everybody to get up." Sox legend Bill Melton suggested over the airwaves that Dan get a sign, so he did. He fashioned a homemade sign that said, "Get Up." He brought it to games and started wearing a Sox jersey. "I came to three games with the original sign," Dan said. "After one game, I go to pick up the sign and somebody stepped on a mustard packet and just sprayed the sign with mustard. It was under the seat, so I just left it there." Figuring the gig was up, he made his way to the parking lot. People started to recognize him. "Some guy looks at me and goes, 'Hey, you're that 'Get Up' dude!" Dan said. "Then, all of a sudden, everybody around is like, 'Hey, it's the 'Get Up Guy!' I thought, 'Hmm, 'Get Up Guy,' that's a pretty cool name.' " Undaunted by the mustard, Dan went back to the hardware store. This time, he laminated the sign. An alter ego was officially assembled. * * * By the time the 2000 season concluded, Get Up Guy was as synonymous with the Sox as Frank Thomas. He became the Sox's version of Ronnie Woo-Woo, even though Dan hates comparisons to the Cubs' superfan. Everywhere you looked, there was the Get Up Guy, cheering on his beloved Sox. He was in the parking lot before games. He was in the stands. He even made an appearance in the Sox clubhouse after they clinched the division in Minnesota. There, Kelly Wunsch poured ice-cold beer over his head as Fox Sports interviewed him. "I don't have a clue how that guy got in there," Wunsch said. "But he's definitely a devoted fan, and it's always great to see fans like that. They're the ones who are with you through thick and thin." That year, the Sox even invited Dan onto the field to get his picture taken with all the Sox players. The one of him and Thomas rests on the mantle above his fireplace. It's treated like a piece of fine china and sits beside a signed bat from Thomas, which is encased in a plastic tube. "The Sox were just great about that stuff," he says, casting a longing eye toward the mantle. "It was such an awesome time." But the fun began to unravel after 2000. While fans continued to call him The Get Up Guy, Dan says the Sox distanced themselves prior to the start of the 2001 campaign. "I went to SoxFest that winter, and the second I walked in, I could tell something wasn't right," he said. "I was being shunned." It didn't stop there. "They never came right out and said anything, but my (season) ticket salesperson would say stuff every now and then," Dan said. "Stuff like, 'Look at Andy The Clown, look what happened to him.' " Andy The Clown, never a part of the Sox payroll, was banished from making appearances at the new stadium -- though the Sox did hold a ceremony to thank him for the support. Like the clown, Dan never was compensated -- nor did he ask to be. He's just a superfan, a guy who goes to games and then heads straight to the Cook County Sherriff's Office, where he works the overnight shift as a guard. "I came right out and asked what was going on," Dan said. "(The sales rep) said, 'I can't really say, but the Sox are very reluctant, after Andy The Clown, to have someone -- a fan -- that they can't control as part of their thing.'" A phone call seeking comment from Rob Gallas, Sox senior vice president of marketing and broadcasting, was not returned. But Sox public relations director Scott Reifert said there is no official policy aimed at keeping the Get Up Guy persona in the closet. Policy or not, an alter ego was virtually dismantled. * * * Dan put the sign away for good. He stopped wearing the Sox jersey with "Get Up" written on the back. Today, the items sit in his basement, autographed by Sox players. Someday, they will hang behind the bar he plans to install. Get Up Guy wasn't completely defeated, though. In 2001, Dan still went to many games -- home and road -- and lived and died with each one. He often filled vacant seats behind home plate and began bellowing, "Let's go White Sooooooxxxx!!" Some thought it was great. Others hated it. It was a microcosm of the whole Get Up Guy routine. There was no in-between. Eventually, during the 2002 season, the haters won out. "They came right to my seat," he said of the Sox. "They sent somebody down and he says, 'Don't get me wrong, I like hearing you and everything, but we'd like you to tone it down.' " Tone it down? The Get Up Guy? "I'm a pretty emotional guy," Dan said. "I try to look tough, but inside I'm a big teddy bear. I had a lump in my throat and my heart just went like this ... " His body sags, a human balloon with a leak. "I'm a Sox fan," he said. "I never swear. I never boo my own team. You want me to tone it down? You've got to be kidding. I could've cried right there. So, I shut up and didn't say anything more. Literally, that night I just stopped." * * * These days, Dan is pretty tame. He yells at games occasionally, but who doesn't? "I still love the Sox," he says. "I still live and die with them and still yell for people to get up and get loud before games. But I never leave my seat area." The shtick is over for the most part. But he still has fans, and they wonder why he isn't as noticeable. "It was fun and I would've kept doing the gig," Dan said. "I've still got a lot of people who ask, 'Hey, where are you at? We need you, let's go!' " Where's the Get Up Guy? He's gone, for now. But somewhere, a guy who looks an awful lot like him is driving a black and silver truck with a license plate that reads, "Get Up." If he's smiling, you'll know the White Sox won -- or the Cubs lost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Allen Posted August 24, 2003 Share Posted August 24, 2003 How ironic that in a stadium where "make some noise" and a fan-o-meter are flashed just about every inning, a team would alienate a die hard for doing precisely that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted August 24, 2003 Share Posted August 24, 2003 The phrase in there was "something that they could not control" That is what says it all about the Sox. Step out of line and you are gone. I wonder if he kept up his routine if JR and Co will give him the Bill Wirtz treatment and give him back his season ticket money back??? :fyou Haters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hotsoxchick1 Posted August 24, 2003 Share Posted August 24, 2003 How ironic that in a stadium where "make some noise" and a fan-o-meter are flashed just about every inning, a team would alienate a die hard for doing precisely that. isnt that the truth... i mean hell half the fun of going to a damn game in the first place is the cheering and yelling..isnt it.........alienating(in some way or another) the good fans like that who have supported the team for years and years... and everyone wonders why we cant fill the park up???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperSteve Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 That guys was cool. I wondered what had happened to him. That kind of sucks, I'm sure some teams would love a guy like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capn12 Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 And yet, why am I not surprised by the course of action that the organization took in this matter. "We could not control" attitude... :fyou JR and most of the Sox regime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwsox Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 Ed and/or John b****ed that GUG was too loud and interferred with the radio broadcasts - GUG or HSC could clarify which one - the Sox did not silence GUG, it was Ed or John who did Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishmookie Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 i miss him that guy was great i was thinking about what happened to him before but its sad that he stopped if we make the playoffs ( i hope) i want to see the get up guy screaming his head off GET UP!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YASNY Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 HSC, and others that know Get Up Guy .... you should try and talk him into getting back in action at any Sox playoff games. Maybe he'll unretire, so to speak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 Ed and/or John b****ed that GUG was too loud and interferred with the radio broadcasts - GUG or HSC could clarify which one - the Sox did not silence GUG, it was Ed or John who did So where did the radio guys get the authority to threaten season ticket holders? Unless they had the backing of the team, there is no way that John or Ed did this on their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwsox Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 So where did the radio guys get the authority to threaten season ticket holders? Unless they had the backing of the team, there is no way that John or Ed did this on their own. I think Ed and/or John did it on their own - knowing the team would/did back them up on what they made a broadcast issue. Effect is the same however. GUG's seats are right near the radio mic in the stands for the "crowd reaction" sounds and almost directly under their booth. GUG is the man and I certainly think what he adds to the game experience is what being a Sox fan is [supposed to be] all about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Allen Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 I think Ed and/or John did it on their own - knowing the team would/did back them up on what they made a broadcast issue. Effect is the same however. GUG's seats are right near the radio mic in the stands for the "crowd reaction" sounds and almost directly under their booth. GUG is the man and I certainly think what he adds to the game experience is what being a Sox fan is [supposed to be] all about. If they didn't like him being by the microphone move the microphone. This guy should be valued, its BS what they did to him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steff Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 LOL.. move the mic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 I think Ed and/or John did it on their own - knowing the team would/did back them up on what they made a broadcast issue. Effect is the same however. GUG's seats are right near the radio mic in the stands for the "crowd reaction" sounds and almost directly under their booth. GUG is the man and I certainly think what he adds to the game experience is what being a Sox fan is [supposed to be] all about. Exactly, that means the team is backing them up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zach61 Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 zach23 was told not to blow his stadium horn at last Friday's game because it was distracting the Texas outfielders. We were sitting in Sec. 103 and more than half way up. Sox management is the reason that park is so empty. You can say it's Farmer all you want, but if management lets him have his way, it is their fault. They worry more about the fans cheering and making noise in their seats than the morons fighting in the stands and running on the field. It took longer for security to get to an area with a fight than it did for them to tell zach23 not to blow his stadium horn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steff Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 zach23 was told not to blow his stadium horn at last Friday's game because it was distracting the Texas outfielders. We were sitting in Sec. 103 and more than half way up. Sox management is the reason that park is so empty. You can say it's Farmer all you want, but if management lets him have his way, it is their fault. They worry more about the fans cheering and making noise in their seats than the morons fighting in the stands and running on the field. It took longer for security to get to an area with a fight than it did for them to tell zach23 not to blow his stadium horn. Well... 23 is a known troublemaker. They always have security standing there "just in case" he acts up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwsox Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 zach23 was told not to blow his stadium horn at last Friday's game because it was distracting the Texas outfielders. We were sitting in Sec. 103 and more than half way up. Sox management is the reason that park is so empty. You can say it's Farmer all you want, but if management lets him have his way, it is their fault. They worry more about the fans cheering and making noise in their seats than the morons fighting in the stands and running on the field. It took longer for security to get to an area with a fight than it did for them to tell zach23 not to blow his stadium horn. there are comments to be made here and I am too slow witted to think of any right now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zach61 Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 You mean like Farmer being jealous because he can't blow his stadium horn? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zach23 Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 Well... 23 is a known troublemaker. They always have security standing there "just in case" he acts up... Hey, I only beat the people that deserve it. What my brother says is true, Huge bought some of those old plastic horns that used to be sold at old Comiskey. Friday was the first game we took them to. We were blowing them when Jose was running to third on Nivar's error and were told to keep them quiet because they were a distraction. I guess they were that loud over the 30,000+ people cheering. Since I couldn't blow the horn anymore, I decided to scream as loud as I could for as long as I could. f*** anyone who wanted to complain, it's a ballgame and not a library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zach23 Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 there are comments to be made here and I am too slow witted to think of any right now Don't worry, I will let you blow Huge's horn at a game if you want. Maybe he can give lap dances to HSC and she can blow his horn too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hotsoxchick1 Posted August 26, 2003 Share Posted August 26, 2003 ok heres what happened.. one game.. gug was sitting in his seats which are about 3/4 way up in sect 130...... he was doing his "lets go white sox" and during the 9th inning he was doing his "get up" thing.... farmer was pissed because it was loud and there was a bunch of guys sittin by gug who joined in and thats all that could be heard over the air ways at that particular time...(farmer sits in the boadcasters booth almost directly above gug)...... so to make a long story short the next day at the game gug was doing his thing and security along with a couple members of the front offices asked him if he wouldnt mind toning it down just a bit because it interfeers with the broadcasting.....he did so and hasnt been loud since... Don't worry, I will let you blow Huge's horn at a game if you want. Maybe he can give lap dances to HSC and she can blow his horn too. there will be no horn blowing of any kind at the ball park zach..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Allen Posted August 26, 2003 Share Posted August 26, 2003 ok heres what happened.. one game.. gug was sitting in his seats which are about 3/4 way up in sect 130...... he was doing his "lets go white sox" and during the 9th inning he was doing his "get up" thing.... farmer was pissed because it was loud and there was a bunch of guys sittin by gug who joined in and thats all that could be heard over the air ways at that particular time...(farmer sits in the boadcasters booth almost directly above gug)...... so to make a long story short the next day at the game gug was doing his thing and security along with a couple members of the front offices asked him if he wouldnt mind toning it down just a bit because it interfeers with the broadcasting.....he did so and hasnt been loud since... Don't worry, I will let you blow Huge's horn at a game if you want. Maybe he can give lap dances to HSC and she can blow his horn too. there will be no horn blowing of any kind at the ball park zach..... GUG drowning out Farmio, AM1000 listeners couldn't be so lucky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hotsoxchick1 Posted August 26, 2003 Share Posted August 26, 2003 ok heres what happened.. one game.. gug was sitting in his seats which are about 3/4 way up in sect 130...... he was doing his "lets go white sox" and during the 9th inning he was doing his "get up" thing.... farmer was pissed because it was loud and there was a bunch of guys sittin by gug who joined in and thats all that could be heard over the air ways at that particular time...(farmer sits in the boadcasters booth almost directly above gug)...... so to make a long story short the next day at the game gug was doing his thing and security along with a couple members of the front offices asked him if he wouldnt mind toning it down just a bit because it interfeers with the broadcasting.....he did so and hasnt been loud since... Don't worry, I will let you blow Huge's horn at a game if you want. Maybe he can give lap dances to HSC and she can blow his horn too. there will be no horn blowing of any kind at the ball park zach..... GUG drowning out Farmio, AM1000 listeners couldn't be so lucky no s*** how about it.. at least they would know what was going on in the sox game as opposed to farmers golf game........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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