While us White Sox Ticket plan holders (Full and Partials) are waiting to be invoiced by the sales department on 35th & Shields, many folks on the X are giving you multiple reasons why they WON’T be renewing. I thought it would be important to give my reasons on renewing. Yes me, My Sox Summer, a ticket plan holder since 2013 (even though my season ticket holder pin says only 4 years).

Listen, I know all the beef with the team’s on field performance. I know all the beef about the FO not making moves. I’ve heard for YEARS how the value of being a ticket plan holder has significantly gone down in value (flash sales, dynamic pricing) as ticket plans continue to rise in price. All are valid points, and if this is your reasoning for cancelling, I get it. But to me, denying myself something I truly enjoy for 6 months isn’t worth the political grandstanding of proving a point. My money isn’t gonna make a difference one way or another, Sox are gonna Sox. My presence or lack there of won’t magically make the FO sign top tier talent. I admire the people that put their money where their mouth is, but in the back of my head I just figure they don’t want to watch baseball anyways.

Going to a Sox game isn’t just about the W’s and L’s for me. I spend more time at this park than I do in any other place other than my home. I have friends that I have made over the last 11 years that I see upon entry at the park. We have my ladies in the BBQ stand in center that are always there to ask me about my wife and kids. They also are very generous with the ice cream servings in the summer months, for the girls of course. Our beertenders in 108 are the best kind of people and are always looking to chat us up. Post 2020, it was nice to get back into society with people that really wanna know how you are. Those are real conversations and it goes both ways. Not to mention our regular group of friends who have bought season packages JUST because we are there for most games. The vibe is always something to be enjoyed, even when I am as high as giraffe balls.

Last night was a perfect example of why I will be renewing. Monday night, Yankees in town, crowd is pretty big. I walked in and saw several of my buds and even a long time friend I haven’t seen in awhile. I sat with our regular ticket holders for a bit and then moved to my seat. I had two kids in front of me, both eating funnel cakes and holding their gloves. They lamented that they hadn’t be able to get a ball from Gavin Sheets or Aaron Judge all game. Of course this ain’t right so I said next half inning we’ll get Gavin’s attention and see what happens.

While we waited, we talked ball. We talked favorite players (Tim Anderson). We talked how good they were on their baseball team. Hell, we even talked about the best way to keep long hair off your neck so you wouldn’t get hot (braid or bun?). When Gavin came trotting out, having a big loudmouth like myself yelling “GAVIN!” is a hell of a ploy to get a ball. Gavin reached back and fired a ball in our direction and the lefty kid caught it over the rail in his glove. I screamed louder than that Game 3 playoff win my friends. The kid was stoked, even his friend was happy for him. That’s baseball in the purest form.

If the night ended then it would have been perfect but we still had more innings to go. Aaron Judge was our next target and he’d been launching balls into center all game. By now the other kids in the section had started walking over cause the buzzed fat guy was pretty loud and they’d seen a success. A-A-RON looked in our direction and blasted a ball in our direction. Several gloves went up, it looked long, so I was ready for the recoil, and at the last second a grown ass man with a belt bag and a FUCKING BASEBALL GLOVE stood up and caught the ball over the kids. I waited to boo till I was pretty sure he wasn’t gonna give it to a kid, he had no plan on passing it along. The boos were short lived, the kids didn’t seem to mind and went about their night. But pics are forever…

Last night was a picture perfect reason on why I will continue to renew my season tickets year after year. It’s more than just the game, it’s become a big part of my life. It’s bigger than just the results on the field, it’s a social outlet for me and many others. It’s that excuse to get overserved on a Monday and talk a ton of shit with your buddies. Baseball can be that excuse to just sit outside for 3 hours, in the summer, not thinking about life. Just enjoying that moment. Do you have a reason WHY you are going to renew your ticket package? Tweet it at me (@mysoxsummer) and I’ll publish the best ones!

-MSS