Hating the White Sox

I’m a little older than a lot of the average bloggers. I’ll be 33 this fall. I’ve lived through more baseball than some of the other guys, college-aged kids who have never seen a Tigers team win a World Series, or even a division crown in their lifetime. In my time as a fan of Detroit baseball I’ve learned to hate a few teams.

Growing up in Ohio, I was taught to hate a rival club. Take Ohio State for example; Buckeye fans can be some of the most obtuse, obnoxious fans in the world.

I had few rules when forming a fandom of any team. The first and most important came from my family– anyone was okay except Ohio State and Notre Dame. I chose the history and tradition (and classic uniforms) of Penn State (reminds me of the Classic home whites of the Tigers I guess) and have been quite happily living amongst my rivals for many years. (…)

During football season I tend to form alliances with other schools, whomever is playing OSU. On the third Saturday in November every year, Go Blue. Otherwise I hate UM as well.

In that same vein, for years prior to 2004, I considered myself a RedSox fan bi-proxy. The Sawx hated the Yankees with as much vigor as did I as a Tigers fan. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, if only for a short while. Of course thanks to the new, intolerable nature of post-championship Boston fans, I get to hate the RedSox, too.

But as much as I hate the Yankees, and Ohio State, and now Boston, there is simply no team that gets my blood boiling as much as the White Sox.

Oh, when I was little things were different. Detroit and Chicago were in opposite divisions back then. The White Sox were usually not very good, so there wasn’t much a reason to even dislike them, kind of like the Indians now. Not until recently did the hatred begin.

But since the Tigers returned to relevance in 2006, Chicago has been the thorn in the side of winning baseball. Too many times the White Sox have walked into the CoPa and made themselves at home. Their fans are arrogant, their GM, their manager, and their players are as well.

I hate that A.J. Pierzynski bleached his hair blonde, I hate that Bobby Jenks did the same with his crappy goatee. I hate that Ozzie Guillen gets lauded for saying the same things that would get any other man fired from his job.

I hate Carlos Quentin for his terrible batting stance and that he was nothing with Arizona. I hate that Scott Podsednik and Freddy Garcia can’t stay in the big leagues with other clubs, then go back to Chicago and magically become good players again.

I hate that it was their team that got Miguel Cabrera drunk last season (yes, I’m blaming them, not him. I know, but it’s my rant). I hate that the White Sox actually wear black socks. I hate every single member of the organization, without knowing any of them. If my son were to play for a little league team called the White Sox, I’d root against him.

Mostly though, I hate that the Tigers can’t ever seem to find a way to beat them with any consistency.

The White Sox are a bad ballclub this year, but once again they’ll manage to beat up our boys more often than not. That’s okay I guess, it just makes every win the Tigers do get against them that much sweeter.