Tonight's White Sox-Rockies Game At Coors Field - Canceled!

Thanks to the coronavirus, tonight's baseball game at Coors Field here in Denver between the Chicago White Sox and Colorado Rockies has been canceled.  In the larger scheme of things, this is of course not a big deal, but since the White Sox - which I have followed since I was a child growing up on the south side of Chicago -  only come to town once every three years, it is a bit of a disappointment.  This inspired me to go through my old photographs to find some Chicago White Sox moments to share, such as Jim Morrison (not THAT Jim Morrison), the third baseman for the Sox, at bat in Comiskey Park back in 1980, as seen in the photo on the left.

Another photograph from 1980 was of Lamarr Hoyt (in the photo on the right warming up), who was promoted from the minors that year as a relief pitcher and later became a very successful starting pitcher for the White Sox. He eventually was traded to the San Diego Padres, where sadly he was arrested several times on drug charges and eventually was caught with drugs and guns at the Mexican border.  I myself blame his fall on the hedonistic atmosphere of California.  If he had stayed with the White Sox, living the good, simple life on the south side of Chicago, the outcome would have been much different.  Now, of course, all those Californians are moving to Denver. Scary. But I digress.

Once in a while, Comiskey Park fans were treated to the antics of Max Patkin, the Clown Prince of Baseball, second from the left in the photo on the left. Patkin used to travel from ballpark to ballpark, doing his clown routine on the field, mocking the umpires, annoying the coaches and opposing players, and was even given a guest shot in the movie Bull Durham.  This was back when Bill Veeck, the owner of the White Sox at the time, would put on various stunts (he was the one who sent midget Eddie Gaedel up to bat) to make the games fun.  Major league baseball owners did not like this, and as far as I can tell, they still seem to have an objection to fun.  By the way, what ever happened to the San Diego Chicken?