25 Best White Sox Moments at U.S. Cellular Field on 25th Anniversary

CHICAGO, IL - Longtime fans of the Chicago White Sox may find it hard to believe that it has been a quarter-century since U.S. Cellular Field, nee the New Comiskey Park, first opened on a cold day in April 1991.

But it has, and in those 25 years have been some really fun moments for the South Side faithful. The White Sox have put together a bracket-style competition to find out what fans see as the best moment to ever take place at the stadium that seems to improve with renovations and fun additions every year.

As you help the team determine the best of the best by voting in the bracket, let’s take a deeper look at the 25 best moments to have take place at the stadium. And we’ll rank them, because that is more fun. The Triple Play the team turned in Friday night’s win over the Texas Rangers was not included in the list, which was made earlier that night.

1. Paul Konerko’s World Series Grand Slam: Number one had to be something from 2005, and while there were several options, this was it. Trailing the Houston Astros 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh of Game 2 of the World Series with two out, Konerko blasted a grand-slam to centerfield igniting the loudest eruption in the history of the stadium. It was one of the many moments from that year that indicated this was the time for glory.
2. Blackout Game: Game 163 of the 2008 season was as close as could be, just as the AL Central race between the White Sox and Minnesota Twins had been all year. Tied at the end of the 162-game regular season, the rivals faced off in a one-game playoff in Chicago. Every fan showed up wearing black, which motivated the home team to a narrow 1-0 victory, with the difference coming down to three memorable plays. A Ken Griffey Jr. throw from the outfield to get a Minnesota base runner out at home plate, a deep home run from Jim Thome which accounted for the game’s only run and a diving catch by Brian Anderson to clinch the win and send the stadium into a euphoric state.
3. Mark Buehrle’s Perfect Game: July 23, 2009. One of those dates White Sox fans will never forget. The South Side’s favorite pitcher for years mowed down all 27 Tampa Bay Rays batters the only was he knew how. Quickly. Buehrle was on fire against the defending American League champs that day. In the ninth inning, outfielder DeWayne Wise made a leaping catch to rob Tampa Bay of a home run, preserving the perfecto in the most awesome way ever. Every White Sox fan can recite Hawk Harrelson’s call of the play verbatim. “That ball hit deep into left center field. Wise looks back, back. MAKES THE CATCH!” The entire national sports media, often known for ignoring the White Sox, couldn’t get enough of this. For one day four years later, it felt like 2005.
4. Ring night in 2006: As great as 2005 was, fans at The Cell didn’t have a chance to experience a clincher. The division title came in Detroit, the Boston sweep was completed at Fenway, the ALCS win in Anaheim and the World Series in Houston. But fans were finally able to let out all the joy at 35th and Shields the next April, when the team was presented their rings from the year before. The most chilling moment of the ceremony was the fans giving the loudest standing ovation to Aaron Rowand, who was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies before the season for Thome. That season 2006 was fun too. The Sox were good again, and had it not been for a pair of 95-plus win teams in Minnesota and Detroit that season, the South Siders (90-72) very well could have been in the hunt to repeat as champions.
5. A.J. Steals First: The White Sox have certain players that seem addicted to great moments. Buehrle is one for sure. And so is A.J. Pierzynski, whose career will always be remembered most for this play during the ninth inning of Game 2 of the 2005 American League Championship Series. The White Sox were tied with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and Pierzynski strikes out. Thinking the Angels’ catcher dropped the ball, he runs to first and is called safe. L.A. disputes the call and video appears to have showed the catcher making the play, but A.J. is still awarded first. Joe Crede brings him in with a walk-off two-run homer and the White Sox win, evening the series at 1-1. The moment was all the difference that year. Had the call gone the other way and the Angels win in extra innings, it would be tough for Chicago to come back from an 0-2 hole in the series. But instead, the White Sox used it as a springboard, didn’t lose again in the postseason and brought the city its first World Series in 88 years.
6. Podsednik’s Walk-Off World Series Home Run: Later in Game 2 of the World Series highlighted by Konerko’s slam, Sox fans were treated to another top ten moment. Scott Podsednik knew how to steal a base, but wasn’t much of a home run hitter. He didn’t hit anything out of the park during the entire 2005 season. But he did in the World Series, smacking a pitch to center field in the bottom of the ninth in Game 2 that gave the White Sox a 7-6 win over the Astros.
7. A.J.-Barrett Confrontation: Tensions were never higher between the White Sox and their crosstown rivals than in 2006, when the defending champions hosted the Cubs at U.S. Cellular Field, and the result could not have been sweeter for the good guys. A.J. rounds third base heading home and beats a Cubs throw from the outfield, plowing over Cubs catcher Michael Barrett in the process. A.J. smacks home plate and is punched square in the face by the frustrated Barrett. The benches clear, Barrett is ejected, and tempers are flaring in the stands. When the game returns, Podsednik promptly gets on base loading them, and on the next pitch Tadahito Iguchi sends out a massive grand slam. There was no better moment for a White Sox fan in their rivalry with the Cubs. We had the ring, the swagger and capped off all the trash talk with a monster slam. The White Sox won that game, 7-0.
8. Bo Jackson’s Home Run Clinches AL West: The summer of 1993 was a fun one. Especially if you were eight years old and just discovering your love of sports. The White Sox were in charge of the old AL West throughout and were all set to clinch the division title when the Seattle Mariners came to town in late September. The “Good Guys Wear Black” squad was led by a fun cast of characters like “The Big Hurt” Frank Thomas, “Black Jack” McDowell, “One Dog” Lance Johnson and “Spanky” Mike LaValliere. In the clincher against Seattle, Bo Jackson hit a three-run home run that gave the White Sox the lead and a spot in what was then only a 4-team MLB playoff. Comiskey Park erupted with Jackson’s home run and the realization that their team was headed to the playoffs for the first time in a decade. Technically, the White Sox will always be the champions of the AL West. The old AL West that was part of the two-division alignment from 1969-1993. The next season, MLB switched to three divisions per league. The White Sox 1983 clincher also came at home against the Mariners, but that happened at the ballpark across the street.
9. Graffanino’s Gaffe: The White Sox trailed the Boston Red Sox in Game 2 of the American League Division Series when former White Sox infielder Tony Graffanino, then with Boston, mishandles a White Sox grounder. That sparks the home team to a rally and a 2-0 series lead over the defending champions. Yet another moment in which the bounces just went the right way in 2005.
10. First Playoff Win at U.S. Cellular Field: This came one day before the Graffanino play. The White Sox pounded the Red Sox on a fall afternoon, and fans on the South Side could tell something special was brewing.
11. World Series Parade: When the 2005 champions returned from Houston, a parade was planned through several city neighborhoods. It started at U.S. Cellular Field and rightfully began by circling the area just north of 35th Street where Old Comiskey Park stood for 80 years.
12. Carlos Lee’s Extra-Inning Grand Slam: The White Sox trailed the Cubs by a huge margin on June 8, 2001. But a late rally got them into extra innings and “El Caballo” Carlos Lee hit a walk-off grand slam in the 10th.
13. Mark Buehrle’s No-Hitter: It doesn’t compare to what he would end up doing two years later, but Buehrle’s April 2007 gem was the first no-hitter thrown by a White Sox pitcher at the ballpark.
14. Alexei’s Slam in Game 162: There would be no “Blackout Game” (see #2 on the list) in 2008 without this. A make-up game against the last place Detroit Tigers is necessary at the end of the year since the Twins have a half-game edge on the White Sox. After an early back-and-forth affair, rookie Alexei Ramirez puts the Sox up for good with a late inning grand slam. The win was part of a three-day stretch no MLB team had ever gone through. The White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians on Sunday, the Tigers on Monday and the Twins on Tuesday, marking the only time an MLB team has beat three divisional opponents in three days, all at home.
15. Carlton Fisk Breaks Record: “Pudge” broke Bob Boone’s MLB record for most games caught in history in a 1991 game at the brand new Comiskey Park. While Fisk would later enter the Hall of Fame wearing a Boston Red Sox cap, he actually spent more of his playing career with the White Sox.
16. Buehrle’s Backhand Play on Opening Day: Mark Buehrle again? Yeah, he was addicted to good moments. He also recorded a save in the World Series, but that was in Houston. In an Opening Day triumph over the Indians in 2010, Buehrle took a short hit and backhanded it to first base to get the runner out in one of the prettiest defense plays ever made by a pitcher.
17. 20 Runs, 11 in an Inning: The White Sox hosted the St. Louis Cardinals for the first time ever in 2006 and showed the Redbirds what it’s like to hit in the American League. During a three-game sweep over the eventual World Series champions, the White Sox put up a 20-6 victory, crossing the plate 11 times in one inning.
18. Back-to-Back-to-Back-to-Back: The White Sox hit four consecutive home runs in a home game in 2008. Thome, Konerko, Ramirez and Juan Uribe. Uribe’s shining moment couldn’t be included here because it, too, took place in Houston.
19. Bobby Jenks’ Scoreless Innings Record: "Big Bad" Bobby Jenks, the popular White Sox closer, broke the record for most consecutive scoreless innings in a home game in 2007.
20. Jim Thome’s 500th Home Run: Thome hit the 500th home run of his impressive career in a 2007 game against the Angels. 2007 had some pretty neat moments for a team that only finished in fourth place in the AL Central.
21. Black Jack Wins 20: Jack McDowell won his 20th game of the season in 1992 at Comiskey Park. He would go on to win 22 games the next season and win the American League Cy Young award.
22. White Sox Welcome Yankees After 9/11: On September 11, 2001, the White Sox woke up in New York with the intentions of facing the Yankees. Soon after, the whole world would change. After a week without baseball, the MLB made its triumphant return and the Yankees received a standing ovation in their return to the field at Comiskey Park.
23. Chris Singleton’s Cycle: White Sox outfielder Chris Singleton became just the fourth player in team history to hit for the cycle in a game on July 6, 1999 at Comiskey Park.
24. Mike Cameron’s 4 home run game: You know what’s better than hitting for the cycle? Hitting a home run four times. That’s exactly what Mike Cameron did at Comiskey Park in 2002. Only problem for the South Siders: it was for the Seattle Mariners, against the White Sox. The former Chicago outfielder had a blast (four of them actually) in his return to the ballpark. A fifth at-bat featured a hit to the warning track, nearly netting Cameron a fifth dinger on the day. The feat tied a Major League record. Although this moment came from a player in an opposing uniform, here’s why it’s OK to include this one on the list. Cameron was a fan favorite for the White Sox from 1995 to 1998, when he was traded. For Paul Konerko. (We made out good on that one).
25. All-Star Game 2003: The best players in the game came together for the Mid-Summer Classic in 2003, the only time the stadium has hosted the All-Star Game. It was also the first All-Star Game in which the winning league would automatically be given home-field advantage in the World Series.

Check back in another 25 years for the 50 best moments at the shrine of the South Side. Maybe the Triple Play will make that list.