'Sodfather' Miracle Means Game On For White Sox

CHICAGO, IL - They call him "The Sodfather." Legendary Chicago White Sox head groundskeeper Roger Bossard performed another miracle on Monday, allowing baseball to be played on the city's South Side despite a very snowy morning. While much of the attention was on the North Side for the Chicago Cubs' home opener, baseball was actually played on the other end of town.

Bossard has been called the "Greatest Of All Time" when it comes to groundskeepers in Major League Baseball, having kept the team's home fields in impeccable condition since he took over as head groundskeeper for the White Sox in 1983. He's been the model for at least one bobblehead and has been in multiple television commercials for the team. Something uncommon for those who work the fields of MLB ballparks.

And while cold and rainy days are nothing new to Chicago in the early baseball season, April 9 is a bit late to see snow in the area. As well all know, that's what Chicagoans woke up to Monday morning.

ALSO ON PATCH: 'I Knew You'd Be Back,' Sodfather Roger Bossard Tells Wrongfully Convicted Man Back On The Job With White Sox After 23 Years In Prison

While the scene at Wrigley Field looked like a winter wonderland come noon time on Monday, the grass at Guaranteed Rate Field was under the mastermind of Bossard and would soon be ready for game time. The White Sox' home game against the Tampa Bay Rays went on as scheduled. On the other side of town, the Cubs' home opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates was postponed until tomorrow.

Bossard said in media interviews that he had to lead a team of 23 workers in clearing somewhere between 200 and 300 tons of snow off the field at the ballpark. He showed up around 5 a.m. to start the job. Take a look at how it looked early on in the process.

Roger Bossard and the White Sox grounds crew performed a miracle to transform the winter wonderland of Guaranteed Rate Field: https://t.co/unuH1UfBAM pic.twitter.com/df8Sd5gglk
— White Sox Talk (@NBCSWhiteSox) April 9, 2018

And here's what it looked like shortly before game time at 1 p.m.

Pretty incredible what Roger Bossard and the #WhiteSox grounds crew were able to pull off today. pic.twitter.com/wfxH6kOdgj
— Kevin Powell (@kpowell720) April 9, 2018

It might look like a miracle to some, but Bossard knows exactly how to pull something like this off. He was prepared. Watch him talk about how he pulled it off below.

Roger praises his crew and talks about using his mowers as snow plows to push the snow off the field: pic.twitter.com/CmhuQYe3AX
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) April 9, 2018

Photo courtesy of Ron Vesely/Chicago White Sox