Community keeps Sox fans coming back despite low expectations for the season

Smoke billowed from hot grills around Rate Field Thursday as the White Sox prepared to host the Los Angeles Angels to open their season.

The smiling faces of tailgaters crowded the parking lot, with the scent of charred burgers and brats wafting through the chilly air. The mood ran counter to the fact that the Sox are coming off a historically awful campaign, where they finished with an MLB record 121 losses.

Many fans do hope to see some improvement — or at least a little more fight — over last year’s debacle of a season. But the team’s performance isn’t what keeps them coming back, they said. It’s the community.

“Even in their worst seasons it’s still something that people will come back for, as you can see,” said Marissa Smith, 30, who took the South Shore Line up from Indiana to attend the game with some of her family.

Smith said her family has traveled up from Northwest Indiana for Sox games since she was a kid. And though the team struggled last year, her brother still bought season tickets and they attended several games together.

“We feel like we’re part of Chicago, even though we’re from Indiana, just because of the community and the neighborhood and the warmth from the community,” said Gwen Smith, Marissa’s mother.

That community spirit drives Ken Keblusek and 10 other diehard fans to come to the stadium and set up their tailgating area from about 5:45 a.m. They arrange a makeshift bar out of the back of an SUV. It’s complete with stools and stocked with plenty of drinks.

Keblusek, 53, said he’s been a fan his entire life. But these days his group is focused on having a good time with family, friends and fellow fans. They have low expectations for the team headed into the season.

“They really haven’t made any changes besides getting worse,” he said.

Keblusek, of Plainfield, added that he would be happy if the team finished with a .500 record, though he thinks hitting that mark isn’t very likely. But that’s OK.

“You just root for your home team no matter what, that’s the bottom line,” said Keblusek, who carried a White Sox wrestling-style championship belt on his shoulder. “It’s better than rooting for the team on the North Side.”

Isac Rosalio Jr., who grilled hot dogs with his family ahead of the game, said he just doesn’t want the team to do worse than last year.

“This year has to be better because we don’t want to go lower. We have to improve little by little, but it has to be positive,” Rosalio said in Spanish. “As fans, we deserve more. A team with so much history, so many years needs to be a contender.”

Though he thinks the team right now is like a beat-up car — in need of many repairs to get up and running — that won’t stop him from rooting for his beloved Sox. He hopes they can make a run for the playoffs, but he also doesn’t have high expectations.

“Win or lose, I’m a fan,” he said.