The White Sox played their last home game a week and a half ago.
They fended off the last-place Rockies and were cheered for a successful 2026 regular season that drew their highest home attendance in four years (1.986 million). For a marquee MLB franchise, that figure might represent a crisis, but it was well above the threshold where the team felt supported.
“The most simple way to put what is special about our club is the enthusiasm on the field,” said manager Will Venable. “When you’re a player and there’s no one in the stands, you kind of question who you are. When you’re on the field and there’s a bunch of people there, that gives you confidence that you’re a good club that people are paying good money to come see.”
But as the sixth seed in the American League playoff bracket, the Sox left town last week without knowing if they would play in Chicago again this year — an irksome notion.
“Our fans, they deserve baseball in October,” said All-Star third baseman Miguel Vargas.
Vargas is one of the few White Sox players on hand to observe the progression from the losingest MLB team of all-time in 2024, to a victory away from beginning the American League Championship Series next week. That’s meaningful, but White Sox baseball operations has also been subject to enough turnover for this to feel like an entirely new project.
“There is a big change in personnel, this is a very, very different team,” said Erick Fedde, another survivor of the ‘24 club. “A lot of new faces to create the success.”
Surely there’s a new crop of viewers drawn to a team that socked 211 home runs this season, or who enjoy the antics of a young roster that produces at least one new viral video clip per week, but by and large, the White Sox fan base has simply endured the wait for meaningful baseball.
For that reason, ensuring a home playoff game in Chicago was a rallying cry, something celebrated in the champagne-soaked visitor’s locker room in Houston after a Wild Card series sweep.
“We’re expecting the most rowdy crowd I’ve ever played before in my entire life,” said starter Sean Burke, who also debuted in 2024.
But with two wins in Cleveland, suddenly the scale of potential happenings at Rate Field this week has dramatically increased again, for a team that already made league history for making the playoffs after back-to-back(-to-back) seasons of 100 losses or more.
The 2005 White Sox clinched all three of their playoff series victories–as well as their division title–on the road. When the 1959 Sox clinched the AL pennant, prompting Chicago Fire Commissioner Robert Quinn to turn on the air raid sirens, the team was in Cleveland; which might explain why so many people were startled. No Sox team has locked down the final victory of a playoff series in front of their home fans since they won it all in 1906.
“120 years?” said a surprised Grant Taylor. “Maybe we can do it this year.”
Maybe a historic release of pent-up fan energy is the key ingredient. By the admission of both players and coaches, the Sox have been more comfortable as an underdog, than as a frontrunner. A slate of road playoff games as the lower seed found them back in a comfortable mindset. They could use an extra jolt.
“That is definitely true that we have a lot of comfort in being the underdog, that is the story of this club,” Venable said. “I don’t think any of it matters. We get to play a playoff game at home and that’s all these guys are really thinking about.”
While the 20-somethings on the Sox roster might be light on their franchise history, they know their careers. The environment that awaits them doesn’t come easily, nor often.
“This could be a once in a lifetime thing for us,” said outfielder Tristan Peters. “You’ve got to be excited.”