Family Sundays with the Chicago White Sox

It’s not hot and muggy anymore, and you can gorge on apple and pumpkin flavored everything, but summer’s not totally over yet. There’s still time to catch an afternoon of America’s favorite pastime with (one of) Chicago’s favorite team(s), the Chicago White Sox!

There are still games through the month of September, and just ONE more Family Sunday this season, on September 28, 2014. It can be expensive to go to a professional ball game, but on White Sox Family Sundays, tickets start at just $5 for upper level or $15 for the lower level, and parking is only $10.

Before the game, there’s an autograph session with select players and coaches. There are lots of kid-friendly activities, like face painting, balloonist, caricature artists, and magnet art. After the game, weather permitting, kids get a chance to run the bases!

The Comcast Fundamentals area, where kids can do hands-on activities like batting or running bases, is open during all games (not just Family Sunday games) and it’s a great place for kids to not only learn the fundamentals of baseball, but it’s great for kids who can’t sit still through a whole game (can’t blame them – I need to get up and walk around sometimes too!) and need to get a little energy out. NOTE: Kids must wear gym shoes to participate in the Comcast Fundamentals activities; no sandals or Crocs!

We were invited to spend an afternoon with some other Chicago area bloggers for a White Sox Family Sunday game this summer and we had a blast! The day we attended each child got a White Sox pennant as they came into the game. The boys were thrilled to start the day out with a special prize. After finding our seats, we got in line for some autographs. The lines can get really long, especially for more popular players or coaches, so arrive as early as you can. By the time we made it to the lines some of them were closed because they were too long already, but we lucked out an the kids got their pennants signed by Moises Sierra and Darrin Jackson. John was pretty thrilled, especially because he’s been a fan of Darrin Jackson for a long time.

We had delicious food during the game – nothing beats hot dogs and peanuts on a pleasant summer day! When the kids got antsy, John took them to the Comcast Fundamentals area and they were pretty excited about getting to race (a cardboard cutout of) Scott Podsednik.

I have to admit I’m not a huge sports fan so I watch the game, but I don’t get very involved. I mostly enjoy being outside, the excitement of the crowd, yummy food and treats, and spending time with my family. It’s hard to beat it!

The boys were very excited about the end of the game because they knew they got to run the bases. We asked a stadium employee where to go and she directed us to a section not far from where we were, but when we arrived there we saw the line. It was LONG. In fact, as we walked, and walked, and walked trying to find the end of it, I wished the employee had sent us the other direction so we would have arrived at the end sooner, because it stretched at least halfway around the lower level. We finally arrived at the end, determined to stick it out no matter how long we had to wait. I’m so glad we did! It was probably the longest line I’ve ever been in, but it moved FAST and it was only about 15 minutes before we made it to the field.

The boys (Cooper & Dexter; Campbell stayed with me) took off onto the field to give high fives to Southpaw (the White Sox mascot) and run the bases, while I walked down the aisle taking photos and John watched them enviously because he wanted to run the bases too!