WHY I AM A WHITE SOX FAN. I’m a White Sox fan because my father was a White Sox fan. These things are passed from father to child. Lee is a Formula 1 fan because he shared Formula 1 with his father. My father was born across the street from the old Comiskey Park. He pointed out the location once when we were at a Sox game. It may be that the new White Sox ballpark was built on that spot. He was born in 1903. I assume that he was born at home. His family knew the Old Roman, Charles Comiskey, who founded the White Sox. I recently read that Comiskey Park opened in 1909 and that before that the park had been a garbage dump. This means that my father was born across from a dump. I should have realized this earlier when I read an anecdote about Luke Appling, the great White Sox shortstop, finding a teapot working its way up through the soil while he was at his position
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I don’t remember ever hearing about the teapot! That’s really funny. Was Grandpa aware that he was born across from a dump? If so, how do you think he felt about that? As a man of the people, I’m sure you are proud of it.
When Lee read this post, he noted that his father was most likely born at home as well, out on the farm in Buckingham. He then noted that his father’s folks weren’t really affected by the Depression because they were growing their own fruits and vegetables and raising their own chickens and cows. They had simple lives to begin with and were detached from the city. I thought that was interesting. (Sorry for taking your story, Lee.)
Yeah, ‘Ol Grandpa didn’t have much tied up in the markets, surprisingly ; ) He built the house in Buckingham out of timber from the lot across the road. His friend milled the wood just down the road in Howardsville. The ruins of the sawmill (as well as a store from Civil War times) are still down at the river.
Another tidbit about how country Dad’s upbringing was: he used to tell a story about coming home one day from school and tossing his books on the couch, only to be scolded by his Mom for barely missing his little sister that had been born while he was out.