The second game of yesterday’s White Sox-Tigers doubleheader was delayed due to rain, but once it finally got going the fans had a lot to cheer.
Not only did the White Sox eventually pull out the win, but in the top of the second inning, the Bears made their surprise move up in the first round of the draft for Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields. The news quickly spread throughout the fans at Guaranteed Rate Field, resulting in audible cheering that was notably incongruous with the actual baseball being played at that moment.
The NBC Sports Chicago booth picked up on that immediately, with Jason Benetti and Steve Stone joking about the situation:
Fans on the South Side are HYPED about the Justin Fields pick pic.twitter.com/i2GCgoT4jI
— NBC Sports Chicago (@NBCSChicago) April 30, 2021
BENETTI: “If you’re looking at your phone and you’re cheering it’s Justin Fields.”
STONE: “It’s Justin Fields.”
BENETTI: “Love it. Just random high fives at the ballpark in April.”
The “city’s team makes news in one sport that spreads through the stadium while a different sport is being played” is a fun and rare random moment, but credit the NBC Sports Chicago crew for being on top of both the world of Chicago sports and why fans were actually celebrating. As for the White Sox, they gave their fans reason to cheer for the team they actually came to see, sweeping the doubleheader with an 11-0 blowout win.
They also joined their fans in welcoming Fields to Chicago via Twitter mid-game:
Welcome to the greatest city in the world, @justnfields ! https://t.co/871sAZpa3k pic.twitter.com/cCXE2LvMKR
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) April 30, 2021
As for Benetti and Stone, meanwhile, it was a big day all around, as Stone salvaged a broken bag of jelly beans:
Act two:
Our hero wins.
(@stevestone) https://t.co/NMtkEqDbI2 pic.twitter.com/mMq7gQnMmM
— Jason Benetti (@jasonbenetti) April 29, 2021
Good work, Steve.
