'South Side' exhibit open at Hall of Fame

11/16/2005
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- There was a change of socks on the third floor of the Hall of Fame and Museum on Wednesday morning. It was a switch from the red to the white.
Several historic White Sox artifacts took their place on display in "South Side Sweep," the newest Hall of Fame exhibit, honoring Chicago's first World Series title since 1917.
For the second straight season, an original member of the American League ended a long drought and won the Fall Classic. In 2004, the Boston Red Sox swept aside the Cardinals to win their first title in 86 years, and this October, the White Sox similarly dispatched the Astros in four straight.
Hall of Fame vice president and chief curator Ted Spencer received help from museum visitor and White Sox fan Carol Lewis, a Norwich, N.Y., resident and native Chicagoan, in the official ribbon-cutting ceremony.
"We're here to honor the White Sox today," Spencer said. "For the second straight year baseball has gotten the job done, as a long-suffering team has won the title."
Long-thirsting White Sox rooters have plenty to cheer about in "South Side Sweep," which resides within "Autumn Glory," the museum's exhibit chronicling the history of baseball's postseason.
There's the bat used by White Sox outfielder Scott Podsednik to hit his Game 2 walk-off home run against Houston closer Brad Lidge. Ironically, Podsednik had not homered in 507 regular season at-bats, becoming the only player in Series history to hit a walk-off homer without recording a single regular-season blast.
There's also another historic piece of lumber, the bat wielded by Chicago's Geoff Blum in his first career Series at-bat, when he struck a 14th-inning homer to provide the winning margin in Game 3, the longest World Series game by time in history.
Fans of defensive wizardry can view the glove worn during the 2005 season by White Sox third baseman Joe Crede, whose stellar defense killed numerous Astros' rallies, particularly in Game 1 (in which Crede also provided the tie-breaking home run).
In addition, the exhibit features the road White Sox jersey worn by right fielder Jermaine Dye, whose .438 Series average and Game 4-clinching RBI single led to his selection as the Fall Classic's Most Valuable Player.
Popular Chicago manager Ozzie Guillén, the first manager born in a Latin American country to win a World Series title, is represented by the warmup fleece he wore during the World Series.
The Houston Astros, who made their first World Series appearance, were not overlooked in the exhibit, which included key artifacts from their exciting postseason.
The museum was given the spikes worn during the Fall Classic by Houston second baseman Craig Biggio, who set the record for most regular-season games played in a career before making it to the World Series (2,564). In addition, longtime Astros slugger Jeff Bagwell donated his home jersey worn in Game 4. Bagwell was playing in his first World Series after 15 seasons with Houston.
"This was a great year for the Astros, as well," Spencer commented. "Two of their icon players got to their first World Series after several years, so we specifically asked for items from those two players."
For a pair of White Sox fans from the Chicago suburbs, the opportunity to see the opening of the historic exhibit honoring the World Series champions from the South Side was one they couldn't miss.
Shelly and Gene Bagnuolo of Bowlingbrook, Ill., made their first trip to Cooperstown this week. The lifelong White Sox fans heard Hall of Fame President Dale Petroskey on WSCR radio in Chicago last week and decided that they had to get to Cooperstown.
Shelly's boss, John Walsh at Mercury Title Company, told her if she could make the trip work out with her husband's schedule, it would be her Christmas bonus, so her employer is covering the cost of their trip.
"This is an unbelievable feeling," Shelly said. "I just wanted to be here today, to see this history on the first day.
"It's too exciting. We can't believe we were able to come on such a special day. We are looking forward to seeing all of the great history here in Cooperstown."

Source: http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/