The Chicago White Sox are carrying a 2-0 lead into Game 3 of the ALDS against the Cleveland Guardians, but Tommy Pham found a different kind of drama on the flight home.
According to Jesse Rogers of ESPN, the 38-year-old outfielder said he was so locked into the Atlanta Falcons-New Orleans Saints “Monday Night Football” game that he kept yelling on the plane. His issue had nothing to do with the playoff race in front of Chicago. It was fantasy football.
Pham said he was frustrated with Saints players Chris Olave and Tyler Shough because they were not producing enough points for him.
“Everybody was hearing me yell because [Chris] Olave and Tyler Shough weren't putting up the stats for me,” Pham said. “Everybody was looking at me like, ‘This man is crazy.' I needed X amount of points from them.”
Whether Pham ended up winning his Week 4 fantasy matchup is still unknown publicly. What is clear is that the White Sox are rolling at exactly the right moment.
Chicago has not lost in the playoffs and is riding a five-game winning streak that dates back to the regular-season finale against the Colorado Rockies. The pitching has done its part, especially in the ALDS against Cleveland, and the offense has been doing just enough to keep the wins coming.
Game 3 is set for Wednesday at 4 p.m. EST, and it will be the White Sox’s first home playoff game in Chicago since 2021.
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The response from White Sox fans made the temperature clear almost immediately. Plenty of them rejected the pitch for civic unity and leaned into the familiar hostility toward the Cubs, turning Rizzos comments into one more reminder that Chicagos baseball divide is not going away anytime soon. For the White Sox, the timing only adds another layer, because any appeal for shared rooting interest tends to collide with a fan base that has spent years defining itself in opposition to the North Side. [Read more 🡒]