White Sox tickets on sale: Which games should you attend in 2018?
White Sox single-game tickets are now on sale. Besides “premiere” games and opponents, what games should you attend in 2018?
Ladies and gentlemen, the hunt is on! Single-game White Sox tickets went on sale yesterday, which means it’s time to search the schedule for the best games to attend.
There are, of course, marquee matchups peppered throughout the season: the Houston Astros visit in April, the St. Louis Cardinals come to town July 10th and 11th (my birthday), both AL East juggernauts, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, make their yearly visit in August/September, and of course, the Cubs hang out in September.
In addition to these big-time opponents, there are great home games with the rival Cleveland Indians and the new-look Minnesota Twins. However, the 2018 home schedule brings some intriguing teams to Guaranteed Rate Field as well.
Here are some of the best home series to check out in 2018:
April
Tampa Bay Rays, April 9th-11th: The Rays have been slashing payroll like a Friday the 13th film, and haven’t spent much on new additions. In fact, they were included in a player’s union grievance due to their lack of spending. However, they still have some up-and-coming young players, solid veterans, and a still-tough pitching staff headed by Chris Archer. Most of the opening weekend crowd will be gone by then, so if you can make it out during the week, take a peek at a team that I believe will be more competitive than many think.
Tickets should be pretty readily available. Large groups of fans don’t typically venture out to see Tampa Bay play at Tropicana Field, and the team tends to get a similar treatment on the road. Don’t forget, the Wednesday afternoon game is also $1 hot dog day!
Seattle Mariners, April 23rd-25th: I’ve always enjoyed games against Seattle. The Sox always seem to be competitive at home against the Mariners. I saw greats like Ken Griffey, Jr. as a young fan and watched Ichiro go five for five in Chicago on his way to the single-season hits record in 2004. Plus, Seattle built something this offseason with the potential to be unbelievably good in 2018. This is not to mention all three games have promotions: Dog day 4/23, White Sox wall calendar 4/24, and, you guessed it, $1 hot dog day Wednesday 4/25!
May
Texas Rangers, May 17th-20th: There are not likely to be any pitcher’s duels when the Rangers come to town in May. Texas has signed what feels like a Rick Hahn-esque amount of starters this offseason, but most are value deals, not headliners. Any excuse to see future hall-of-famer Adrian Beltre is a legitimate one. Oh, and Joey Gallo and Rougned Odor are some strong dudes who only know how to swing for the fences. Souvenirs aplenty. Plus, T-shirt giveaway Thursday, fireworks Friday, and family Sunday.
June
Milwaukee Brewers, June 1st-3rd: I mean, hello? Have you seen the moves Milwaukee made this offseason and might still make in spring training? Did you see the way they defied expectations last year? When I was in youth baseball, we went to Brewers games every year, so I’m a bit of a fan already. The recent moves interest me even more. Saturday’s promotion is a cool one: 1983 Road Replica Jerseys. Round this out with a family Sunday, and it’s a great weekend series!
Oakland Athletics, June 21st-24th: I think Oakland has the ability to outperform expectations this season while still remaining under the radar. They’ve got some talented veterans and some youngsters finally getting some major league playing time. This might be a good series to get to know some new names and faces, or perhaps to watch final auditions for veteran trade pieces if the team doesn’t perform.
Another T-shirt Thursday, another family Sunday, and Beatles night Friday make this a weekend to head over to Guaranteed Rate Field and “Twist and Shout” for the Palehose. Yes, the goal of using “Twist and Shout” as a dad joke is two-fold: I sincerely hope it’s stuck in your head for the rest of the day, and I also hope you are now picturing Matthew Broderick performing on a parade float.
July and August
With the All-Star break and quite a few road games, July is nothing spectacular. The Cardinals series the week of my birthday is the one series I’ll be aiming to see in person. Last year, after not attending a Sox game in a few years due to a myriad of reasons, my wife got tickets to a Sox-Mariners game for myself, my brother, and my dad. It was an amazing birthday present. I watched Felix Hernandez pitch in person for the first time, saw Nelson Cruz go deep, witnessed Melky Cabrera go yard and flash the leather.
I turn 30 this year, so I think requesting the Sox-Cardinals game on my birthday is perfectly reasonable. I’ll start dropping hints soon. I’ll buy my wife a couple of cards and a pair of socks for Mother’s Day and start randomly mimicking bird calls this week.
More from White Sox News
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- Miguel Cairo’s words spark life into the Chicago White Sox
- Dylan Cease should be the favorite for the AL Cy Young Award
- Ozzie Guillen speaks the whole truth about Tony La Russa
Anyway, outside of that series, July and August are mostly big-name teams coming to town. Sure, it’d be fun to see Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, and JD Martinez take aim for the pinwheels, but everyone will be at those games hoping to see exactly that. Tickets for those games will go fast!
September
Los Angeles Angels, September 7th-9th: I’ll keep it brief here. Mike Trout. The fact that the Angels roster looks like the team was subject to a fantasy draft helps, and Shohei Ohtani is exciting. But, really, Mike Trout is reason enough to go. Depending on each team’s performance, tickets may be hard to come by. Fireworks Friday and family Sunday round out the promotions.
Next: Base stealing needs to improve in 2018
October?
Let’s hope! Any game or series would be well worth attending. Start saving now!