"Get a Sox win, start the season off right. Got my world champion Sox hat on, the good luck hat," said Kevin Farrell.
Jim Thome hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning and the Chicago White Sox rallied past the Kansas City Royals 4-2 in a season opener delayed a day because of bad weather.
Thome hit his 542nd career home run, connecting with two outs off Royals newcomer Kyle Farnsworth.
Fans visiting The Cell this season will see a new giant scoreboard featuring out-of-town scores and games. Players can recover in a new hydrotherapy room with hot tubs, cool tubs and an underwater treadmill. The first balls hit were, not by players but early Tuesday morning, kids from the Bulls-Sox Kids Training Academy Camp showed their stuff.
"We're the only major league club that has a professional organization that has a training academy for kids," said Mike Moyzis, Bulls Sox Training Academy.
They were joined by workers hosing down the field and former player Ron Kittle who is hoping for a huge season.
"Three million fans would be pretty cool. Good food, nobody gets hurt and a pennant. That would probably be what the White Sox would expect," Kittle said.
As great city for hot dogs, tes, there will be Chicago hot dogs, but in Royals' spirit there will also be Kansas City-style hot dogs. Don't worry, there is no ketchup on them.
"They took a hot dog and they put some cheese on it, some Swiss cheese with a little yellow mustard and some sauerkraut," said Manolis Alpogianis, America's Dog.
There are already some recession deals as well. Ballparks all over the country are doing them to fill up the seats. Visit whitesox.com for more inforation.
Fans may notice some new amenities at The Cell this season.
New improvements to U.S. Cellular Field:
--New out-of-town scoreboard.
Gives spectators the number of outs, if runners where on base, who's batting, who's pitching, the score and inning. It could also show live feeds from around the ballpark or live out-of-town games.
--State-of-the-art player hydrotherapy room.
--New entrance/atrium at Gate 5.
The new glass atrium with the U.S. Cellular Field fireworks logo will allow fans to go directly to a bridge leading to the main concourse and also offers stunning views of the city's skyline. New escalators in the atrium will take fans to the upper deck.
--New food options.
Chef Olegario Soto has his new grand slam Italian meatball sandwich, which features 12 two-oz. meatballs and weighs 5 lbs. It will cost $24 and can feed four people. There is also homemade Italian meatball and the new $7 Taste of the Ballpark, a value meal that includes: a hotdog, bag of popcorn, side of nachos, side of peanuts and a 14 oz. soft drink. Lastly, also new are gluten-free beer, granola bars and candy at the ballpark's Southside Grill.
