The White Sox have taken the national stage over the past year winning their divison for the first time in 13 years and appearing in the first Field of Dreams, in which they won in dramatic fashion. Not only has the team vaulted into pop culture the fan base is as well.
During The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon dressed up like he was straight out of section 108. Fallon has a popular running segment called “Screen Grabs” where fans send in photos for him to react to.
A sportswriter named Allan Bell posted a photo of a White Sox fan on Twitter that he thought looked a little like Fallon. The fan was wearing a White Sox sweatshirt from one of their free giveaways along with a White Sox helmet with two beer cans and straws attached. To top the look of the fan had a mustache and long bussy hair.
On the surface, the photo appeared to look nothing like Fallon so the late-night host decided to have some fun with it dressing up in full costume. He nailed it down to the last detail of the Modelo cans on top.
See for yourself:
Does this spectator at a @whitesox game look like Jimmy? #FallonTonight pic.twitter.com/8k9TzgvzU4
— The Tonight Show (@FallonTonight) January 4, 2022
The fan in question is Jake Von Esh who is a White Sox season ticket holder.
This is not the first time Fallon has dressed up as a Sox fan. Before taking over The Tonight Show, the comedian co-starred in “Fever Pitch”, sporting the wrong color. It’s a romantic comedy in which Fallon plays a die-hard Red Sox fan named Ben Wrightman during the Red Sox 2004 World Series run.
Fallon is actually a Yankees fan but if he ever decided to switch allegiances he could easily fit in on the Southside. Appearing on one of the most popular late-night talk shows is great exposure for the White Sox brand. The team even retweeted the clip from their main Twitter account.
Thanks for hanging with us, @jimmyfallon 😉 https://t.co/R8Bn0tNEyS
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) January 4, 2022
This is a complete 180 from a few years ago when White Sox fans were complaining about a lack of national attention for their team. During the 2016 World Series ESPN omitted the White Sox from a graphic comparing championships between Cleveland and Chicago since 1965. Then CBS This Morning tweeted that Chicago was preparing for their first World Series in 71 years despite the fact that US Celluar Field hosted Games 1 and 2 of the World Series 11 years earlier. The cherry on top was when ESPN Stats and Info tweeted that the Dodgers and 1998 Yankees were the only teams to win the World Series with 2 losses or fewer. The 2005 White Sox went 11-1 in the 2005 postseason, defeating the Los Angeles Angles 4-1 in the ALCS and sweeping the Red Sox and Astros.
Now not only is the team getting national recognition, but the fans are as well. Chalk up a victory for the 108.
