Chicago used to be second to New York;
Now L.A. bling tops skyscrapers and pork.
I was my parents’ Bombay-born second son;
Family myth winks at my fictional adoption.
Thus, I’ll always embrace my Second City;
“Yes, and” improv has no room for self-pity.
2026’s uneven season for the lovable Cubbies is over.
The miracle run for the Pale Hose is my four-leaf clover.
An immigrant kid, I first lived on the North Side,
So, my love of the White Sox I was forced to hide.
Don K, Glenn, Billy, Ron, Ernie, Randy, Jim, Don Y and Fergie:
That was my line-up in 1969 when I felt so “wery” Indian-quirky.
Five years later, along with Santo as DH, to the South Side I went,
Joining Pat, Ken, Dick, Bill, Carlos, Ron, Jorge, Ed and Bucky Dent.
A quick playoff exit for Chicago’s tippy-top ballclub has taken them down.
Exorcising 300 losses, baseball’s outcasts make Chicago their town.
I liked Jorge Orta because we shared a similar sounding surname;
I threw knucklers like Wilbur Wood, dreaming of the Hall of Fame.
I pitied Ed Herrmann’s giant glove catching Wilbur’s butterfly;
I cheered on Dick Allen’s AL Home Run Championship drive.
I wondered if Dick shouldn’t have left my hometown so abruptly;
I rooted on Kelly, Henderson, Melton, May, Santo and Bucky.
For the Cubs, it’s — again — “Wait ‘til next year, grrr.”
For the Sox, it’s — the World Series — one step nearer.
As a teenager, I got to meet the legendary Mr. Bill Veeck;
I was in awe of his ashtray-cum-peg-leg, a wartime wreck.
Though Larry Doby and Bill integrated the American League,
Their heroic act of justice was always second to iconic Jackie.
While Comiskey Park was never as pastoral as Wrigley Field,
To Disco Demolition Night and gaudy shorts I did gladly yield.
Counsell’s boys can look forward to 2027’s Spring Training.
Venable’s boys will, by then, hopefully be World-Champs-reigning.
The Sox have long been like the rental car company, Avis:
“We’re No. 2. We try harder!” their fans hoop and hiss.
Why are those who come in second so often forgotten?
To not be first, to not be champ, seemingly verboten?
Though the White Sox remain second-class citizens in Chicago,
Their faithful fans include me, President Obama and Pope Leo.
Dr. Oza, author of Double Play on the Red Line, still dreams of a Red Line World Series in his lifetime.