CHICAGO -- A baseball legend who never got a World Series ring in his 13 seasons with the White Sox finally got one before Saturday's White Sox game at U.S. Cellular Field.
In an intimate setting that included his son Casey and former teammates Greg Walker and Ozzie Guillen, Carlton Fisk was presented with a 2005 World Series ring on behalf of the White Sox organization.
"You can't imagine [how special this is]," Fisk said. "Not that I was a part, but I feel a lot closer to this than you might think. Watching the pitchers pitch, I feel akin to that. The [pitchers] did such a great job last year."
Fisk spent 24 years behind the plate for both the Red Sox and the White Sox, and, until it was broken by Mike Piazza in 2004, he held the record for home runs by a catcher with 351. He made it to the 1975 World Series with the Red Sox, hitting his iconic home run down the left-field line to force to a decisive Game 7, which Boston lost to Cincinnati.
"I wanted to present the ring to him," Guillen said. "We played together, we've become pretty good friends and I think if one guy deserves to have a ring on his finger, it's Carlton Fisk."
Last year, the White Sox honored Fisk, who caught a Major League record 2,226 games, with a statue on the center-field concourse, one of five of various Sox legends. While Fisk said that the statue may be more visible, the ring is special. "It's very special," Fisk said. "I'll wear it with a lot of pride. I'll wear it at special occasions. I'm not going to wear it when I'm out in the garden or mowing the lawn. I might do it when I ride the bike -- you never know, I might get a free cup of coffee."
