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Naperville couple’s delivery room story lands them spot on Sox commercial

Christie and Lindsey Willhite were in the delivery room, waiting for the arrival of their son Michael.

This was March 12, 2008, and so the Naperville couple did what any right-thinking people would do when it’s spring and one of them is in labor.

They turned the hospital TV on and tuned into the White Sox spring training game against the Colorado Rockies.

Christie, the Daily Herald’s DuPage assistant city editor, was in bed. Lindsey, now the Chicago Wolves director of public relations but then a sports writer at the Herald, was sitting at her side. And the TV speaker was between them, so they both could hear Ken “Hawk” Harrelson and the broadcast.

“So we watched the White Sox spring training game with Hawk’s voice right here in my ear as it was getting time for Michael to arrive,” Christie said.

The team of doctors and nurses never bothered to turn the game off.

Maybe it was destiny for Michael to enter the world to the sound of the crack of the bat or Hawk making references to duck snorts and grabbing some bench.

“It’s kind of predetermined that our kids must like baseball,” Christie said.

That kind of die-hard loyalty — even in the delivery room — earned Christie and Lindsey a spot on one of five commercials this spring on WGN-TV that focus on how dedicated fans watch the White Sox.

The Willhites had plenty of memories they could have shared:

Ÿ Christie’s dad teaching her how to keep score when she was growing up in Lombard.

Ÿ Lindsey dodging champagne on assignment in Houston when the White Sox clinched the 2005 World Series and players celebrated in the clubhouse.

Ÿ The couple watching a Sox game stretch into extra innings and past midnight, even though Christie went into labor early that August morning — around 4 a.m. — with their second daughter.

But Michael’s story really captured their devotion to the team. On Twitter, Lindsey learned WGN was hunting for fans with stories to tell and applied for a spot on the commercial series.

“You wonder whether it really is kind of a cool story,” Lindsey said. “We just think it is because it’s us.”

A native of Champaign, Lindsey grew up rooting for the St. Louis Cardinals. But he had no interest in the Chicago National League team and all that fuss over the ivy when he moved to the suburbs.

“You can’t go from being a Cardinals fan to a Cubs fan,” Lindsey said. “That’s just impossible. That’s just not right.”

Their kids — Michael, now 4, Katie, 6, and Kellie, 9 — all have the makings of loyal White Sox fans.

Christie herself is optimistic about the 2012 season.

“I really think the Sox are in a good position because no one has any expectations for them,” she said.

While she still hasn’t seen the commercial on television, the family has viewed it on YouTube. The spot shows Christie and Lindsey on their couch telling the story, and there’s an adorable photo of Michael wrapped in his Sox baby blanket.

Christie hopes their son will share the commercial with his own kids someday, preserving the family traditions linked to White Sox baseball.

“It’s just sort of part of family lore,” she said.

  Naperville residents Lindsey and Christie Willhite and their kids — Kellie, Katie and Michael — are all big Sox fans. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
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