The Chicago White Sox logo. (From MLB.com.)

A shooting at a Fourth of July parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois (approximately 30 miles north of the city) Monday saw at least six killed and more than two dozen others injured. That led to many neighboring cities cancelling their own Fourth of July celebrations, and it led to speculation on if the Chicago White Sox would go ahead with their planned home game against the Minnesota Twins and fireworks celebration afterwards. The White Sox answered that Monday afternoon, saying that after consultations with Major League Baseball, they’ve determined that they’ll still play the game (with a moment of silence for victims before that), but they won’t hold the fireworks celebration.

This was a tough situation for the White Sox. And they were the only major Chicago team to have to make a call on hosting a home game or not Monday in the wake of this, with the Cubs on the road against the Milwaukee Brewers, the NBA, NHL, and NFL not currently in season, the WNBA’s Chicago Sky not playing until Wednesday, and MLS’ Chicago Fire not playing until Saturday.

The White Sox could perhaps have postponed this game in the wake of this shooting and its impacts on Highland Park and nearby communities. This is the first game of a three-game homestand against the Twins, so there’s a chance this could have been made up with a doubleheader Tuesday or Wednesday. Doubleheaders do introduce some further complications for both teams, though, and for fans who had planned to attend the game. At any rate, it’s certainly notable that the White Sox have decided (in conjunction with MLB) to go ahead and play.

[Chicago White Sox on Twitter; White Sox logo image from MLB.com]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.