Kevin Hickey lived a Sox fan's dream. Hickey grew up miles away from Comiskey Park. He was a 16 inch softball player who had a tryout with the Sox and was signed to a contract. He pitched for 3 seasons with the Sox, including their 1983 AL West division champions.
The story did not end there, though. Hickey spent the next 5 seasons in the minors after he was traded to the New York Yankees. He spent time in the minors with the Yankees, the Philadelphia Phillies the White Sox (again), the San Francisco Giants and the Baltimore Orioles. He finally made it back to the majors with the Orioles where he spent his final 3 big league seasons.
When I met Hickey at AU Sports in Skokie (IL), he was a trip. He was funny, goofy, light-hearted and happy to be there. He talked about his Chicago roots, playing for his hometown team and the struggles he faced. All the while, he was just in such a great mood. This was a blast.
I have one bit of Hickey trivia. He played the role of "Schoup" in Major League II.
I also have to point out something in the picture. It is a bit dark, but behind Hickey is the famous wall of cards at AU Sports. This mammoth is about 8 feet tall and maybe 50 feet long, full of baseball card singles (or heaven, as I call it).
I remember times when one of the regulars would pull out a random box from the 70's. We would go card by card and talk trivia or card thoughts, sort of like an oral blog of the cards. Those were great times.
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