It's been five years since what is now Rate Field experienced a playoff atmosphere. Those who attended Game 3 of the 2021 ALDS will never forget the electricity that night provided.

However, that White Sox team was trying to stave off elimination. Imagine how much louder it would have been had a chance to advance to the ALCS been at stake.

Well, we're about to find out exactly what would have happened. Actually, no! That would have been a team trying to meet preseason expectations, not one that has blown far past what it was expected to do, like this year's Sox.

So when Sean Newcomb takes the mound to begin Game 3 of this year's ALDS, the sold-out crowd is expected to be louder than it's ever been inside that particular ballpark. I recommend those sensitive to noise consider wearing earplugs, especially if the Sox are on the verge of closing the series out in the ninth!

But there's even more at stake for the Sox than the chance to play for a pennant that they weren't supposed to. This is a chance at a memory that no Sox fan alive today has experienced, and countless others lived full lives without ever experiencing it.

You see, the only time the Sox have clinched a postseason series at home was when they upset the 116-win Cubs in the 1906 World Series. That's even longer ago than when the Cubs won their last championship before 2016. Comiskey Park hadn't even been built yet!

So, Sox fans can be forgiven for wanting to congregate not only inside Rate Field but also at the numerous nearby establishments. Evidently, this is something that is only allowed to happen once a century. Yes, it's early enough in this century that there will be plenty of other opportunities for it to happen, but why take that chance?

The 1919 Black Sox won the pennant at home, but the World Series was the only postseason series then. Since divisional play began, the Sox have clinched their division on their home field three times: 1983, 1993, and 2008.

As exciting and memorable as 2005 was, those Sox never got to celebrate any clincher with their own fans. These Sox have two chances to do it, and whether one or two games are played, the crowd will be extremely loud all the same. That may be all this young team needs to feed off of to get the job done.