Considering the South Side waited 88 years to see a World Series trophy hoisted into the air, three hours in the rain as the White Sox began their defense of that title was a mere blink of an eye.
As far as starting new memories for the 2006 season, Jim Thome took care of all that with one swing.
After a rain delay put a 3-3 game on hold for 2 hours, 57 minutes, it was Thome's fourth-inning, two-run homer off Cleveland reliever Fernando Cabrera that not only sent the message that the veteran designated hitter is back from an injury-plagued 2005, but that the Sox are still the big bullies on the Central Division block.
Thome's 432-foot shot sent the Sox on their way to a 10-4 Opening Night victory that didn't end until a little after 1 a.m.
''I think our team, if we play the way we are capable of, we should be able to take care of business in our own division,'' Sox general manager Ken Williams said before the game. ''That's not to slight any other team. I just think that we are in a better position this year.''
But leading up to Sunday's opening showdown with Cleveland, Sox players had a growing frustration with the lack of respect they felt was coming from the Indians.
That's why catcher A.J. Pierzynski was adamant in making sure he and his teammates went for the throat early.
''It always matters,'' Pierzynski said. ''To me, that's one of the biggest misconceptions people have in baseball. They think all the games in April don't count. Yeah, they do. They count just as much as the games in September. It's just that the games later in the year are more magnified because people put more emphasis on them.
''But if you get off to a great start in April, it can definitely carry over into September.''
It was that mentality last season that allowed the Sox to raise the championship banner in front of a sellout crowd of 38,802 while the Indians had to look on.
''I hope I don't have to wait 88 years again,'' Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said of Sunday's ceremony. ''The first [title] was tough. I think we just have to play the best we can every day.
''I'm not saying we're going to repeat. I do think we have a good ballclub and a good chance to have a good season.''
That looked like it would be the case in the third inning, until Cleveland outfielder Eduardo Perez and Mother Nature did their best to dampen the mood.
With Sox starting pitcher Mark Buehrle cruising with a one-hitter through three, his offense broke open the scoreless game in the bottom of that inning.
A leadoff walk by Juan Uribe and a Brian Anderson double to left field put Cleveland starter C.C. Sabathia on the ropes.
Coming back from a strained left adductor that kept him out of the final spring-training games, outfielder Scott Podsednik helped the Sox deliver that first blow. His ground out to second base scored Uribe for a 1-0 Sox lead.
Tadahito Iguchi then made it a two-run cushion with a bloop single that brought home Anderson. Sabathia's evening ended after he threw one pitch to Thome and had to leave the game with what was called a strained right abdominal muscle.
A sacrifice fly by Paul Konerko gave Buehrle three runs to work with, but Perez had a different idea in mind.
After an RBI double by Victor Martinez, Perez took a first-pitch offering from Buehrle and deposited it in the left-field bullpen to tie the game.
After Buehrle got out of the inning, the rain began to fall.
While the weather cleared out a good portion of the stands, once the game did restart, the Indians didn't look to have any answer.
Iguchi broke the tie with a sacrifice fly, bringing up Thome. His long blast was his first in a Sox uniform as well as the 431st of his career. That was good enough to move him to 35th on the all-time list, joining Cal Ripken Jr. It also was his ninth in his last eight games (including seven in spring training).
The Sox added three more in the fifth to go up 9-3, highlighted by Anderson's two-run single.
''Everybody is chasing us, everybody wants to play good against us,'' Guillen said.
''No doubt about it -- we have to take the same approach as we have in the past. We have to play the game the way we always play game the game.''
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