On opening day for the White Sox in 1972, Mike Koncel arrived on his bike at his best friend Rick Larsen’s house in Evergreen Park.

       Koncel had two plastic bags hanging from his handlebars. One held sandwiches and pop. The other was filled with Twinkies, Ding Dongs and HoHos — provisions for a day at the ballpark.

       Their mothers had reluctantly called them in sick at their school that day. It was the second year in a row they were going, so Koncel declared they must go every year, saying, “It’s tradition!”

       So began a yearly pilgrimage to see the Sox on opening day. Larsen went again this year, for his 50th season, but without his friend. Koncel died of cancer at age 40 in 1998. As with others who’ve lost loved ones who were Sox fans, Larsen is thinking of his buddy as their team takes the field in the playoffs. And he credits the team with helping to honor late supporters such as Koncel.

       Rick Larsen, left, his wife, Carol Villa, and son Max with cardboard cutouts of Larsen and his best friend Mike Koncel on Oct. 7, 2021, in Western Springs. The cutouts were placed in the stands at Guaranteed Rate Field during fanless games. Larsen is a lifelong White Sox fan who has been going to Sox opening day games for 50 years. He wrote a remembrance of best friend Koncel, who went to every game with him before dying of cancer at age 40. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

       When Chicago fans were kept out of baseball games due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the team created life-size cutout photos of fans, through its FANtastic Faces fundraiser, which sold more than 3,000 cutouts and raised $100,000 for charity.

       While many of the cutouts represented current fans, Christine O’Reilly, executive director of White Sox Charities, said many fans got the cutouts as a way to remember departed loved ones and their support for the team. Larsen’s wife, Carol Villa, bought cutouts of her husband and his late friend as a fitting memento of their friendship.

       Larsen and Koncel went to every opening day for years, bringing friends until they eventually had a group of 75. Frequently, the weather was wet and cold, but they had a few beers and many good memories. One year Larsen got an autograph from former Sox pitcher Tommy John; another year they watched streakers run across the field. As kids they would sneak down to closer seats until the ushers kicked them out.

       Larsen even had his wedding reception at the ballpark in 1996, with Koncel as best man. They took pictures of the wedding party on the field and in the dugout, with their dancing shown on the scoreboard video.

       Separate from his opening day group, Larsen — whose grandfather sat in the last row of the old Comiskey Park when the Sox won the American League pennant in 1959 — eventually had access to season tickets through Merrill Lynch, where he worked. They were third-row seats right behind home plate. Co-workers joked that Larsen got the tickets because he was a Sox fan, but when the Sox won the World Series in 2005, everyone thought the tickets were a great idea.

       Koncel even made it to his last opening day in a wheelchair, just weeks before he died. The next year, Larsen went with Koncel’s wife, sons and friends. They caught a home run for Koncel’s son Adam to keep, and the Sox put a message on the scoreboard: “Mike Koncel, we miss you!” As they raised a toast, Larsen said, Koncel’s wife, Lori, had tears in her eyes.

       “It was really special,” Larsen said. “We all were choked up.”

       The whole gang has continued their tradition every year except for the COVID-19 closure in 2020.

       Larsen also once attended fantasy camp in Arizona, playing with retired White Sox legends such as Harold Baines, Carlos May and Bill “Moose” Skowron. This year Larsen got to bring his son to the “Field of Dreams” game in an Iowa cornfield, which the Sox won on a walk-off home run.

       Next week, Larsen will attend the wedding of Koncel’s son.

       With the Sox in the playoffs again, Larsen will be in the stands again, cheering on his team and thinking of his friend, keeping their cutout fan photos together at home.

       rmccoppin@chicagotribune.com

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