Fireworks blasted and fans roared as Esteban Loaiza trotted onto the field along with the rest of the American League All-Stars to begin the biggest night of his life. It was a gorgeous summer evening, July 15, 2003. As he warmed up on the mound, looking resplendent in the home pinstripes of the Chicago White Sox, 47,609 fans stuffing U.S. Cellular Field showered him with adoration.
"Esteban Loaiza ... I guarantee you he's never had an ovation that sounded like that," Joe Buck said on a Fox telecast that was being beamed to 200 countries before Loaiza fired a first-pitch strike to St.