White Sox vendor takes out frustration of season with horsewhip

How disappointed were you about the White Sox season?

Probably not as disappointed as Lloyd Rutzky, a 61-year-old vendor who has walked the aisles on the South Side for more than 45 years.

Rutzky, you see, takes out his frustration by horse-whipping a bench in the vendor’s locker room after particularly bad losses, or, in the case of this video, after a terribly disappointing season.

It’s been a ritual for the lifelong White Sox fan for almost 35 years.

“I guess it started in the mid 1970s in the old Comiskey Park,” said Rutzky, who is nicknamed “the horsewhipper.” “It was just a way to take out my frustrations. People would egg

me on.”

It’s grown into a popular tradition, so much so that other vendors will

come by during the game and ask, “Is there going to be a horse-whipping

tonight?”

Rutzky, a self-proclaimed movie reviewer who’s worked for a few

publications, said the horse-whipping inspiration came from some old

Marlon Brando movies–“Mutiny on the Bounty” and “One Eyed Jacks.”

What is Rutzky yelling during the video? It might sound like he’s

speaking in tongues, but he’s actually saying players’ names or team

names. He also might be upset about a bad night vending.

The Bartlett native figures he’s done the horsewhip act more than a thousand times. He said it just came naturally…as he changed from his vendor pants to his regular pants, he grabbed his belt and started whipping away.

What did he do to celebrate the White Sox World Series victory in 2005?

“I ran around outside my house yelling,” he said.

With his pants on, of course.