It figures the big dog in the White Sox lineup has a big dog.

Jose Abreu wishes he could have brought his English bulldog, Limbo, to Guaranteed Rate Field on Monday for Dog Day, but at 103 pounds Limbo is just too big to fly.

“He’s too big and he can fight,” Abreu said. “I can’t put him on the aircraft because there’s restrictions.”

But he does appreciate that twice a year Sox fans get to walk their dogs around the warning track and sit with them in the outfield.

White Sox White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu and his dog Limbo. White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu and his dog Limbo. (White Sox)

“I’m really glad to be part of an organization that recognizes the value of the dogs, because are part of the family,” he said. “They’re not just pets — at least that’s how how I treat my dogs.”

Abreu has had Limbo since 2015, and he named him after a brand of white soap in Cuba.

“He’s a nice kind of dog, he just needs his space to sleep, his space to move around,” he said.

The Tribune talked to several dog owners at Sox Park about their dogs and Dog Day.

Chico and Josephine

E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune Nicholas Gianfortune brought his dog Chico, a greyhound, to the Dog Day parade at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 29, 2019. Nicholas Gianfortune brought his dog Chico, a greyhound, to the Dog Day parade at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 29, 2019. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Nicholas Gianfortune brought his dogs — Chico, a greyhound, and Josephine, a tiny Italian greyhound — to Guaranteed Rate Field in part because it’s therapy for the dogs.

“Greyhounds, they’re very skittish. So their first approach with people, large areas, with just a lot of congestion, they can be nervous,” said Gianfortune, 34, an Edison Park resident who works in real estate. “It kind of helps them break in a little bit associating with all the other dogs and people, and going to the games.”

Gianfortune also campaigns for people to adopt greyhounds, such as his two rescues.

In recent years, various states “deemed it inhumane to breed dogs for racing only,” Gianfortune said. “There was a lot of backlash — they would just basically put the dogs down (at the end of their careers). There was a lot on the news about greyhounds and them finding these big farms with thousands of greyhound bones.”

E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune Nicholas Gianfortune brought Josephine, an Italian greyhound, to the Dog Day parade at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 29, 2019. Nicholas Gianfortune brought Josephine, an Italian greyhound, to the Dog Day parade at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 29, 2019. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Florida’s ban last year on greyhound racing retired thousands of the dogs from the track but also made many homeless. Gianfortune has worked with alliances such as GreyhoundsOnly.com to promote adoptions.

They’ve only known kennels and racing, he said. “They’re kind of raised and they live kind of like robots. They don’t know toys and games until years into their lives,” he said. “They’re such perfect dogs for some many people. They like to lay around, sleep, hang out, eat, cuddle, find a nice blanket to go under.

“They have great personalities once they start to break out of their shell.”

Joon Bug

E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune Cindy and Patrick Keating's dog Joon Bug attended Dog Day at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 29, 2019. Cindy and Patrick Keating's dog Joon Bug attended Dog Day at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 29, 2019. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Cindy Keating brought Joon Bug, an American English coon hound, dressed up in a tutu for her stroll in the ballpark.

“It’s just a great opportunity to have some fun, get out and watch baseball,” she said. “There might be a hot dog (for Joon) involved.”

The 45-year-old Lombard resident has been bringing dogs since 1998, and wastes no time mailing in their applications — one time sending it by FedEx from spring training in Arizona. Competition for spots in the parade is fierce.

Keating sees a difference in her dogs when they join the parade.

“They just know people are there to see them,” she said. “I don’t know how to explain it. They just know. As soon as they hit the warning track, they’re kind of taking off. … Joonie will just go up to (fans) to be pet. She kind of takes her time and just struts.”

Keating, born and raised a Sox fan, has a team-themed room with a bench made of bats by Ron Kittle. She recalled one time she and her dog met the former Sox outfielder’s Siberian husky, Luna.

“Joon Bug and Luna walked the parade together.”

Crumbs and Barney

E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune Mark Ibach brought Crumbs and Barney to the Dog Day parade at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 29, 2019. Mark Ibach brought Crumbs and Barney to the Dog Day parade at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 29, 2019. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Mark Ibach has owned five basset hounds since he started bring his dogs to the park in 1997.

“I’ve had a banner for all my dogs that we parade around (with) for the pregame parade, and it has the dogs’ names on it,” said the 62-year-old claims adjuster and Downers Grove resident. This year he brought Crumbs and Barney, both rescue basset hounds.

Each banner features the names of the bassets he owned at the time, and last year he took a picture with Sox pitching coach Don Cooper as each man held one side, and he uses the pic as a Christmas card.

But his fondest memory is of Suds and Majik. Ibach brought the pooches by the dugout and Jim Parque and Mark Buehrle, up from the minors, signed the banner with the dogs’ name on it.

“And then all of a sudden Albert Belle pops up,” Ibach said. “He was known never to ever sign autographs, and Albert Belle walked up, grabbed the pen and signed ‘A. Belle.’ I still have it on the banner.

“He was just cracking up, because my dogs were very old, very elderly, and they’re basset hounds, kind of funny looking anyway. He was really laughing.”

Soxi and Maui

E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune Mike Geraci holds his dogs Soxie and Maui at the Dog Day parade at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 29, 2019. Mike Geraci holds his dogs Soxie and Maui at the Dog Day parade at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 29, 2019. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Most people think of their pets as children, but Michael Geraci draws the line at the concession stand.

“I’ve got to buy a $4 hot dog for my dogs,” said Geraci, a 39-year-old environmental testing lab employee who lives in Bartlett. “They only get one each at that price.”

Every year on Dog Day, Geraci and wife Joy takes a family picture with the field in the background, and lately those portraits have included their 4-year-old daughter and a brother-in-law who helps with dog-wrangling.

Geraci named his first terrier “Soxi” after listening to the “Eddie and JoBo” radio show and learning that Joe “Bohannan” Colborn had a dog named “Sox.” But, he reasoned, “‘Sox’ didn’t seem right for a girl dog,” so “Soxi” it was.

He thinks Dog Day is a cool idea, though some friends tease him for participating.

“That would be Cubs fans,” he said. “If you go to the ballpark tonight, I guarantee you’ll see a couple of Cubs fans with their dogs. Why? They don’t let your dog into Wrigley Field.”

Lucy

E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune Dawn Beard brought her dog Lucy to the Dog Day parade at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 29, 2019. Dawn Beard brought her dog Lucy to the Dog Day parade at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 29, 2019. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Lucy, a Yorkshire-Chihuahua mix, has taken selfie with bullpen catcher Mark Salas, and believe it or not she plays favorites.

“One time I bought her a pink little White Sox shirt and she didn’t seem to like it … but she really likes her (Paul) Konerko shirt,” said Dawn Beard, a 52-year-old who grew up in the south suburbs and now lives in Munster, Ind.