CHICAGO — The 2005 season will always hold a special place in the heart of Chicago White Sox fans, but for the family of Loretta Micele, a World Series championship was just part of the allure of a magical year.

Micele had been a fixture at the Sox home ballpark since 1945 when she started working home games as a concessions worker. So, when Game 1 of the 2005 World Series rolled around, Micele never figured the Sox would honor her for 60 years of employment with the team. The anniversary celebration also included the Sox honoring Micele's years of service with a sign, naming a section of the 100-level concourse after her, “Loretta’s Lounge.”

But seven years after Loretta’s death in 2014, her little piece of the ballpark has been done away with and instead named after first-year manager Tony La Russa. But the rebranding of what is now considered “La Russa’s Lounge” hasn’t gone unnoticed and has Sox fans — and Micele’s family — who are unhappy with how the team handled the renaming of the space.

Much of this week’s firestorm started after Sox fan Tyrone Palmer tweeted out a photo of the new sign bearing the 76-year-old manager’s name.

“This legit pissed me off,” Palmer wrote in a tweet that has garnered more than 29,000 likes and more than 4,500 retweets in less than one day. “This was formerly named Loretta’s Lounge after Loretta Micele. She worked concessions for the Sox for 60 years….She gave so much to the organization and replacing her name to that of TLR is shameful.”

Lou Soto, Micele’s great-grandson, told Block Club Chicago that the family wasn’t even made aware that the change would be made. Soto’s mother still works for the team, and he said that when the family inquired about the sign that has been displayed on the 100-level concourse for nearly the past 16 years, they were told the sign had already been disposed of.

“They told my mother that they threw the sign out,” Soto said. “It was really disheartening. It meant a lot to our family. Every time we’d go to a game we’d take a picture in front of it.”

Soto did not immediately return a message left by Patch on Thursday.