As a kid growing up in the Chicago area, you are asked early in the spring – Cubs or Sox? The town is divided along Black and Blue lines. Yes, the North Side (Cubs) is a more affluent part of town compared to the South Side (Sox) part of town, but it is not purely on geographic or economic lines.
When I was growing up, my dad was a big Cubs fan growing up on the Northwest side of Chicago. My grandfather on that side would watch the Cubs every single day on WGN, and when we went to visit on the weekends, I would ask him, “Grandpa, what are you watching?” He would reply, “The Bums,” which was his affectionate term for the Cubs. Before 2016, the Cubs were the Bums with the longest World Series Championship drought of all time. However, when I was in grade school, the White Sox (the less loved franchise) used to give out discounted tickets to kids who had straight As in school or perfect attendance. Between my brother, sister and I, we would go to 2-3 games every year. I remember fondly going to the old Comiskey Park on the South Side. We would sit in this stadium that shot off fireworks after every home run. I was at a game once in probably 1983 when Greg Luzinski (“The Bull” and a guy my dad played football against in high school), Ron Kittle and Tom Paciorek hit back to back to back Home Runs against the then California Angels and the scoreboard ran out of fireworks on the 3rd HR. Sure, in the lower decks when the Sox hit home runs, the beer would inevitably drip through the cracks in the upper deck, but that was part of the fun. In 1983, the White Sox won the AL West and went to the playoffs with their famous “Winning Ugly” team. Man, I thought we were going to win it all that year. They got bumped quick by Baltimore, but it was awesome.
In 1984, the Cubs had their year. For me, my mom was in plays a lot. She was doing a play called “Bleacher Bums,” a play set in the famous bleachers of Wrigley Field. That summer we went to several games to “do research.” We would go to the park at like 8 AM and wait in line to get in the General Admission Bleachers for $5 a ticket. One day, we saw the famous, Harry Caray, the long time play by play man on radio and WGN (and former White Sox man who first sang “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” on the South Side). I remember him being so much shorter than I thought he was. That summer we saw all manner of craziness in those bleachers – drunks, vomiting, etc. One game against the Houston Astos with the bases loaded, a Cubs pitcher gave up a Grand Slam to Jose Cruz. The ball was flying right to us in Center Field. My dad caught the ball. I was in like 5th grade with my mitt and everything. Dad handed me the ball, and I remember looking at it in awe. I played baseball at that time, and I had a Grand Slam ball in my hand. I didn’t care it was an Astros homer. One second later, some drunk grabbed the ball from my 5th grade hand and threw the ball back on the field (a long time Cubs tradition I wasn’t aware of). I was destroyed. I probably cried for sure. I couldn’t understand what was happening. Then, I hear this chant – “Give the kid the ball! Give the kid the ball!” That same drunk gave me a Leon Durham (the Cubs “Bull”) batting practice home run ball. The crowd cheered, and it was back to the game. 1 inning later that same guy was kicked out for fighting. That’s Cubs baseball. In that year, everyone knows, the Cubs blew a 2-0 lead in the NL Championship series to San Diego and Steve F’in Garvey. I was crushed.
So, I truly grew up a fan of both teams, but after 1984 and again in 1989 Cubs disappointments, I went full Sox fan. I think for me the working class team was more like me. A lot of my friends were so die hard Cubs fans, I wanted to be different. Plus, in those days, the Cubs and Sox played once a year in the Windy City Classic – a Charity game between the teams and a pre-cursor to the Crosstown Classic. The Sox won a crazy 10-0-2 of those games from 1985 to 1995. Truthfully, the Sox were a much better team in that era. The 1994 White Sox probably would have won the World Series, but there was a strike that year. Frank Thomas, the “Big Hurt” was my favorite player for sure. Dude was so good at hitting, and he was big enough to play football (which he did at Auburn) but deft enough to hit for average. I’ve really been a Sox fan ever since.
Disappointments
The Sox really never did much after that 1994 season. The team had a run of near misses in the late 1990s as Cleveland controlled the division. The Sox had a good team in 2000, but they got swept by the Seattle Mariners in the Divisional Round. Ugh.
The Cubs made a Wild Card in 1998, but didn’t get a win in the playoffs. Then there was 2003, the Cubs were hot at the end of the year. Then manager, Dusty Baker, pitched his guys big innings en route to the playoffs. I had just moved back to Chicago that summer. So, I rooted for the Cubs, why not, we hadn’t had a World Series since 1959 (White Sox). The Cubs led 3-1 in the series against the upstart Florida Marlins. Whew, this was rough, the Cubs gave up Game 5 in Miami to come home with Mark Prior and Kerry Wood scheduled to start. It was a virtual lock they were going to get to the Series. Well, if you don’t know, the Cubs led 3-0 in the top of the 8th of Game 6 at Wrigley. Prior was cruising, but he gave up a double to Juan Pierre. Then, Luis Castillo hit a foul ball down the left field line, Cubs’ left fielder, Moises Alou, jumped to catch the ball on the edge of the wall and Steve Bartman, a Cubs fan reached out and knocked the ball out of Alou’s grasp for the out breathing life into the Marlins. The nearby fans went nuts. Alou was pissed. The Cubs then completely imploded and gave up 8 runs in the inning and would lose 8-3. The Cubs folded in Game 7, too, and the World Series drought continued. The Cubs also made the playoffs in 2007 and 2008, but were eliminated in the 1st round each time.
Breakthroughs
The Sox finally had a magical season. In 2005, led by manager and former Sox player, Ozzie Guillen, ran the table behind stellar pitching and timely hitting to win their first World Series since 1917. The parade was huge, and the Cubs-Sox rivalry was let go for a while. I did have several Cubs’ fan friends that were actively rooting against the Sox, but I think everyone was happy to see a title come to Chicago for baseball in almost 90 years. Plus, us Sox fans had something over our Cubs’ fan buddies forever.
The Cubs made a huge move in October 2011 in hiring GM Theo Epstein. Epstein ended the Boston Red Sox Curse of the Bambino bringing World Series titles in 2004 and 2007. If anyone could do it, Theo could. And he did. Epstein stripped the team down to the studs. He rebuilt the farm system and converted deft trades and draft picks into a power house. In 2015, the Cubs went to the NLDS for the 1st time since 2003, losing to the Mets. However in 2016, the Cubs would not be denied. They took on the Cleveland Indians in a great World Series that came down to Game 7 in Cleveland, and even though the ghost of Bartman was there as the Cubs blew a lead late in the game, the Cubs won their 1st title since 1908 breaking the Billy Goat Curse.
Crosstown Classic
As I wrote, the Windy City Classic started in 1985. It was a simple one game charity game between the teams. The Sox killed them. Then, Major League Baseball had the idea to have the American League and National League teams play every year in what is called Inter-League play. Why was this big? Besides the World Series and the All Star Game, the 2 leagues did not play each other at all. If the Cubs and Sox did not do the Windy City Classic, then the 2 teams would literally never play. In fact, the Cubs and Sox hadn’t played since the World Series in 1906 (yes, the White Sox won that one). So, it was new and exciting for the whole league. Teams like the Yankees and Mets in New York could play regularly. Same with the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s (probably a lot closer to the Cubs-Sox rivalry). This allowed the Cubs and Sox to play every year since 1997, and the name changed to the Crosstown Classic.
The White Sox still lead the series 58-54. The first 2 years, the teams only played 3 times a year, then for 14 years they played 2 full series together – 3 games at Wrigley and 3 games at US Cellular/GSpot/Comiskey. The last 5 years they have only played 2 games at each park. Now, they are back to 6 games again.
Today (May 11th-13th), is the 1st of 3 games at Wrigley all games at 1:20 PM Central. The Sox host the Cubs in September (21st-23rd).
Regardless of how the teams are doing, the series is very competitive. This year the Sox are pretty awful as they go through a full rebuild. The Cubs are the darlings of Chicago now that they won their championship, so the Wrigley games should be a good time.
Great Moments in the Classic
The White Sox had a good team in the mid-2000s. The Sox won their World Series in 2005 to break their drought (the 2nd longest). In 2006, that same team was really good again. The Cubs had a lot of characters and had a good team, too. It was May 20, 2006 at US Cellular. The Cubs-Sox rivalry was solid with these 2 good teams. In the 2nd inning, the hot headed Sox catcher, AJ Pierzynski went home on a sacrifice fly. The throw had AJ dead to rights at the plate, and AJ lowered his shoulder on the Cubs’ catcher, Michael Barrett. The ball came lose, and AJ scored much to the excitement of the White Sox faithful. Of course, AJ hit the plate with authority, he was such a jerk, but we loved him as Sox fans. Barrett got in AJ’s way on his way to the dugout and Barrett punched AJ in the mouth. The benches cleared and it was pandemonium. The Sox ended up hitting a grand slam after the action and won the game easily 7-0. I remember another game when the Cubs’ Carlos Zambrano got in AJ’s face, too. Those were good moments.
Local Flavor
If you are able to get near the ball parks during these series, you will see your fair share of crazy t-shirts. There are plenty of Cubs Suck shirts. Some non-family friendly images of Cubs doing unsavory acts will be for sale near Sox Park. The Cubs retaliate with their own versions of the shirts, Sox Suck or other non-complimentary words. My general take is that the Cubs do not care as much about the Sox, as the Sox do about the Cubs. The Sox will always be 2nd fiddle in this town, and now that the Cubs have broken through to win a title, Sox fans have to do what they can to make themselves feel better. Yet, the Sox still own this series. It’s up to the Cubs to flip the script.
So, no matter if you root for the Cubs or Sox, it doesn’t matter. The Cubs can win another World Series this year, but it don’t mean a thing if they can’t beat the Sox in the Classic this year. The Cubs have only won the season series 5 times while the Sox have won 10 times since 1997.
Let’s get ready to Rumble!!
Wegs