Springtime in Chicago = Baseball!
For baseball fans, March is an exciting month. Spring training is underway and the regular season looms on the horizon. In some cities, baseball is life, particularly when it comes to rivalries. The feud between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees dates back over 100 years as they battle it out in the American League each season.
At least, though, they have 200 miles between them. That’s not the case in Chicago, where only 10 miles separate Wrigley Field and U.S. Cellular Field (formerly Comiskey Park). So fierce is the rivalry between Chicago’s two hometown teams – the Cubs and the White Sox – it is known by monikers such as the Crosstown Classic and The Windy City Showdown.
To be sure, loyalties in Chicago run deep. Respective fans are dubbed “North Siders” and “South Siders” to distinguish them. On the North Side of town (and in the National League), are the Cubs; to the South (and in the American League), the White Sox.
Much like the Red Sox/Yankees kerfuffle, the Cubs/White Sox match-up dates back to 1900 when Charles Comiskey brought his Saint Paul Saints from the minor league up to Chicago. After threats of a lawsuit from the Cubs owner, it was determined that the new team could set up shop below 35th Street, but couldn’t use Chicago in their name.
And, so, the White Stockings were born, a tag actually used by the Cubs from 1876 to 1889. With that settled, the two teams faced off in the 1906 World Series. The Cubs, who had been strongly favored, lost in six games to “The Hitless Wonders” as the White Sox were known thanks to their formidable pitching staff.
These days, the teams play each other six times a year. In terms of their ongoing regular season meetings tally, the Sox are also up 41–37.
Another point of contention between the dueling factions is their stadiums. Though the White Sox lost the sentimental value and personality of their beloved Comiskey Park when they moved into the new U.S. Cellular field, they gained an updated, contemporary facility. Meanwhile, the Cubs still hang out at legendary Wrigley Field. Spurring things on, Sox manager Ozzie Guillén once said of Wrigley, “But one thing about Wrigley Field, I puke every time I go there”
As with most embattled sports franchises, talk of curses shadow both teams.For the Cubs, the tales date back to the 1945 World Series in which they had a two games to one lead over the Detroit Tigers. On October 6, 1945, loyal Cubs fan and local bar owner Billy Sianis was not allowed to take his seat because he had his pet billy goat in tow. The story goes that Sianis put a curse on the Cubs preventing them from ever again winning a World Series. Because they have yet to be victorious, the Cubs do, on occasion, bring goats to the stadium as a mock apology/promotion.
Others site the curse of Johnny Evers and the 1908 World Series as the source of all things troublesome for the Cubs from the Hack Wilson missed fly ball to Babe Ruth’s called shot and more.
On the other side of the fence, fans of the White Sox point directly to the 1919 World Series when eight players conspired to puposely lose the series. They were banned from baseball the following year leaving behind the Black Sox nickname. While more a scandal than a curse, the Sox have still had a hard time overcoming the cloud of the incident.