White Sox Series
So the White Sox are in. I've been busy (deadline for IRS extensions--don't ask), so I haven't had a chance to make note of it here. I spent 45 minutes earlier today clicking on Ticketmaster to see if I could come up with some World Series tickets (of the dozen or so that are still available after those with various ins get their dibs out of the way), but it was not to be.
The Sox ended up with the best record in the American League and the second best in baseball. They got their four AL championship victories on complete games from their starting pitchers (when's the last time that happened?). And they're still considered underdogs to some extent. I just don't get where the common wisdom comes from sometimes.
The Cards sure pulled a win out of nowhere last night. I saw some of the game but not the very end, so I got up this morning assuming that the Astros were set for the Series. A White Sox/Cards match up would be interesting, not least for what it might drive Cubs fans to do. There's a major split in Chicago that manifests itself in various ways, but one of the most noticeable is between Cubs fans and Sox fans. Fans of one invariably hate the other team. What with the other matter I mentioned above, I've been somewhat cloistered over the last couple of days, but it doesn't seem to me that there's a huge rush of excitement over the north side of the city. The White Sox are the south side team, so I'm sure it's much more electric down there, and the north might even warm up to the idea, as we're still several days from Game 1. The Cards are in the Cubs' division and are probably their main rivals in the National League. If they rally and win the NL pennant (for those who haven't been following, they're down 3-2--they need to win the next two in St. Louis to advance, but the Astros only need to win one more), it seems like an absolute worst-case scenario for Cubs fans. What will they do? Ignore the World Series on the other side of town and pretend that nothing's happening? Be good sports and cheer on the home team? Support the National League over whoever that American League team might be? I'm curious to find out.
posted by Doug @ 2:30 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Some Cubs fans are probably considering suicide the best option.
I notice you haven't mentioned it yet.
I suppose the intensity of this kind of intercity rivalry isn't that unusual, if you go back to look at Dodgers/Yankees and Dodgers/Giants, among others. What is unusual these days is to have two teams in one city. The Yankees and the Mets are the only other baseball instance (and yes, I'm intentionally ignoring the Various Municipalities in Southern California Angels). I'm not sure that even New York counts in football any more, as two teams have the city's (or is it the state's?) name but nobody actually plays there anymore. What's your insight into the particular ferocity of this rivalry for all us non-native Chicagoans, Stu?
I can't speak for all Cubs fans (not being one), but at least two I know are pulling for the Cardinals. One said that the prospect of a Sox/Astros series was the worst-case (it's a Texas thing...). The other's my mom. She roots for the NL over the AL, regardless. Maybe not the Mets, though - I don't think that's just me, I think that came from somewhere else.
Me, I'm a Cardinals fan. I'm rooting and hoping, but it's a tough go against both Oswalt and Clemens. They've done it during the season, but in the playoffs the Cards seem to get this weird "double-clutch, oh, shit!" hesitancy. That starts at the top with LaRussa and his over-reliance on only a handful during the playoffs, with the others sitting in the corner wearing pointy hats. Pujols' big blast helped soothe the frustration of watching them fumble around - it took an edge off the Astros' smug. I can stomach an NLCS loss now.
It'd be great to have a Sox/Cards series, though.
Jim, with various screen names you've used that incorporate the word cubby, I had you pegged as a Cub supporter for sure. Why are the Astros worse for Cubs fans? Same division, but we don't have the proximity to Houston that we do to St. Louis. Of course, if it amounts to nothing more than a Texan thing, I'm completely down with that. I have no problem rooting against Houston strictly on principle.
"Cubby" comes from the Mousketeer, Carl "Cubby" O'Brien. It was an appellation hung on me in my collegiate days. But you aren't the only one to make that assumption.
It could just be that I know odd Cub fans.
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