Face it: Chicago now a White Sox town

[Pierzynski 12]

It was just about two months ago when I made the argument that a World Series title by the White Sox would allow them to take over the city from the Cubs.

 

Well, it's happening, and little did I know that the Cubs would barely put up a fight.

 

The truth is, it's time to start freaking out if you're a Cubs fan and worried about maintaining some level of dignity in the city baseball wars.

 

It's mid-December, the winter baseball meetings are over, and many of the top free agents have been claimed. The Cubs were jilted by their preferred shortstop and have no rightfielder. Kerry Wood has a surgically repaired right shoulder to go with a surgically repaired right elbow, and the White Sox are noticeably better and richer than they were last season.

 

Now there's another problem I hadn't counted on. The Wrigley bleachers have been destroyed.

 

No matter how many fan-friendly "knotholes" they carve out of the bleacher wall to let bystanders peer in, the bleachers as we know them are gone forever.

 

My irritation is partly because my 18-month-old son will never be able to sit in the bleachers as I knew them, which is purely selfish. But it's not just that. It's that this is the culmination of two decades of changes to the bleachers, all done out of greed.

 

Day-of-game bleacher ticket sales were ended in 1985, ticket prices for the seats have soared from around $5 in the mid-'80s Sox town to a high of $40 next season, and now nearly 2,000 more seats will be added to the reconstructed bleachers.

 

Hey, maybe greed is good. Maybe greed will win the Cubs a World Series. But the way things look, it won't come next year. I hate to write off 2006 so soon, but the Cubs were mediocre when last year ended, and except for getting a leadoff man and a couple of setup men, nothing has changed.

 

Except that the bleachers have been torn down. It's going to be shocking to see when the construction is complete and one of the most recognizable parts of the city landscape, perhaps even more so than Wrigley Field itself, has been replaced.

 

What is going up now may look like a larger version of the old bleachers, but it's also bound to have that contrived retro look that baseball turned to about 15 years ago.

 

The Cubs would give out no information about the bleacher project when I called Wednesday, but according to a recent Tribune story, there will be at least one fundamental change. The playing field won't be visible from the new SRO area. The aisle that runs around the bleachers will be lower than the last row of the bleachers.

 

The excitement of the SRO at Chicago Stadium disappeared when it was replaced by the drab experience at the United Center, and now the same thing may be happening at Wrigley Field. It just won't be the same if bleacher bums are forced underground and have to miss the game when they want to stretch their legs and have a beer.

 

Of course, there will be a place in Chicago where baseball fans can roam around behind the bleachers, talk, drink beer and still watch the most successful team in town. But for now, and perhaps for years to come, that place will be on the South Side.

 

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...cs-home-utility

Edited December 15, 2005 by Pierzynski 12

[nitetrain8601]

I love it.

[kevin57]

I would like to believe this is a White Sox town, but certainly not yet, I'd say.

 

The Sox made some blunders in their marketing so that many, many 30-40 year olds (yes, that key demographic) barely relate to the Sox as a Chicago team, let alone cheer for them.

 

As has been said, this used to be a Sox town. It can again be one. But it will take time to rebuild it as so.

 

What is not noted in this article is if the Trib dumps the Cubs because of their financial problems (anyone see how the Braves are being dumped by their conglomerate?), how much that will change the "Cub town" dynamic.

[Reddy]

I would like to believe this is a White Sox town, but certainly not yet, I'd say. 

 

The Sox made some blunders in their marketing so that many, many 30-40 year olds (yes, that key demographic) barely relate to the Sox as a Chicago team, let alone cheer for them.

 

As has been said, this used to be a Sox town.  It can again be one.  But it will take time to rebuild it as so.

 

What is not noted in this article is if the Trib dumps the Cubs because of their financial problems (anyone see how the Braves are being dumped by their conglomerate?), how much that will change the "Cub town" dynamic.

 

i'd actually beg to differ.

 

at this PARTICULAR point in time I'd say it is a white sox town. If the media talks about chicago - it's not about the cubs. and cubs fans that i know have been rather quiet about it lately... i dont know. i think next year will be a defining factor in whether it stays like this, but i dont really know if i see it changing any time soon.

[NorthSideSox72]

In the short run, our increase in attendance and general fan base won't likely effect the Cubs. These new Sox fans aren't people who go to Wrigley for every game - these are people who weren't going to games much at all before, or cared much one way or the other. Fan bases are not stolen, they are built.

 

That said, in the long run, the more the Sox do to win and make the ballpark experience better, and the more the Cubs turn Wrigley into an alcohol-drenched version of the Magic Kingdom for adults (and still lose), the more families and KIDS will grow up Sox fans. Then, as time goes on, the tide shifts.

 

My .02.

[whitesoxfan101]

IMO there are as many White Sox fans as Cubs fans in terms of raw numbers, but the Cubs will draw more fans for 2 reasons.

 

1. For the most part, their fans simply have more money. That's not to say our fans are poor, but Cubs fans usually are quite wealthy by what I've seen.

 

2. The Cubs play in a damn amusement park, and if they want to continue playing in that hellhole to draw fans, fine....just keep losing!

[nitetrain8601]

IMO there are as many White Sox fans as Cubs fans in terms of raw numbers, but the Cubs will draw more fans for 2 reasons.

 

1. For the most part, their fans simply have more money.  That's not to say our fans are poor, but Cubs fans usually are quite wealthy by what I've seen.

 

2. The Cubs play in a damn amusement park, and if they want to continue playing in that hellhole to draw fans, fine....just keep losing!

 

Bingo.

[whitesoxfan101]

Another point I forgot. Outside of Chicago/NW Indiana....there aren't a lot of Sox fans nationwide, as opposed to the Cubs who have fans ALL OVER THE PLACE. So overall, the Cubs probably have more fans....but in this area it's pretty even and we may even have a slight advantage.

[RME JICO]

People don't go to Wrigley to watch baseball!

[Rex Kickass]

The White Sox will become America's team when they keep winning. It's dynasties that usually give you a nationwide following.

[NorthSideSox72]

Another point I forgot.  Outside of Chicago/NW Indiana....there aren't a lot of Sox fans nationwide, as opposed to the Cubs who have fans ALL OVER THE PLACE.  So overall, the Cubs probably have more fans....but in this area it's pretty even and we may even have a slight advantage.

 

This is, in great part, because the period of time from the late 70's until very recently - WGN. The Cubs had the benefit of a nationally-televised network, and the Sox did not (not one of Reinsdorff's best monents). The Braves benefited similarly with TBS.

 

Thing is, that factor is not such a big thing now. The Sox share WGN with the Cubs. Plus with the various cable and satellite TV sports options nowadays, the viewer outside Chicago doesn't get such a single-team picture. Therefore, I think any advantage from this effect is doing to dwindle over time.

[Pierzynski 12]

Cubs can have more fans and their attendance trophy, but we have a WS trophy.

[LDF]

for the old time posters on this board, we been mentioning this for the longest of time.

 

if kw build the team and it wins the series, keep the team in contention, we will take over.

 

1 yr does not make for me, but it is a great start for city domination, now for the hawks, bears and bulls to follow.

[bulokis]

Cubs can have more fans and their attendance trophy, but we have a WS trophy.

 

Well said! No matter what the Cubs have, they will forever live to the fact we won the World Series first.

[White Sox Josh]

Jimmy Greenfield keeps churning out outstanding work. Great guy. Have had him on our radio show 3 or 4 times now.

[Steve Bartman's my idol]

More proof of increasing Sox popularity...yesterday I tried to order seasons tix, waited on hold for 20 minutes before I finally gave up!

[jenksd]

A friend of mine that worked as a beer vendor at Wrigley said that about 70% of the people there were from the suburbs or out of the state entirely. (before you ask how he'd know, he carded people and would read where they're from)

[greg775]

It's a White Sox town in terms of people who know baseball talking baseball.

Our team won a gazillion games and completed the deal, winning it all.

Our team is the one making all the notable offseason moves.

 

It's a Cubs town in terms of the Cubs filling the park every day with vacationers and sight seers.

Our team is the baseball team right now. We've dominated the news since May when it was obvious we were damn good, through the near collapse, through the postseason magic.

GO SOX!

 

The cubs however will always be the sideshow, out of state fans needing to go to Wrigley, etc.

[Jordan4life_2007]

We've got the trophy. I could care less who's town it is. But, yes, the pendulum is heavily swinging towards the Sox.

[SnB]

As soon as the cubs get respectable again, it will be a cubs town again.

 

 

And yet, i couldn't care less.

[the People's Champ]

I like Chicago better as a Cub town. Less Sox fans means better chance I can get a seat whenever I want to.

[Rowand44]

As soon as the cubs get respectable again, it will be a cubs town again.

And yet, i couldn't care less.

If the Sox keep winning I wouldn't be so sure about that. It's been a sox town before and it could certainly be one again.

[Rowand44]

I like Chicago better as a Cub town.  Less Sox fans means better chance I can get a seat whenever I want to.

Less fans=less money=no jim thome or javy vazquez this year.

[YASNY]

I wish I could locate a post I made about 2 years ago. I said that the pendulum was beginning to swing back to the middle and the TribCo would help push it along. This WSC has just accelerated the process.

[KevHead0881]

Its nice that we're getting more recognition and probably more fans, but I don't care much who's town it is. Didn't care before we won the World Series...didn't care after. I always left it to Cubs fans to worry about s*** like that.