Sox/Cubs series

[southsider2k5]

Scott Merkin ‏@scottmerkin 16m

 

(At U.S. Cellular) Mon: Samardzija vs. Quintana, Tues: Jackson vs. Sale (At Wrigley) Wed: Danks vs. Feldman, Thurs: Peavy vs. Wood

[Chicago White Sox]

f*** a Cub. I want all 4 games.

[LittleHurt05]

Remember when these series were the hottest ticket in the town and people actually cared about them? I doubt I even send one s***-talking text to my Cubs fan friends next week.

[justBLAZE]

Remember when these series were the hottest ticket in the town and people actually cared about them? I doubt I even send one s***-talking text to my Cubs fan friends next week.

 

And let me tell you I have tickets sitting on stubhub under face value, I will have to give them away probably..

[greg775]

Will the games draw over 30,000?

[Paint it Black]

I'm going with the girlfriend and her parents on Monday. I could give two craps.

 

Frankly, these series were cool before 2005. For me, after you win a title these petty city series are stupid.

[Marty34]

Series is fun when it's on the weekend. Just another series otherwise.

[TaylorStSox]

Remember when these series were the hottest ticket in the town and people actually cared about them? I doubt I even send one s***-talking text to my Cubs fan friends next week.

Interleague play has become stale.

[Chicago White Sox]

Series is fun when it's on the weekend. Just another series otherwise.

Yeah, they really f***ed it up this year. Night game at the Cell on Memorial Day and then Wednedsy & Thursday day games at Wrigley. It's no longer about the fans but trying to sell out some weekday games.

 

I live a block away from Wrigley and typically have a big pre-game BBQ before one of the games at Wrigley. Not only will I not being doing that this year, but I'll have to watch both games on DVR. Weekday day games really suck.

[flavum]

Interleague play has become stale.

 

Playing the same four teams 18-19 games a year is stale too.

 

I'd much rather see no divisions, a balanced league schedule, and less interleague--maybe 12 games.

 

As far as playing the Cubs, it's good for the Sox -- a couple more nights in their own beds and one less flight.

Edited May 25, 2013 by flavum

[flavum]

All time, the Sox are 49-41.

 

26-19 at the Cell

23-22 at Wrigley

[lord chas]

Every year I lose more and more interest in this series. Is the BP Cup still around?

[IlliniKrush]

Remember when these series were the hottest ticket in the town and people actually cared about them? I doubt I even send one s***-talking text to my Cubs fan friends next week.

I used to go to 4-6 of them each year with friends on both sides. Tailgated, etc. 2005 ended that.

 

Every year I lose more and more interest in this series. Is the BP Cup still around?

f*** YEAH IT IS

[southsider2k5]

@HitAndRun670 @MattSpiegel670 Including Miami, #WhiteSox are playing 5 current last place teams over the next month.

[Brian]

Feldman? From across the hall?

 

[greg775]

Playing the same four teams 18-19 games a year is stale too.

 

I'd much rather see no divisions, a balanced league schedule, and less interleague--maybe 12 games.

 

As far as playing the Cubs, it's good for the Sox -- a couple more nights in their own beds and one less flight.

 

Wasn't that done so Boston and the Yankees could play 18 times? Sox-Cubs should still be the biggest crowds of the year in the Cell, right? So it's good for something.

[caulfield12]

Wasn't that done so Boston and the Yankees could play 18 times? Sox-Cubs should still be the biggest crowds of the year in the Cell, right? So it's good for something.

 

 

After Opening Day, yes.

 

This year might be an exception, if the White Sox can get really hot in June, they might top the Cubs' series at some point over the rest of the summer...

 

I would guess...it might be the Tigers.

[flavum]

Cubs going to extras. Hope they go 14.

[Soxfest]

Cubs going to extras. Hope they go 14.

How about 18?

[caulfield12]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/team-report-c...04224--mlb.html

 

Cubs have some positive momentum on the heels of yesterday's victory.

 

This is where the quote "The only momentum that exists in baseball is tomorrow's starting pitcher."

Although you might want to tell that to the Angels, Mariners or Royals.

 

 

from yahoo.com

COMMENTARY | The last game the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs played that was worth more than 0.6 percent of the regular season was in 1906. It was played at a place called South Side Park. 19,249 people were there, and they're all dead.

The Wright brothers were still trying to convince the government of airplane practicality.

 

The Chicago Transit Authority's Red Line, which connects the two current Chicago ballparks and is often referenced when the two teams play--the Red Line Series--was six years old and didn't venture south of the Loop.

 

The pitchers of record were named Doc and Mordecai, and one of them had three fingers.

 

When the Sox host the Cubs tomorrow, the teams will be renewing something. Interleague play. Not a rivalry.

 

It could be the least-watched game between the two since interleague play started in 1997. Why? For one, baseball enthusiasm isn't exactly at an all-time high in Chicago. But more importantly, there's a rivalry to watch. The Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings drop the puck for Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals an hour after the baseball game begins.

 

The fact that players from both teams get to sleep in their own beds is a matter of convenience, not distinguished athletic competition.

 

Geographically fabricated sports rivalries are for people who know little about sports and need a reason to watch, and Major League Baseball was smart enough to begin taking full advantage of that in 1997. That's exactly what the Sox-Cubs series is--a mess of forced enthusiasm on often-mediocre baseball teams and beaten-to-death insults about Sox fans being poor and Cubs fans being drunk coming from Cubs fans who are likely poor and Sox fans who are likely drunk.

 

Rivals are teams that play important games against each other, not teams that fill out similar tax forms. If they fill out similar tax forms, all the better, but athletic relevance is not an unessential part of the formula.

 

The only shared memory anyone has from the last 15 years of Cubs-Sox interleague play is more of a criminal act than an act of baseball--former Cubs catcher Michael Barrett popping former Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski in the jaw. No one remembers if Pierzynski scored. No one remembers who won.

 

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are rivals because everyone remembers who won when Curt Schilling bled all over himself, not because blood was drawn.

 

The Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche were rivals because they were the two best teams in the NHL's Western Conference for a prolonged stretch of time, not because Patrick Roy once pretended like he beat the sense out of Chris Osgood in that sweet goalie fight.

 

There has to be an important athletic element for teams to be rivals. There has to be something happening in the game to make Cubs play-by-play announcer Len Kasper stop talking about American Idol and Sox play-by-play announcer Ken Harrelson start putting it on the board, yes.

 

These teams don't play in the same division. They don't play in the same league. They never play in the heat of a late-September playoff push. A win is worth the same as any other regular-season win, but a Sox loss does nothing to help the Cubs. A Cubs loss does nothing to help the Sox. And because of that, these games are actually worth less than any game each team plays against any of the teams in their respective leagues.

 

That doesn't mean they shouldn't play or people shouldn't pay attention. It makes perfect sense for these teams to play--from a business standpoint and an entertainment standpoint. Whenever a league can pack a stadium or arena with a large number of fans from both teams, a different environment is created. It's unique. But that's it. A unique day at U.S. Cellular Field. Not illustrious, heightened athletic opposition.

 

So enjoy it all you want. Call each other what you want--anything but rivals.

Kevin Chroust has covered baseball and various other sports since graduating from Colorado State in 2005. He has been following Chicago baseball since age six when Mark Grace hit .647 in the NLCS against the San Francisco Giants. His travel writing will appear in The Best American Travel Writing 2013. You can follow Kevin on Twitter @kevinchroust.

Edited May 27, 2013 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/colum...,3598335.column

 

Comparing Sox and Cubs' minor league prospects.

 

Didn't know that Micah Johnson beat Greg Oden in a one-on-one basketball match-up. Pretty impressive for a guy his size.

 

Mentions the usual guys like Erik Johnson, Hawkins, Trayce Thompson, Phegley, Snodgress, Sanchez and Micah Johnson we've been hearing the most about so far this season.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/cubs-white-so...15498--mlb.html

Series preview, talking about the "weird" change to the 2 and 2 series from previous seasons.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/colum...3.column?page=1

All-City Team.

 

Sale, Peavy, Wood, Feldman (Quintana and Mr. Notre Dame honorable mention)

Castillo, Gimenez back-up

Rizzo

Barney

Ramirez

Valbuena (should have gone with Gillaspie)

Dayan

DeJesus

Rios

Crain, Russell, Reed (Rogers says he should be given a shot at starting...really?)

Cody Ransom (bench/PH/3B)

 

Manager, Ventura over Sveum

Edited May 27, 2013 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

By Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune reporter

7:55 p.m. CDT, May 26, 2013

 

CINCINNATI — The Cubs are marketing the City Series as "Ivy vs. Concrete" in a misguided attempt to paint Wrigley Field as an idyllic ballpark and U.S. Cellular Field as bland.

 

But two Cubs players beg to differ.

 

Jeff Samardzija and Scott Hairston both are excited about Monday's opener at the Cell, where Samardzija will face left-hander Jose Quintana and Hairston is scheduled to be the designated hitter.

 

Both grew up in the Chicago area and have fond memories of going to games on the South Side as kids.

 

Samardzija started attending baseball games at the Cell in 1991, back when it was called New Comiskey Park.

 

"I've logged a lot of hours watching Sox games," he said. "I was a 'Big Hurt' fan, so I always tried to mimic his batting stance and try to go deep at the park. Obviously Bo (Jackson) was there for a while, and I played a bunch of sports, so I was excited about that.

 

"My first game was at the new Comiskey before they tore down the old one. They had Sammy Sosa still. It was so close to my house, right up the Skyway. It's always been a fun series, and I like Sox Park. It's kind of my backyard. My dad and uncles all worked at Bethlehem Steel and U.S. Steel, so that's an area I know very well."

 

 

 

North vs. South. Ivy vs. Concrete. Cubs vs. White Sox The Crosstown Cup will be decided Wednesday and Thursday at Wrigley Field. Tickets for both afternoon games are available. Buy tickets now »

 

At least the Cubs "Committed" campaign or "Ivy vs. Concrete" is more imaginative than "The Will To Win" and "Make An Impact"...gets people's tempers up a bit, so we can at least pretend to engage in the rivalry for those not feeling it

Edited May 27, 2013 by caulfield12

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

What's with the title of the thread ? It's Sox/Cubs not Cubs/Sox.

[LittleHurt05]

Ivy vs. Concrete? Wrigley is where concrete falls on the fans, are they marketing against themselves?

[caulfield12]

Ivy vs. Concrete? Wrigley is where concrete falls on the fans, are they marketing against themselves?

 

 

You should send that one to Boyer/Rongey/Merkin.

 

Comiskey Concrete >> Falling Concrete

 

 

Of course, then you'll build up sympathy for public funding to repair the venerable old ballpark.