35thstreetswarm

Perhaps he, like me, has the ability to alter the team's performance based on which hat he chooses to wear, which room he chooses to watch the game from, etc. It's a lot of pressure in its own right.

Interesting, having been there in '21 (but not this time.) In some ways you might expect there to have been more support back then, given that it was an easy division winner and a team people considered more "solid" and expected. But on the other hand it's the out-of-nowhere aspect of this team that makes it so appealing.

Yeah, I just had a "f***-it" moment and booked my trip to Cleveland tonight. Hope to see some of you there. I'll be the drunk one in Sox gear

I don't think that's bandwagon-y. You can be a Sox fan and not fill Jerry's pockets by packing the Rate during 100-loss seasons. Sox fans reward the team with their attendance when they're good, and stay away when they're bad, and I've always respected that about our fanbase. I know tons of hard core Sox fans who are among those who returned to the Rate this Summer. I myself am a certified, lifelong White Sox sicko who went from season ticket-holder in 2022 to boycotting the Rate for a couple of years, to coming back strong in 2026. I too welcome new fans. I have more complicated thoughts about the casual, condescending Cub fan pseudo-support that materializes during Sox playoff runs.

Sucks. Night playoff game at the Rate in 2021 was electric. We’ll get none.

It would be cool to live in a world where it's easy and free to watch games, rather than one where people compete to match their skill in scrambling to navigate the ridiculous barriers extractive streaming services place in front of consumers' ability to cheer on their local team.

I fear that Martin succeeding and overcoming odds may no longer be the Lord's plan; if the pope is on here, any insight?

I have to laugh at all these cut/pasted percentage figures all season long that just give the conventional wisdom of the masses the illusion of hard, objective data. Conventional wisdom is that conventional wisdom is conventional---but put a decimal point in there somewhere

...not to mention we won the head-to-head season series. Maybe that gets a mention when we are going into, you know, a head-to-head series?

...In other news, F the Cubs. Relatedly, I know this place is home to a small sub-contingent of fans who have managed to maintain a sour mood-level as their baseline throughout one of the most out-of-nowhere, blissful, and odds-defying sports seasons in my lifetime -- a feat of negativity many would consider impossible. I'd love to deploy this elite strike force of uber-haters to assess the team to our immediate north. How pissed would you be if you were a Cub fan? If, instead of being in like year -1 of a rebuild with a bottom of the barrel payroll and a bunch of baby players, your team was your star-studded finished product? With its big-name manager, big-name free agent signings, and high payroll...and still couldn't get past the first round? Or compete for a mere division past June EVER? Would you call for players to be arrested? Executed? Help me - unleash your powers for good.

the truce is off and I’m here for it

…only if he has 8 grandparents 😆

Where’s that thread where one poster continues to try and argue we lost the Crochet trade…

So was I. Not relevant to the post I was responding to, though, which said they won game 1, which they did not.

Sox lost game 1 in 2021 I was there

Not to mention 2021

What a nightmare start for the cubs 😆

Thank you for staying on topic and following through on a single, discrete, coherent point. You’re doing god’s work and are appreciated.

Women weaken legs

Genuine question: how the hell do I watch these games? Edit: I guess I do get NBCSN. Didn't even know I had it. This is indeed ridiculous, though.

No openers, please. Lots of relievers have struggled in that role. It's not working. Sandlin or Fedde.

I like it. Last four series of the year against a team from Houston, a late-surging Cleveland squad, Boston, and a team from LA. (Just a slightly different order)!

Excellent question - is this from an actual source or more copy/pasted AI slop?

Yes -- let's be the travesty that forces baseball to change its playoff format!

We do have the better team now. Hope that translates into actual wins, but it's a better feeling than 2021. I went to Houston for those games, but had the gnawing knowledge in the back of my mind the whole time that they outclassed us in every aspect of the game.