Champ from Chicago would delight Selig

[greasywheels121]

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...tesox-headlines

 

Champ from Chicago would delight Selig

By Dave van Dyck

Special to the Tribune

 

Now that baseball has rid itself of the so-called Curse of the Bambino, isn't there something that can be done for the long-suffering teams in Chicago?

 

Because neither the Cubs nor White Sox appear capable of helping themselves, isn't there some kind of legislation that could be passed, some sort of official curse-lifting that could be conducted, some sort of edict from the highest offices of Major League Baseball that could bring our teams relief from the burden of infamy they carry?

 

"I, obviously, have to be a little careful here," Commissioner Bud Selig said, noting he also rules over 28 other teams, "but if I thought I could do something to help, I would do it in a minute."

 

How about the easily invoked "best interests of baseball" powers that Selig has?

 

"The commissioner has a lot of power but I don't think it includes that," Selig said by telephone from his Milwaukee office. "But it's not because I don't want to. I can assure you I do."

 

Yes, it has reached the point where even the commissioner is pulling for the Cubs and White Sox, so you know the situation has become dire. You might think Selig was kidding, but he is serious. The Cubs and Sox are run by two of his favorite people, Andy MacPhail and Jerry Reinsdorf, and he always has had a soft spot for Chicago, having spent his entire life only 90 miles to the north.

 

Plus, any team that wins that hasn't won in nearly 100 years is good for baseball business, as Boston is proving. We all know by now that the Cubs haven't won a World Series since 1908 and the White Sox since 1917. Before Boston overcame its curse, it had waited the next longest length of time, since 1918. But with the Red Sox erasing their loser status, a sense of urgency has been created in Chicago. The next-longest suffering team in the American League is Cleveland (1948) and in the National League the Giants (1954) when they were still in New York.

 

Selig has watched the Braves win a World Series in Milwaukee (1957) and has watched the Brewers, which he owned at the time, reach the World Series in 1982, much more recently than either Chicago team.

 

"Chicago is such a great baseball town," he said. "There's no question having a Chicago team in the playoffs, or both of them, would be [great] for baseball, just like Boston."

 

Ah, Boston. MLB is watching the windfall from the Red Sox winning the World Series, from a rise in TV ratings to increased worldwide interest in the sport to larger revenues from merchandise. Think what it would be if the Cubs ever won. The White Sox also would create a bonanza, although smaller.

 

Of course, the Red Sox made their magic via the wild card, a Selig proposal from 1993 that met with stiff opposition from other owners (including Texas' George W. Bush) and media.

 

But look what has happened: In the last three years, baseball's World Series champions all have been second-place teams: Anaheim, Florida, Boston. Granted, the Red Sox won more regular-season games than anyone except the Yankees and Cardinals, but having runners-up as champions?

 

"I think it's great for baseball," Selig said. "It couldn't be better. We have clubs that deserve to be there. The Red Sox won 98 games this year. We have the purest of all [pro sports] systems. I do think it's great the last three [champions have been wild cards]. I think it's great for baseball and so do our fans.

 

"This has been an unbelievable year and I'm proud. When you think back to all the abuse we took over having three divisions in each league and having the wild card, where would we be without the wild card?"

 

If you were in Chicago, you still would be without a championship. Remember, the Cubs made the playoffs in 1998—as a wild-card team.

[DonkeyKongerko]

I think whether we like it or not, our Sox are now filling the shoes of the Carmines in the AL.