My humble take on the Sox and Cubs and the playoffs

[thedoctor]

So here we are Chicago fans. After a century of waiting we have the White Sox and the Cubs in the baseball playoffs. At the same time. Who knew?

 

I'm not sure if this should make me happy, sad, or just perplexed. Odds would seemingly dictate that this should have happened sooner. Of course, as Chicagoans we understand that sensical odds means little in assessing the historical standing of The City That Works' favorite baseball teams.

 

The White Sox have largely been Major League Baseball's red-headed stepchild for the better part of their existence. Not as cool as their counterparts to the north and not consistently successful enough to define themselves as a winner. Until winning the Series in 2005 they operated largely under the veil of anonymity. You could probably have lumped them among any number of non-descript sports teams that play games but attract little attention. Think the NFL's Bengals, the NBA's Hawks, or the National League's Padres. These are teams that largely draw a collective yawn, if not total slumber.

 

What the Cubs have pulled off during their history is pretty amazing from a marketing perspective. They made losing cool and cute. Driven by a WGN-produced national fanbase and a few notable images (Banks, and Sandberg, and Grace, oh my!) the Cubs' popularity has remained largely unaffected by their losing ways. Fans kept coming and the nostalgic taste of Cubdom would never leave the mouths of the masses. It is an amazing thing. Really it is. In an era of accountability, this team has managed to pin its failures on a goat. That's pretty good.

 

Of course, much of this has changed over the course of the past few years. Both teams have become both relevant and, well, pretty damn good. The Cubs have strung together some decent talent and management and are finally putting their revenue riches to use. And the Sox got a definition. No longer are they baseball's milquetoast patsy. Ozzie Guillen, Kenny Williams, and a World Series win changed all that. They are not nearly as beloved as the Cubs, but they've at least proven an ability to handle their organization with a semblence of competency and zest.

 

So it probably was only a matter of time and odds that they'd both end up here, together, in baseball's postseason. Still, the difference between the teams is apparent in the media coverage and national reaction to the teams. The White Sox are not real popular, mainly because the national audience thinks their manager is an asshole. The Cubs, on the other hand, have set off a national orgy of Cublove that's been something to behold. Many a writer has waxed rhapsodic about the end the 100-year curse and all the joy that will come along with it. To those who love the Cubs, this year has been the culimination of a lifetime of waiting for something, anything, good. To those who don't, it's borderline worse than the Red Sox circle jerk we saw in 2004.

 

But you can't argue with the Cubs’ abilities this year. They are the favorites heading into the playoffs not because they're cute, but because they're damn good. Their hitters have pounded about everything in their way, but they take a backseat to this team's great pitching. Ryan Dempster's been a revelation. Ted Lilly is steady and solid. Rich Harden is as brittle as a communion wafer, but he hasn't broke yet. Strangely, only Carlos Zambrano is of concern heading into the playoffs. Over the past month the only consistent thing he's done is put some brutal ass-kickings on a few water coolers. Other than that, you don't know what you have. Is he hurt? Or dominant? Or pissed? Well, we know he's pissed.

 

As for the Sox, it goes without saying that this year has been a surprise. They were largely picked as the third or fourth best team in the division and seemed fast-tracked on their way back to irrelevancy. But the emergence of a few Kenny Williams finds (most notably Carlos Quentin, Alexei Ramirez, Gavin Floyd, and John Danks) has made the team better than we all thought they'd be. Now the challenge is to play foil to the Cubs projected success and actually win in the postseason. I don't see it happening. The Sox offense is inconsistent and you never know if they'll score 10 runs or 1. You have to look to the pitching to carry the load, but Buehrle, Danks, and Floyd have worked damn hard over the past month, and Javier Vazquez is a mental midget. I can see these guys gassing as the finish line approaches. Plus they're playing the Rays, who are like the pesky Twins, but better.

 

But I suppose if I learned anything in 2005, it's that strange things happen in the playoffs. Some guys emerge, others regress, and by the end of October the picture usually looks much different than it did at the start. And who knows, maybe we get late in the month and we're staring squarely in the face of a White Sox-Cubs World Series. That would no doubt be something to see. Let's just hope we don't have to wait another 100 years before we have a chance to see it again.