It is a truism to say that no self respecting Chicago baseball fan could possibly be a fan of the Cubs and the White Sox.
There is no quesiton that the Cubbies get most of the attention in this town, especially on the tube and in print. To many, the Cubs represent the fashionable, upscale north side where they play, while the Sox represent their working class south side.
Sox fans hate the Cubs.
Then there is Wrigley Field, home of the Cubs, the best place anywhere to watch baseball. Beautiful, intimate, full of tradition, the ballpark is one of the most cherished landmarks in Chicago. I have often contended that you could put chimpanzees in Cub uniforms (some would say this has already happened) and they would still sell out the "friendly confines".
Small wonder that Sox fans feel like second class citizens in their home town.
As much as the Sox fans hate the Cubs and their fans, it is an un-requited hate. Cubs fans by and large couldn't care less about the Sox. Although they may express mock indignance toward someone showing their support for the south siders, as far as most Cub fans are concerned, the Sox could just as well play on Mars. The exceptions are the few contrarian south side Cub fans who either live in the closet, or out in the open in the face of constant humiliation. North side Sox fans (such as myself), have a much easier time expressing their team loyalty.
In recent years the Cubs fan base has expanded to include transplanted young professionals without much sense of baseball lore or Chicago history, many of whom live in the trendy "Wrigleyville" neighborhood.
The new fan base has led to a frat party, meet market atmosphere at the old ballpark, which makes it all the more distateful to fans of the south side team.
The worst indignity is the way that the White Sox are ignored by the media. An article in the Chicago Tribune (whose parent company also owns the Cubs), noted that the recent inter-league series between the Cubs and the New York Yankees marked the first time the revered Yankees visited Chicago since the World Series in 1938.
Of course the Yankees and the White Sox are in the same league and the Yanks have played the Sox in Chicago every season since 1900, the year that the two teams were founded.
As far as bragging rights between the two teams, neither team has the upper hand. Combined, their records represent an amazing feat of futility, at least in terms of winning championships.
The White Sox made it to the World Series most recently in 1959, the Cubs in 1945.
The Sox last won the World Series in 1917, the Cubs in 1908.
In the 1906 World Series, the Cubs played the Sox, and the under-dog south siders took the Series four games to two.
The Cubs have appeared in ten Series, the Sox four, including the infamous "Black Sox" Series of 1919 where members of the team were accused of throwing the Series.
Both the Cubs and the White Sox were World Series Champions twice in their long histories.
Not to be discouraged, fans on both sides of town pay heed to the words of the late Cubs and Sox broadcaster Jack Brickhouse who often said, "What the hell, every team is entitled to a bad century!"