Friday, May 23, 2008

Why doesn't anyone love the White Sox?


My mom went on a business trip to Chicago in 1990 and when she was there she wanted to get me and my brother a sports related gift.

She noted that there were tons of Cubs shirts and hats (they were fresh off of the 1989 Division Title).

There were lots of Bear souvenirs. Michael Jordan Bulls jerseys were everywhere. There were even lots of Blackhawk sweaters and caps available.

Then my mom asked “Is there anything for the White Sox?”
The store clerk directed her to the back of the store. There was one rack of White Sox T-Shirts.

That was it.

The White Sox didn’t get love then and nearly two decades later they STILL can’t get love.

A month ago Ozzie Guillen went on a profanity laced tirade about how Cubs obsessed the Chicago media is… and he was right.

The White Sox are in the middle of an 8 game winning streak and are in first place. They are one of the best and most surprising stories in baseball this year.

Nobody is covering it. The White Sox are still pushed to the back of Sports Center.

Red Sox and Cubs fans were always mentioned as the longest suffering, with not even a charitable toss to the White Sox fans.

When the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series, it was treated as an event only slightly less significant than Columbus landing in the West Indies.

Graves were visited, tears were shed and your friend Sully got to make some HBO appearances.

When the White Sox won the 2005 World Series after an 88 year wait… nothing. They didn’t even get the cover of Sports Illustrated!

During the World Series there were reporters asking Cub fans how they felt. How about asking a few White Sox fans?

Why is this the case?
Why is a team that plays in one of the biggest markets in America, has a rich history and certainly has won more games than their counterpart in the North Side, and has delivered a World Championship to Chicago treated as a baseball after thought?

I guess the North Side of Chicago is a little safer and Wrigley Field is a little more cuddly than Old Comiskey or the sterile soul less New Comiskey (or whatever they are calling it now.)

I went to the New Comiskey the first year it was open. It couldn’t have had less charm if it were designed by Vulcans.

Of course it was the last baseball stadium built before the recent rash of fan friendly retro parks. The White Sox turned down a chance to have their new park designed by the firm that created Camden Yards. I wonder if the White Sox were the first out of the gate with a retro park if they would have a more loyal following.

I saw fair weather fans in the Bay Area shift from the A’s to the Giants once the Giants opened Pac Bell Park. And the shift stayed in San Francisco even when the A’s were putting a much better product on the field. Of course a lot of that has to do with Barry Bonds.

But it has to be more than that.

Is it their stars? Are Cubs stars more fun?
The Cubs had Ernie Banks, possibly the most lovable Hall of Famer of all time.
And look at how loved the Cub stars are when you mention Ryne Sandberg or Andre Dawson to a Cubs fan. My buddy Rob Paravonian, a big Cubs fan, rooted for the Diamondbacks in the 2001 World Series because Mark Grace was on the team.

“I like to see a Cub win the World Series.” He said, knowing that was the only way a Cub could possibly get a World Series ring was on another team.

The White Sox had Frank Thomas, the Big Hurt, who always seemed a little pissed off.
Carlton Fisk, who was a White Sox longer than a Red Sox, never seemed to fit in.
Harold Baines seemed more respected than loved.
Lamar Hoyt wanted out of town before smuggling drugs into the country through his jock.

It can’t be because of 1919 is it?

Yeah the White Sox threw the 1919 World Series… but that was 89 years ago folks. And let’s face it, throwing that World Series not only removed the stigma of gambling from baseball until Pete Rose, but also gave us Eight Men Out and Field of Dreams… two of the best baseball movies ever made.

Is it the uniforms?

The White Sox have changed their look around while the Cubs have remained more or less the same over the years.

But honestly, while the White Sox have changed their look (until going back to the classic uniforms they wear now) they gave baseball fans some of the most spectacular bad uniforms in history!

Lapels!

The block SOX across the front.

The White Front of the cap.

The numbers on the leg.

The cursive C.

BERMUDA SHORTS!

That variety should be celebrated!

And also while the Cubs were promoting Ivy and getting drunk in the bleachers, Bill Veeck gave baseball exploding scoreboards and Disco Demolition night.

Give the White Sox some credit for TRYING!

So the White Sox may never get the love the Cubs get…
Even though they have delivered more World Series titles this decade than the Cubs have in the last 99 years.

And the bad wagon fans may not embrace a team managed by the most entertaining manager baseball has produced since Billy Martin.

But I wonder… do White Sox fans care?
Do they have a chip on their shoulder that their team doesn’t get Cub love or Red Sox attention?

Or do they own that slight as a badge of honor?

Do they ask “Why don’t we get mentioned as a great franchise? Our team didn’t move like the Dodgers did or the Giants!”

Or do White Sox fans say “Who cares about love from outsiders? It’s trendy to like the Cubs… but it takes a real fan to love the White Sox!”

And how delirious were you in 2005?
Is that your cell phone ring?
Did you visit your grandfather and grandmother’s graves?

I want to hear from you White Sox fans…

Hey everyone at South Side Sox... do you care you aren't getting the national press?

Do the folks at the hilarious Sox and the City tear up when they think of Bobby Jenks getting the final ground out in Houston?

How about you, Carl Skanberg? When you write your hilarious Pale Hose 8 comics, do you wish your team had the national love that the Cubs have?

Let me ask you, Jim at the Sox Machine... do you just not care?

I want to hear from you White Sox fans... including at Sox Talk

And while we are at it, are there more White Sox t shirts available ?

10 comments:

  1. Sully,

    As a life-long White Sox fan (only 22 years that lifespan is), you have hit a lot of what goes through my head an my heart with this blog. Many White Sox fans find it baffling that the team has been consistently better than those on the North Side but have received less media attention. I think we understand why Wrigley has more people in it and why the Cubs have a larger following. Factors such as the coziness of Wrigley Field and its surrounding area play into that. Sox fans get that. What we don't understand in the media. How the Cubs news always seems to trump the Sox news. In 2005 it didn't seem like the White Sox were an elite team until September. And when that happened, quickly the news spread to that the Sox were going to choke things away with a seven-game losing skid late in the month and the Indians charging hard. To me, it almost seemed like the media just carried over the traditional Cubs Collapse story line to the South Side.

    I appreciate your comments on the situation. They are all very true. Although many Sox fans do wear their fandom as a badge of honor. I know there were some upset people going to games in the 2006 season and noticing all the "Sox fans" coming out of the woodwork. I didn't like so many fair weather fans jumping on because of the World Series victory. Sometimes I enjoy going to the games with 20,000 true fans in attendance

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  2. Anonymous8:29 PM

    Sully, the White Sox Army is strong and proud. Don't underestimate us and our Sox Pride. There is no fan base in baseball that loves their team more than Sox fans do.

    The cubs are a national embarrassment and the joke of the sports world. White Sox fans are true baseball fans. Those sheep on the north side can't tell a fastball from an 8ball (and I'm not talking billiards here). They are annoying, obnoxious airheads who don't know the first thing about baseball.

    Come spend some time in Chicago. You will see who the true baseball fans are. The White Sox Army is strong and true and nothing will stop us. We will only grow stronger and bigger.

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    1. Anonymous8:52 PM

      You have got to be kidding yourself, because you surely live in dreamland. I have been to many Sox's games and you have no fan base what so ever. The Cubs have fans everywhere they go. You say that I'm an air head who knows nothing about baseball what a joke. What has your team done in the last 11 years since winning the World Series? Nothing. In the last 5 years your reM has placed last or 2nd to last in there division. I know the cubs were pretty much the same, but the fans still showed up to support them. I believe most people forget about them because of not only being bad they have no fan base. If you want to be mentioned in the media then you better be making the money in the market.

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  3. Two reasons I don't like the White Sox. One is they have the worst announcers in sports. They try to press tag lines like "he gone," which to me just sound forced and annoying. The second stems from when I lived in Chicago going to grad school. I lived near Wrigley, so naturally went to more Cubs games. But I was willing to give the WS some love, too. I just couldn't understand the hatred of Sox fans for Cubs fans. I mean, at that time, the city hadn't had a world series champ in 80 some years, so you'd think that both North and South siders would be willing to take ANY decent Chicago baseball they could get. It's not like the teams were that far away--they're on the same L line! But Sox fans seemed to want to write off anyone who didn't hate the Cubs as a decadent, drunk, baseball know-nothing yuppie schmuck. Made me bitter towards their team.

    Oh yeah, and Ozzie is just an idiot who doesn't deserve the good things that have happened to his teams.

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  4. Anonymous1:56 PM

    I love Ozzie and the White Sox!!! I am a fan for life. Cubs fans think they are better than everyone and have bad attitudes - which is why I stay away from the Cubs. A big part of the problem is that not many people grow up on the southside of Chicago. They grow up in the South suburbs. As soon as you get into nice areas in Chicago you are in Cubs territory...ugh. Go White Sox!

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  5. Anonymous6:33 PM

    The thing that is great about the White Sox fanbase is that the large majority of fans can trace the roots of their fandom to the area that surronding Old Comiskey. Basically, its in your blood. My family have been Sox fans since they first moved to Chicago three generations ago.

    That is something special IMO. I do not really care what the Cubs do personally. The majority of the rivalry is just fun between friends with a few dbags taking it way to seriously.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:56 AM

      To be fair that is true of the Cubs as well.

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  6. Anonymous2:00 PM

    "When the White Sox won the 2005 World Series after an 88 year wait… nothing. They didn’t even get the cover of Sports Illustrated!"

    Actually they did get on the cover after they won the WS in 2005. I know for a fact because I own that issue and cherish it. Go White Sox!!

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  7. Anonymous6:09 PM

    " I mean, at that time, the city hadn't had a world series champ in 80 some years, so you'd think that both North and South siders would be willing to take ANY decent Chicago baseball they could get."

    Not trying to sound like a meatball but the the Sox have 41 wins to the Cubs 37 wins in the "Cross Town Classic"?

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