While I openly admit to rooting for the Houston Astros, I congratulate the Chicago White Sox on winning the World Series. In particular, I congratulate the Sox' fans. They are the overlooked baseball fans in Chicago, but they get their much deserved, and long awaited, moment alone in the spotlight. The White Sox are unquestionably the best team in baseball in 2005. Congratulations to all.
In the inevitable comparison to last year's champions, the Boston Red Sox, some have wondered why the White Sox triumph after 88 years of failure isn't getting the same attention as Boston's much anticipated crown after an 86 year long drought? That's easy. Here are the reasons.
1. Babe Ruth- You've heard of him, right? See, the Red Sox had Ruth and a mini-dynasty going when he was sold to New York. In moving the lefthanded hurler, the Red Sox unloaded a man who went from great pitcher to unrivaled hitter to baseball legend to American icon. Ruth is as synonymous with baseball as any player in the game's history. Ruth completely altered the game. "He changed the game from one of hit and run to a game of hit and watch" (Can't recall where I got that quote from, but it stuck in my head.)
Not only did the selling of Ruth end the Red Sox pre-1920 dominance and send the Red Sox spiraling down until some kid named Ted Williams arrive, it gave birth to the......
2. New York Yankees Dynasty- In selling Ruth, Harry Frazee did more than end the Sox early 20th Century success. He gave birth to the most successful franchise in baseball history and left the Fenway Faithful wondering if their former legend had placed a curse on their team. That's one stinking bad deal.
Conversely, can you even name the White Sox biggest rival? It's probably the Cubs, a team they didn't play regularly until inter-league play was born. The ChiSox don't have to live with selling their best player to their rival, watching him become the biggest thing in the sport and triggering an unprecedented era of success.
The 88 year wait was awful by any stretch of the imagination, but if the Cubs had won twenty-six world championships since 1919, the ChiSox win would even be a greater release of frustration. (Honestly, after watching both Sox win titles, aren't the Cubs fans alone in their misery now?)
3. The Painful Near Misses- The White Sox went to one World Series, post 1919, in 1959. The Red Sox didn't appear in many more (four-1946, 1967, 1975 and 1986), but they managed to lose each in agonizing fashion. All were seven games series.
Those post-season losses don't include all of those second place finishes, mostly to the hated Yankees, and playing in the first two one game playoffs in baseball history. Losing both, first to Cleveland in 1948 and the second to, of course, the Yankees in 1978.
The White Sox don't have a history of historically painful close calls in the post-season. Those kind of meltdowns make for great literature, but only lead to more frustration and suffering for fans. The White Sox may be lucky not to have had that added on to their near century long wait for a crown.
4. A House Divided- The White Sox don't even own all of their city's fanbase. The Cubs own, at minimum, half of the hardball fans in the Windy City. It's hard to get all the attention when you aren't even the only attraction in town.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Red Sox own most if not all of the New England states. In having so many universities, Boston also has a developed a legion of fans who end up scattered throughout the country. The White Sox struggle to sell their merchandise in their home town. That's a big difference.
4. The Black Sox Scandal- Say what you will, but post 1919, the White Sox just didn't give too many folks the warm fuzzies. White Sox Nation wasn't going to be born in that shadow. (Although, it could have been born last night.) The White Sox have a small, but devout following, not a fanbase with a nickname.
5. East Coast Media Bias- Come on. You knew I had to toss that one in there. I think it's difficult to argue that with all the media hubs so close to Boston, the Red Sox title simply seemed more important in places like Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., New York, etc... Thus, the Red Sox win got more ink nationwide.
While the White Sox championship isn't getting the press the Red Sox did a year ago, it isn't any less significant. Eighty-eight years is a terribly long time to wait for anything. The odds of Chicago's baseball entry going that long without their next championship have to be near as bad as me winning the lottery tomorrow.
For now, that just doesn't matter. All that matters is that the protracted frustration of White Sox fans has finally ended. I hope they spend a good year embracing and rejoicing in this moment. They have suffered through the downtime, they've earned the right to cherish this. Congrats, again, White Sox fans.
No comments:
Post a Comment