Sox still trail Cubs in the attention game
The White Sox-Cubs exhibition game Saturday represented a reminder that Chicago still is a two-team town.
Sometimes that's easy to forget, especially during a spring like this when the news makes it seem more like a 1½-team town.
The Sox have work to do -- like legitimately contending for at least a division title -- to ensure they don't get lost in the ongoing phenomenon that is the Cubs.
Sox fans don't like to hear their team is a distant second in Chicago. But the fact is the Cubs have owned the town for most of a quarter-century and threaten to widen the gap again.
After winning the city's first baseball world championship in 88 years in 2005, the Sox increased their share of the local sports scene.
The Sox approached the Cubs' attendance total. Their radio and TV ratings grew. They were pennant contenders to contend with.
The Cubs? Well, they remained the team that hadn't won the National League since 1945 or a World Series since 1908.
Wrigley Field still was the place to go for a party; Comiskey Park the place to go for baseball.
Now, as the Cubs appear ready to make a run at a pennant, three years ago seems like three lifetimes ago.
Like, the biggest story in Sox camp is whether Joe Crede will be traded and it's obscured by whether the Cubs will acquire Brian Roberts.
One has the odor of subtraction, the other the fragrance of addition.
The arrow appears to point north for the North Siders -- in the standings, the media and the city -- and south for the South Siders.
Unfortunately for the Sox, their American League Central is the stronger league's strongest division. Fortunately for the Cubs, their National League Central is the weaker league's weakest division.
The result is the Cubs are first or second favorites to win the NL and the Sox seventh or eighth at best to win the AL.
The bigger difference between the Sox and Cubs is off the field, where the latter is in the news daily on multiple fronts.
The publicity isn't necessarily always great. The positive is the only bad news is no news.
Better that people wonder what Hard Zell will concoct today? Will Crazy Sam sell the naming rights to Lou Piniella's next emotional outburst? Will the Zellouts in the Tribune Tower let Bill Murray bat in a real game the way the Yankees let Billy Crystal bat in a spring game?
All sorts of intrigue surround the Trib's eventual sale of the Cubs and Wrigley Field.
In a way the Sox are penalized for their ownership's sensibility and stability, while the Cubs are rewarded for Zell on Wheels' unpredictable cacophony.
Oh yeah, and then there's the little matter of this being the 100th anniversary of the Cubs' most recent world championship.
That will keep the Cubs in the forefront locally and nationally while the Sox fight for attention.
Sox general manager Kenny Williams always said that one great season wouldn't elevate his team to the top of Chicago baseball.
Only a string of them would and last year's 72-90 record badly damaged momentum. Another sub-.500 season could revert the Sox to afterthought status.
Especially if the Cubs win a second straight division title and Sam Zell keeps creating splashy, flashy, trashy news.