Bragging rights, indeed, for Cubs, Sox

Rare are the seasons when both Second City baseball teams are residing in first place in June.

There are definitely more seasons to choose from in which the Cubs and the White Sox are looking up at everyone else this time of year.

With the City Series set to get under way again this weekend, here's a glance back at five years during which fans on both sides of town had plenty to shout about. Wednesday, we will offer a look at five years during which fans on both sides by June looked forward to Bears training camp.

World serious biz (1906)

A mere 102 years ago Chicago was the center of the baseball universe. The Cubs and the White Sox were together in just the third World Series.

For the powerful Cubs, going 116-36 still is the best season by percentage in major-league history. They were led by the legendary, though misnamed, double-play combo of Joe Tinker to Johnny Evers to Frank Chance, as well as by Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown, who was 26-6 with a 1.04 ERA.

The White Sox earned their "Hitless Wonders" moniker as they hit .230 with 7 homers. They got hot in the second half and went 93-58 behind 20-game winners Nick Altrock and Frank Owen.

The Sox hit only .198 in the World Series but won the ultimate in cross-town bragging rights 4 games to 2. They overcame 9 errors to win the final two games behind Ed Walsh and Doc White.

Another city classic? (1908)

Chicago continued to be the mecca of baseball as the Cubs were trying to defend their World Series title and the Sox were trying to set up another cross-town battle.

The Cubs went 99-55 as Brown was 29-9 and they finished a game ahead of the Pirates and the Giants. The season was best remembered for a controversial September reversal of a Giants victory when Fred Merkle failed to touch second base on what would have been the winning hit.

The White Sox also were in a tight three-way race with their usual firepower (.224 and 3 homers) and 40-game winner Ed Walsh. A win in the finale with the AL-leading Tigers would have given the Sox the title, but they fell 7-0 to finish 1½ games out.

After the Cubs rolled to their second straight title 4 games to 1, their fans couldn't have seen the agony ahead for what appeared to be a budding dynasty.

Two eras collide (1967)

Many today might find it hard to believe, but the White Sox ruled Chicago in this era and were on the verge of their 17th straight finish in the upper half of the American League. But that was about to change as the Cubs emerged from two decades of slumber to begin their own memorable six-year stretch.

The punchless White Sox (.225) were in of one of the greatest pennant races with the much more powerful Red Sox, Tigers and Twins.

But they won with stellar pitching (2.45 ERA) led by Joel Horlen and Gary Peters and ageless knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm. They had the aggressiveness preached by combustible manager Eddie Stanky.

And there was some cunning that allegedly included frozen baseballs and a Comiskey Park field doctored to favor its pitching and defense.

They stayed in the race to the bitter end despite fan apathy due to low-scoring games and fears spawned by racial tensions on the South Side.

The schedule was in their favor in the last week, but they lost their last five games to the lowly Kansas City A's and the Washington Senators to finish 89-73 and start a tailspin that bottomed out with 106 losses in 1970.

The Cubs had been relegated to the bottom half of the standings since 1947 and were coming off a 103-loss season under Stanky's mentor, the fiery Leo Durocher.

But budding stars such as Billy Williams, Ron Santo, Fergie Jenkins and Randy Hundley and Mr. Cub Ernie Banks led an 87-74 renaissance that put them a distant third behind the Cardinals.

It was a beginning that never had a happy ending, exemplified by the 1969 September swoon.

A wild joy ride (1977)

Coming after a 97-loss season on the South Side and 87 losses on the North Side, no one expected two first-place teams in Chicago in early August. But newcomers on both teams took their fans on a memorable joy ride that finally crashed in the final six weeks.

Sox owner Bill Veeck couldn't compete financially with the George Steinbrenners in free agency. So Veeck "rented" power hitters such as Richie Zisk and Oscar Gamble for a year and plucked Eric Soderholm off the scrapheap.

Less than stellar pitching wasn't helped by a porous defense. But none of that mattered as the "South Side Hit Men" kept the fireworks erupting at a record pace (192 homers) and the raucous crowds serenading the new tradition of "Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye" played by organist Nancy Faust.

It fueled a 5½-game lead and increased tension with the defending champion Royals. Their deficiencies, though, ultimately caught up with the Sox as they took third at 90-72.

At Wrigley, there were a lot of angry Cubs fans after the off-season trades of two-time batting champion Bill Madlock and flag-saver Rick Monday.

But the additions of Bobby Murcer and gritty Bill Buckner and the hot hitting of the double-play combination of Ivan DeJesus and Manny Trillo helped the Cubs climb to 25 games over .500 in late June. Rick Reuschel was pitching lights out, and reliever Bruce Sutter's unseen split-finger fastball was unhittable.

Dreams of another City Series started to fade when Sutter missed a month because of injury as the Cubs crumbled to an 81-81 finish.

Mixed emotions (2003)

Dusty Baker's first year on the North Side fostered the "In Dusty We Trusty" slogan. South Side fans, meanwhile, had just about enough of laboring through six years of Jerry Manuel.

In mid-September, both teams were in the postseason hunt as Baker tried to kick-start his rebuilding project and Manuel looked to preserve his shaky job.

The hit-or-miss Sox bashed 220 homers behind Frank Thomas, Carlos Lee, Magglio Ordonez and Jose Valentin. Nonroster invitee Esteban Loaiza was on the way to a magical 21-win season.

But the infamous Jose Paniagua obscene gesture at the end of a bad mop-up relief outing seemed to fuel the Twins to a four-game series split on the South Side.

They were on their way to the AL Central title with a three-game sweep the next week in Minnesota, and Manuel was on his way to the unemployment line with an 86-76, second-place finish.

Sammy Sosa's corked bat and the first visit by the New York Yankees to Wrigley Field since the 1938 World Series were the memorable moments of early summer for the Cubs.

They started gaining momentum in early September when they took four of five from the Cardinals at Wrigley Field. Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, Matt Clement and Carlos Zambrano dominated on the mound.

A double-header sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates on the last Saturday of the regular season clinched an improbable NL Central title that vaulted Baker to short-lived hero status.

They kept the momentum through a division series win over the Atlanta Braves and were five outs from the World Series when … well, you know the rest of the gory details.