Home is where the heart, and victories are
Maybe the Cubs and the White Sox should participate in America's latest summer phenomenon.
Staycations.
Throw away the suitcase. Bust the GPS. Keep the Winnebago in the barn.
More than anything, forget "never leave home without it." Never leave home, period.
The Sox and Cubs have more fun in their own digs anyway, and not just because gas for road trips costs a (Carlos Zambrano) arm and a (Jermaine Dye) leg.
Last week the Cubs swept the Sox in Wrigley Field and Sunday night the Sox completed a sweep of the Cubs in Comiskey Park. It's almost as if they changed more than ballparks - each others' uniforms, karma, barbers, lifestyles, everything.
"You just have two ballclubs that play pretty well at home," said Dye, the Sox' right fielder. "Both clubs kind of get in a groove when they walk into their own clubhouse."
What a difference eight miles makes, huh?
Theories abound for why so few major-league teams - including the Sox and Cubs - can win on the road this season,
One is the spread of designer ballparks. Another is that so many teams have so many young players still uncomfortable in unfamiliar surroundings. Another is that advance scouting reports are so complete that teams aren't surprised by anything the visitors bring to town.
Cubs manager Lou Piniella surrenders on the subject and says, "I don't know. I don't have an answer. It's probably being comfortable at home. I don't have an answer. I wish I did."
Wish and you shall receive. I gave Piniella the answer.
(You know, it's tough being me. Bad enough that I have to solve all our problems in the Middle East but also figure out what's going on in professional sports.)
Anyway, it's uncomplicated why road teams are on pace to record a lower percentage of victories this season than in three decades.
Attribute it to parity. Well, no, not exactly parity because that would mean all 30 teams are created equally. Call it the good teams being not as good and the bad teams being not as bad.
"That's as good an explanation as any," Piniella said.
Haves and have-nots do still exist. But the best teams don't dominate the worst teams the way they did for so long.
The standings show the Rays and the Marlins not only over .500 but contending in their respective divisions.
Heck, baseball's hottest teams over the past couple of weeks have been the smaller-market Twins and the Royals.
If the New Yorks and Chicagos aren't that much better than the Oaklands and Pittsburghs, then something as slight as homefield advantage could close the gap between them and sometimes even fill it.
Financially thrifty teams like Oakland, Pittsburgh, Florida, Tampa Bay and Minnesota all have winning records at home and losing records on the road.
Financially flush teams like the Red Sox, Cubs, White Sox, Mets and Dodgers have similar splits.
If Chicago's teams could only figure out how to gerrymander the schedule the last half of the season to play all their games at home. Maybe they could do what college teams do and pay low-revenue teams to move their home games to Comiskey Park and Wrigley Field.
Short of summer staycations, Piniella said, "Probably both teams are going to have to play a little better on the road."
Hey, what a novel concept.