Dog-team's days of summer test a fan's loyalty
DuPage City Editor Bob Smith stopped by my office Wednesday with an important announcement.
He was off Thursday and headed to the White Sox game. He and his wife were making bobblehead-like recreations of Minnesota Twins star Joe Mauer, and implanting them in Hostess Twinkies - "Twinkies" being the derogatory nickname for the chief rivals of the Sox. Bob said (and I never know when to take him completely seriously) he and the missus planned to stick pins in their makeshift voodoo dolls.
Later, several newsroom members and I converged on a nearby restaurant after work to slam back a few Diet Cokes and some spinach-avocado wraps.
A TV set caught my eye. "Hey, the Sox are winning," I insightfully announced.
The Cubs fans at our table jumped on me like a pack of wild hyenas. Justin Kmitch - just anointed as our new reporter in charge of Naperville - quickly pointed out the Cubs had manhandled the Giants and last year's Cy Young award winner Tim Lincicome the prior night.
Great, I replied, that puts them only 16, 17 games under .500, right?
Wait a minute. I'm a Cubs fan. Have been since the 1970s when I moved to Naperville from the St. Louis area, and the Cardinals I had adored as a kid were long gone. Plus, it was a lot harder to follow an out-of-town team back in those days.
I went home that evening and surfed between the Sox and the Cubs games. Watched the Sox deliver a much-needed win over the Twinkies, then saw the Cubs fall into a 3-0 hole. Turned to the Food Network after third baseman Aramis Ramirez pulled yet another dumb stunt on the bases.
This came after the Sox' Carlos Quentin flew down the first baseline, trying to beat out an infield ground ball.
I started making some inevitable and loyalty-testing comparisons between the two teams. The Sox seem to be loaded with hustle guys; the Cubs have Ramirez, who often dogs it, and the vastly overpaid Alfonso Soriano, who often sleepwalks in left field.
Records aside, what else do the Cubs bring to the table? This isn't even that likable of a team. Ryan Dempster's got some personality and Derrek Lee is one of the nicest, most unassuming guys in the game. The Cajun guys - Theriot and Fontenot - are gone. After that, what? Wait for Carlos Zambrano's next tirade?
On the other hand, the Sox have Paul Konerko, who gave the Sox a hometown discount to stick around after the World Series win. A.J. Pierzynski's always good for a laugh. And how can you not admire the down-home character of a Mark Buehrle?
Wait a minute. I'm a Cubs fan. What else do we have going? The ball parks. Sure, give me historic Wrigley Field over the Cellblock any day, though the food is better at the Cell. Maybe more modern amenities.
All right. The fans. Those Sox fans can be really annoying. I mean, getting on the Cubs for outdrawing the Sox despite a consistently inferior product? That's a cheap shot. And who can't love those Cubs fans who flock to Harry Caray's after the games. "Yuppie-come-latelys," is how I once heard them described. That's a cheap shot, too.
Geez, I'm out of explanations. Let's just chalk it up to plain ol' dumb, blind loyalty.
But how 'bout that Starlin Castro? All-star potential for the next 15-20 years. Tyler Colvin might be a real keeper. Maybe Geovany Soto's really back. And if they can just dump the contracts of Zambrano and Soriano ...
jdavis@dailyherald.com