Fans eager to talk baseball with Daily Herald sportswriters
After more than a month of spring training and with two more weeks to go before baseball makes its annual return to Chicago, there are still plenty of questions about the White Sox and Cubs.
And their fans want answers.
Thursday night in Schaumburg, about 100 fans went looking for just that from the Daily Herald's baseball experts: Cubs beat writer Bruce Miles, White Sox beat writer Scot Gregor, and columnists Mike Imrem and Barry Rozner.
As for many Sox and Cubs fans, one of the more pressing question of the night was in the spirit of the Hatfields vs. McCoys, and the same as every season: Which team in Chicago will win the most games? Or as it was phrased, which team will top the Las Vegas line of 73.5 wins?
Miles: Sox a little over, but Cubs will be close
Gregor: White Sox
Imrem: Probably Sox
Rozner: I agree with the Sox
The evening, which featured questions from the audience, was part of an exclusive event offered to the Daily Herald's Subscriber Total Access members at Chandler's banquets in Schaumburg. As part of a monthly series, it was the seventh such event for Subscriber Total Access members.
Sarcasm found its way to the playing field with Imrem declaring the Cubs would win it all this season after initially asserting both teams “have a 25-year plan.” Rozner joked about how much he'll miss former Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez, too.
“I loved it,” said Mike Korcek, a Mount Prospect native who came to the event. “We need the sarcasm. This could be a long year for both teams.”
While Miles fielded questions on the new Cubs regime and its “Cubs Way” platform, Gregor explained whether the White Sox were retooling or rebuilding under general manager Kenny Williams.
Although the prospects of a winning season look bleak for either club, the audience left with some nuggets on which players have the best chance to be fantasy baseball sleepers this season: Ian Stewart for the Cubs, and Chris Sale for the White Sox.
If Alfonso Soriano and Adam Dunn perform better than their contracts, though, then all fantasy bets are off.
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