South Siders so much better this isn't even a rivalry
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BY JAY MARIOTTI*
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
May 20, 2006
suntimes.com
Should they even bother with the next two games? Is there another team in the area -- Schaumburg Flyers, Kane County Cougars, college, high school, Tee Ball -- that could provide better competition for the White Sox in this Crossdown Showdown? Clearly right now, the Cubs don't belong in the same ballpark or same city as the Sox.
"[Bleep] the Cubs,'' Ozzie Guillen said.
I second the motion.
To save the weekend, then, let's bring in a club whose bosses place all their energies and priorities into winning instead of playing the cowardly Tribune Tower politics card and complaining about the coverage of a company-employed beat writer. Seems Cubs management, stuck with a Dead Manager Walking and a general manager who is doing a crummy job, would have more important issues than pressuring the Chicago Tribune into softening daily reporting about a 17-24 stinkbomb.
But that's club president Andy MacFail for you. He's so busy writing letters to editors and trying to get beat writers removed that he once again is allowing the Cubs to free-fall out of contention, which would leave him with two playoff appearances in 12 years as boss. By any baseball standard, a .167 batting average is grounds for demotion or dismissal, no matter how much money MacFail makes for the mother ship.
You think Bartman Night was rock bottom? I might argue that the tortured republic of Cubdom descended into its deepest gutter of humiliation Friday, when a Sox team with World Series banners and memorabilia all over U.S. Cellular Field rubbed cyanide in the wounds with a 6-1 win over Greg Maddux, the only current source of North Side pride. The pill was tough enough to swallow earlier in the day, when word circulated that the Blizzard of Oz had denounced the Cubs as not worthy of his team's time.
"I'd rather play against Detroit right now than the Cubs. For the players and myself, it's not a big deal,'' Guillen said.
Then, before the first pitch, the big-screen TV in center field repeatedly flashed a message: "WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS FOR A REASON! WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS FOR A REASON! WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS FOR A REASON!''
If the Cubs had any sort of heart, pride or soul, they would have responded angrily and tried to put up a fight. But in perhaps the biggest indictment yet of lame-duck manager Johnnie B. Baker, the Cubs had no heart, no pride, no soul and only two hits. Maybe what Dusty said Thursday, that he hears he'll be fired if he doesn't sweep the Sox, will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Cubs opened with a leadoff infield single by Juan Pierre, scored an unearned run on A.J. Pierzynski's first error in 150 games, then managed a single over eight innings against cool-breezing Mark Buehrle. I don't believe Buerhle was trying to insult the Cubs when he talked about his easy, two-hour and seven-minute complete game. But I do know where he was coming from. "A lot of times, you feel like you can make your pitch and they can't hit it,'' he said. "Today, there were times you threw a slider right down the middle and they popped it out.''
Cubs don't even matter to Sox
What Buehrle doesn't understand is that the Cubs can't hit anyone. He tried to make the case that Derrek Lee's absence is killing them, but potent as Lee is, he shouldn't be the most indispensable hitter in baseball history. Alarmingly, the Cubs have shriveled up without him, which points to Hendry's poor roster construction. The numerous problems are only magnified when the Cubs have to travel to the South Side and deal with the concept of reeking while the Sox are flying higher than ever.
The atmosophere was Soxphoric, with no noticeable fights or incidents in the stands simply because there were maybe 1,500 Cubs fans scattered throughout the park on a sunny afternoon. Maybe that changes today, when the drunk quotient kicks in, but Sox fans have no reason to be bitter or feel inferior anymore because they have the Holy Grail. During batting practice, a Sox fan held a "1908'' sign behind the Cubs dugout, but outward evidence of ridicule was kept at a minimum. As for Cubs fans, they are too miserable and resigned to a 98th consecutive year of gloom to venture to The Cell with their tails between their legs. Basically, the Sox have removed all bite and fire from these interleague scrums because they won the World Series and the Cubs have not. Used to be these six games WERE the World Series around here, but an actual World Series trophy has changed the culture.
South Side angst has been removed from the equation. The Sox have won the civil war. And until the Cubs win their own World Series, which only can happen in drunken fantasies at Murphy's Bleachers and rigged-up video games, the results of Crosstown Showdowns are really moot. If you don't believe it, consider the dialed-down tones of Guillen after the rout. When the Blizzard declared "[Bleep] the Cubs'' on Thursday night in Florida, he was more upset about a loss to the Devil Rays than anything. It was his way of reminding Sox fans accustomed to obsessing about the Cubs that they've become mere pebbles in Bigfoot's shoes. Sure, Guillen used to stoke the rivalry by complaining about his Wrigley Field parking spot, criticizing the ivy-covered shrine as a pit and condemning All Things Cubbie. But what's the need now?
"I didn't expect more Cubs fans in this ballpark because of what we did last year,'' Guillen said. "There was also a lot of traffic coming in from the North Side. Obviously, there's more White Sox fans here now than in the past because of what we did.''
No comparison in lineups
The Sox' every-day lineup shames that of the Cubs. If the Sox are the Chicago skyline, the Cubs are the Rockford skyline. While Jim Hendry was signing the underperforming Pierre and mediocre Jacque Jones and missing out on Rafael Furcal, counterpart Ken Williams was trading for Jim Thome as the centerpiece of an offseason flurry of deals. The performances of the general managers was on lopsided display when Thome hit his 17th home run, putting away the game in the fifth inning. Earlier, Thome's value as an intimidating presence led to a walk, which led to Paul Konerko's two-run double. Trust me. Even when the Sox wobble a bit, they're better than last season because of Thome.
"Yeah, he's good, man,'' raved Maddux, uncharacteristically wild in his contuining comedown from a hot April. "He's legit. He's in scoring position every time he steps in the box. He can hit, and he helps the guys around him, too.''
Baker's only quotable postgame response was to chide home-plate umpire Larry Vanover for squeezing the strike zone on Maddux. When told of Dusty's comments, Maddux wasn't interested in elaborating. "You don't want to sit here and talk about the umpire,'' he said. "I like Larry Vanover. I've always thought he was one of the better umpires in the game. If I can get him a few starts down the road, I'd be glad to have him.''
A pro's pro and first-ballot Hall of Famer was offering no excuses. I wish his bosses would do the same instead of taking the weenie way out and targeting a poor, in-house sportswriter. As Ozzie said, Bleep the Cubs.
Sounds like a fine slogan for all of Chicagokind.
*Jay Mariotti is a regular on ''Around the Horn'' at 4 p.m. on ESPN. Send e-mail to inbox@suntimes.com with name, hometown and daytime phone number (letters run Sunday). |
