{"id":205303,"date":"2025-07-27T01:00:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T01:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/205303\/"},"modified":"2025-07-27T01:00:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T01:00:11","slug":"a-kinder-gentler-city-series-say-it-aint-so-chicago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/205303\/","title":{"rendered":"A kinder, gentler City Series? Say it ain’t so, Chicago."},"content":{"rendered":"

The parking lot across the street from Rate Field was filled with tailgaters a few hours before Saturday\u2019s game between the Chicago Cubs and White Sox.<\/p>\n

Fans of both teams were seen sharing beers, brats and unknown substances like it was their last summer blowout.<\/p>\n

It was a celebration of baseball on a humid afternoon, and no one seemed to care which side you were on, a departure of some of the heated City Series from the not-so-distant past.<\/p>\n

Has it become a kinder, gentler Cubs-Sox rivalry?<\/p>\n

Say it ain\u2019t so.<\/p>\n

I ventured out to Lot B and spotted a Mal\u00f6rt flag flying high at a spot near what once was home plate at old Comiskey Park, where Carlton Fisk practiced his craft and Sox sluggers often aimed to the left-field roof.\u00a0 A group called the Sports Bums had a party in full swing, so I stopped by to check the pulse of Sox fans after the greatest 6-1 stretch in team history.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, optimism was running high.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially since we came out of the All-Star break, we\u2019ve seen the youth movement making a move, and it\u2019s starting to pay off,\u201d said Tania Farries, while drinking a can of \u201cOn Your Feet\u201d beer that included the face of public address announcer Gene Honda on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice to see offense. We haven\u2019t seen that for a while. Listen, at the beginning of the year I was very optimistic. I said they\u2019d win 60 games. To me they\u2019re just proving me right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sixty wins is a pretty low bar for optimism. But after going 41-121 last year and setting a major-league record for losses<\/a>, it was as much as a die-hard Sox fan could hope for. The Sox entered Saturday\u2019s game at 38-66 after a 6-1 stretch that included Friday\u2019s pounding of the Cubs<\/a>, and could surpass last year\u2019s win total on this homestand.<\/p>\n

City Series photos: White Sox 12, Cubs 5 at Rate Field<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Jason James, a podcaster who coordinates the tailgate parties, which he calls \u201cWhiskey at Comiskey,\u201d was a little more reserved about the Sox\u2019s hot streak.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart wants to say it\u2019s sustainable,\u201d James said. \u201cMy brain says \u2018no.\u2019 But I\u2019m going to enjoy it while it lasts, because this is what we want to see. The last rebuild we saw glimpses, but it was never sustainable. Guys like Eloy (Jim\u00e9nez) are not even in the league anymore.<\/p>\n

\u201cA guy like Colson (Montgomery) comes up, and (Kyle) Teel and (Edgar) Quero come up, and they\u2019re all hitting. Credit to (general manager) Chris Getz for scouting them and making those trades.\u201d<\/p>\n

Actually, former general manager Rick Hahn acquired Quero from the Los Angeles Angels in the Lucas Giolito deal<\/a>, but please, continue \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201dWe all fell in love with the pizazz of the Rick Hahn deals, and trading for hot prospects,\u201d he said. \u201cBut a lot of them got their big deals early without earning it. I don\u2019t think Chris Getz will do the same thing. Hahn did some good things that didn\u2019t pan out, but now we\u2019re seeing results.\u201d<\/p>\n

True, it has been a very good week. James said the group was looking forward to the \u201cIshbia era,\u201d referring to billionaire Justin Ishbia, the future owner<\/a> whom James assumes will spend more than Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Bryce Harper came out and said he wanted to play here, and the Sox didn\u2019t seriously consider him, that\u2019s the kind of stuff that hurts Sox fans,\u201d James said. \u201cAs much as Jerry says he wants to win, just show us. We\u2019re looking forward to someone who will actually spend money and make something happen for Sox fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AidanAidan Anderson, 4, of Brookfield, throws a ball while playing catch with his father, Andrew, at the old Comiskey Park home plate outside of Rate Field before a White Sox-Cubs game on July 26, 2025. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

They might have to wait awhile, since Reinsdorf isn\u2019t selling until at least 2029.<\/p>\n

But Rate Field was alive again, and other than next month\u2019s visit from the Savannah Bananas<\/a>, which is sold out, Sunday\u2019s finale might be the last full house of the Sox\u2019s home season.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s sellout was only the second of the year, after opening day, and Saturday\u2019s crowd was just as jammed. Obviously the infusion of Cubs fans was a big reason for the capacity crowds, and everyone was well-behaved on Friday with only one arrest, according to ballpark sources.<\/p>\n

The teams were tied 75-75 in the all-time series, which arguably has made Cubs-Sox the best of all the interleague rivalries.<\/p>\n

\"AA young Cubs fan wears a rally cap during the seventh-inning stretch of a White Sox-Cubs game on July 25, 2025, at Rate Field. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a fan series, for the city of Chicago,\u201d Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Saturday. \u201cIt\u2019s the rare game where you get a split camp in the stadium, and that makes the stadium fun, makes the games fun.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the players feed off that energy and emotion. That\u2019s it. I don\u2019t want to make more of it than it is. That energy in the park is really fun for all of us, but nobody is aware that we\u2019re tied.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Sox fans are aware that the Cubs are a contender and the Sox are in last place, which makes beating them more fun.<\/p>\n

Cubs and Sox players don\u2019t create beefs like in the past, such as when Cubs catcher Michael Barrett punched Sox catcher A.J. Pierzysnki and started the mother of all brawls<\/a>. At SoxFest a few years ago, a player named Nicky Delmonico said Cubs fans were \u201cannoying\u201d and made a request to Sox fans: \u201cWhenever the Cubs play (in) our home, you all have got to literally give them hell.\u201d<\/p>\n

It created a minor stir, but now it\u2019s the only thing Delmonico is remembered for.<\/p>\n

At the first Cubs-Sox series in 1997, I was standing by the batting cage when Cubs outfielder Brian McRae and Sox first baseman Frank Thomas got into a heated argument.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur fans are the drunkest,\u201d McRae bragged to Thomas. \u201cWe\u2019ve got the drunkest fans in baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have the working-class fans here,\u201d Thomas responded.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur fans are working,\u201d McRae shot back. \u201cThey\u2019re working business deals on cellphones during the games.\u201d<\/p>\n

But those days are gone, and now it\u2019s just another series to most players. Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson said Saturday that the City Series is still \u201cunique\u201d and gives off a college football vibe, where getting taunted by fans is part of the gig.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing I haven\u2019t heard before,\u201d Swanson said. \u201cI\u2019ve definitely witnessed a few fights in the stands. I don\u2019t know if I saw any (Friday), which might have been a first. It\u2019s kind of like a college football game. There\u2019s some intensity, some tension. But it\u2019s cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

This three-day celebration of baseball ends Sunday at the Rate, and it\u2019s back to normalcy for Cubs and Sox fans, natural frenemies who share a mutual love of partying.<\/p>\n

Originally Published: July 26, 2025 at 7:38 PM CDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The parking lot across the street from Rate Field was filled with tailgaters a few hours before Saturday\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205304,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2399],"tags":[5,36268,138,24,4245,161,733,10412,6251,17183,4,396],"class_list":{"0":"post-205303","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-cubs","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-brian-mcrae","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-cubs","12":"tag-chicagocubs","13":"tag-cubs","14":"tag-dansby-swanson","15":"tag-frank-thomas","16":"tag-jerry-reinsdorf","17":"tag-justin-ishbia","18":"tag-mlb","19":"tag-white-sox"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/114922496187645706","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}