The Day is Here!

By Benjy Lipsman in News on May 20, 2005 1:12PM

While Chicagoist is confined to an office today, those luckiest of Chicagoans are already starting their pre-game drinking across Wrigleyville in anticipation of the first game between the Cubs and Sox. Greg Maddux and Freddy Garcia face off at the "Friendly Confines" starting at 1:20pm in the first of three games.

Do Chicago baseball fans put more emphasis on this rivalry than fans in other areas with multiple teams? Is that because neither team has won a World Series for so long? Or is that because the stereotypes about each teams' fans run so deep? Or the geographic divide defining "North Siders" and "South Siders?" There's a lot at stake in terms of bragging rights throughout the city -- at least until next month's rematch at the Cell. But is that all that's at stake this weekend?

Chicagoist senses a shift in the force is brewing -- that more be at stake this weekend than is ususally up for grabs during these annual Crosstown Series. Might Anakin Skywalker be just one of many pulled over to the "dark side?" How many Cubs fans will defect when they see what a winning teams looks like? One whose pitchers have thrown more pitches in real games than simulated ones? And whose pitchers have won a staggering amount of those games? All the headlines involving the Cubs of late somehow relate to the health of its pitching staff. Meanwhile, all the headlines about the Sox in recent weeks talk about winning streaks and pitching dominance. In a city so starved for winning, the lure might just be too great for some.