The Chicago White Sox shares the city with the Chicago Cubs. Each team goes in waves of being good but they have both barely ever been good at the same time. 2008 and 2020 are rare examples of each team having a playoff-bound season at the same time.
That trend is probably going to continue in 2022. The White Sox are going to be a really good team and the Cubs are probably going to be a middle-of-the-pack team. There is even a chance that the Cubs are a below-average team that trades away any expiring assets.
As a result, nothing good can come of the Crosstown Classic for the Chicago White Sox. First of all, the two Central Divisions don’t meet in 2022 which means the Cubs and White Sox only play four times instead of six.
They play each other at Wrigley Field on May 3rd and May 4th. Later that month, they play at Guaranteed Rate Field on the 28th and 29th. Those games are always fun for fans which makes it sting that they only play each other twice in each building.
The second reason that this isn’t ideal for the White Sox is that they are losers no matter what happens in the games. If they win, it isn’t that much of an accomplishment because they are significantly better. If they lose, then they lost to an incredibly inferior team. Of course, we still want them to win because the wins will be important in the division race.
The Chicago White Sox are much better than the Chicago Cubs right now.
We would want them to play each other because it is always so much fun for both sides but the White Sox really can’t win in the end this year. It is also set up poorly because of the division scheduling in 2022.
One thing that is always positive from the series is the spread of the White Sox’s popularity. They are considered the “second team” so beating up on the Cubs could gain them more national attention. It certainly did in 2021. If seeing good baseball is a result of the Crosstown Classic, then it can’t be truly bad for either side.