The Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Cubs have been rivals since the beginning of Major League Baseball.
It’s natural, of course, that two teams who play in the same city would compete for the devotion of the fans, the attention of the local media, and the bragging rights that come with beating your city rival.
The storied rivalry goes as far back as 1906, when the underdog White Sox upset the Cubs to win the World Series, their first in franchise history. The Sox and Cubs frequently played charity games throughout the years, and began playing each other regularly with the start of Interleague play in 1997.
The "Crosstown Classic" quickly became one of the most thrilling rivalries in all of sports, with the two sides exchanging blows (figuratively and literally) in a back-and-forth battle that currently has the White Sox with a 74-72 lead in the all-time series. Both teams have enjoyed some iconic moments from iconic players throughout the years.
But as the Sox and Cubs get set to butt heads this weekend for the 147th time in regular season baseball history, I’ve found it hard to feel the same passion for the rivalry that I felt in my childhood.
The heated 2000's
Growing up in the early 2000s, I was raised with two favorite teams: The White Sox and whoever was playing the Cubs.
Reminding the Cubs fans in my life that they hadn’t sniffed a World Series in a century was one of my favorite pastimes, and despite being in separate leagues, beating the Cubs always meant more than beating a division rival.
I was six when Steve Bartman's name became a two-word gut punch to Cubs fans during the 2003 NLCS. I was eight when the White Sox won the 2005 World Series and broke the 88-year drought.
The very next year, A.J. Pierzynski bowled over Cubs catcher Michael Barrett during a Sox-Cubs matchup at U.S. Cellular Field. Punches were thrown, and coming out of the most iconic moment in Crosstown Classic history, the red hot White Sox rode the momentum and rocketed to a 52-27 start.
When the Cubs finally got their shot in the 2016 World Series, I was a college student in the suburbs of Chicago that wore a Cleveland Indians (at the time) hat from my little league days to class every morning. I actually preferred a Sox division rival to win a World Series over the Cubs...Imagine that. The hate ran that deep.
With the Cubs having recently won the World Series and the White Sox entering a much-needed rebuild in 2016, Chicago sports fans dreamed that the Cubs and Sox would be playing meaningful games against each other for many years to come.
By the time 2020 came around, both teams had made the playoffs and a potential crosstown World Series was the talk of the town. Neither the Sox or Cubs advanced in the 2020 playoffs, and instead of entering what was supposed to be the "golden era" of baseball in Chicago, the two teams have combined for just one playoff appearance and zero series wins since.
Sox-Cubs isn't what it used to be
With both the Sox and the Cubs largely irrelevant in recent years, the rivalry, at least for me, has cooled down quite a bit.
The Cubs have not won a playoff game since the turn of the decade and the White Sox just suffered 121 losses in one season.
It’s not that I’m rooting for the Cubs by any means, but Cubs woes don’t satisfy me nearly as much as they used to given the sorry state of the Sox. Dare I say, I even like some of the players on the Cubs?
Part of it may be the fact that I no longer live in Chicago, but I’ve found myself hating teams like the big-spending Dodgers, evil empire Yankees, and division rival Twins way more than the Cubs. In recent years, the Sox-Cubs rivalry has felt like nothing more than two uncompetitive teams playing each other in an interleague matchup.
Gone are the days of the Pierzynski and Barrett brawl, when the players hated the other dugout with as much conviction as the fans. The days of hearing Jason Benetti's voice echoing a "Thanks, Cubs!" while Eloy Jimenez blasted a go-ahead home run everywhere you turn on TV.
That type of intensity just doesn't exist anymore. My hope, though, is that things are different in 2025.
2025 can revive the rivalry
The 2025 Cubs are a genuinely good baseball team with playoff potential despite questions on the pitching side.
The White Sox have a long way to go to start competing for the playoffs again, but with a 7-7 record in May, this is a much-improved team with an influx of young talent now up in the big leagues. This year's Sox have already shown a lot more fight and heart than recent groups.
If the Cubs can prove that they’re for real, and the White Sox can get back to relevancy, the interest of the fans will be revived and the city will re-engage with the rivalry in the near future. I miss hating the Cubs like I used to.
With both teams seemingly on the rise, we could soon get that Golden Era of Chicago baseball we’ve been waiting for, and one of the oldest rivals in all of sports could soon be revived.
While I'm having a hard time getting up for the Crosstown Cup this weekend, my hope is that the White Sox give me a reason to have a little South Side pride again soon.