The Rivalry: Cubs/Sox Week Day 1

     This week, the Cubs and the White Sox reconvene for their 18th Annual tilt of games.  Here at Chicago 365, I've decided to take a look back at some of the memorable moments from those games.

     Ever since the American League was founded in 1901, there had been a rivalry between the two leagues, with the AL openly poaching both players and fans from the more established National League.  This rivalry extened to the teams themselves, including the Chicago Cubs and the new AL affiliate in town, the Chicago White Stockings.  The tension started even before the White Stockings played their first game, as the owner of the Cubs had filed suit to prevent Charles Comiskey from even moving another team into the city.  The courts let Comiskey move in the team, and the animosity had been stoked.

     In 1906, both teams made the World Series(which was actually the first time that two teams from the same city played each other in the Fall Classic).  The Cubs had won 116 games that year and were the odds on favorites.  The White Stockings had won 93 games and were known as the Hitless Wonders.  Regardless, the Cubs wound up losing the Series to the South Siders.  For several years after the '06 Series, the two teams played a post-season series that served to provide bragging rights.  By the '40s, that series was no longer played.

     Then, in the late '80s, the idea was resurrected for the annual Crosstown Classic charity game.  This wasn't too momentous, other than the fact that it led to Michael Jordan starting a game at Wrigley Field(this was when Jordan played in the White Sox farm system).  Finally, in 1997 MLB organized regular season interleague play, and the two teams faced each other when it counted for the first time in 91 years.  Since then, the White Sox have won the series 9 times, with the other 8 being either Cubs wins or ties.  The series commences once again tonight, and who knows what kind of a show we're in store for.