Chicago 365 Playoff Central: Meet Me in St. Louis

     After the hoopla from Wednesday night's victory over the Pirates calmed down(and the team finally stopped celebrating) the next objective loomed large: the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Division Series. The two franchises have played 2,344 games against each other, yet had not met in the postseason for 129 years, going back to the 1886 World Series. Needless to say, the hype train was leaving the station full steam ahead. Add in the fact that the Game 1 starters(Jon Lester against John Lackey) were teammates in Boston and the drama gets ratcheted up even higher. Finally the time came and the first pitches were thrown. Lester faltered a bit out of the gate, allowing two hits in the first inning to fall into an early 1-0 hole. After that, he righted the ship, at one point retiring 10+ batters in a row. Unfortunately, John Lackey was doing great too. Dexter Fowler hit a mammoth shot that would have scored two runs, if it hadn't been caught by a Cardinal on the warning track. Lackey only allowed 2 hits, including one to Kyle Schwarber(whom I will be henceforth referring to as The Great Schwarbino). Lester was doing well at keeping the Cardinals within striking distance, until the 8th inning rolled around and he gave up 3 more runs. The Cubs did not go quietly though, putting two men on base in the top of the 9th before ultimately striking out and losing to the Cardinals 4-0. After our dressing down of Pittsburgh, this showed us a few important things:

• We still might fulfill the prophecy and win the World Series, but it sure won't be a walk in the park.
• St. Louis is going to be a tough opponent to beat
• And finally, does anyone know of a way we can make about 4 clones of Jake Arrieta?

     That last point might have been slightly in jest, and we will get Arrieta again in Game 3. As for tonight's Game 2, Kyle Hendricks gets the start. Although he comes in with a pedestrian 8-7 record, he finished the season strong, hurling 12 shutout innings over his final 2 starts, earning himself this start. First pitch is at 4:37 PM from Busch Stadium.

The Top Of Their Game: Cubs/Sox Week Day 3

     In 1906, the Cubs and the White Sox faced each other in the World Series.  The matchup led to such a commotion and an upset victory by the White Sox that it quickly became the stuff of legend.  Over the intervening decades, the two teams never again approached playing each other when it counted.  Then, the 1977 season saw both the Cubs and the Sox leading their respective divisions in the summertime and thoughts began to turn to another all-Chicago World Series.  Alas, both teams bottomed out by the Fall, and it was not to be.  31 years later, the flames of destiny would be fanned once more.

     The year was 2008, and it was the 100th Anniversary of the Cubs' last World Series victory.  Not just that, but both teams were doing surprisingly well.  When the time came for the annual face-off, the two teams were at the top of their divisions, and the gauntlet had been thrown down.

     The Series touched off on June 20, at Wrigley Field.  Heading into the final stretch of the game, the Cubs were down when Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez homered to tie up the game.  Then Ramirez smacked a walk-off homer to seal up the game 4-3.  For Game 2 of the series, the Cubs were down 4-1 in the 4th inning, when the team lit up the Sox for 9 runs in the 4th, ultimately prevailing by a score of 11-7.  The next night, the Cubs dazzled before a national audience with a 7-1 victory, prompting A.J. Pierzynski(2 years removed from his infamous bout with Michael Barrett) to parrot Lee Elia's infamous rant from 25 years previously.

     The following weekend, the series reconvened at U.S. Cellular Field.  The first pitch of Game 4 was thrown out by newly acquired Bulls guard Derrick Rose, after which it was the South Siders turn to produce a laugher, beating the Cubs 10-3.  The following day saw the White Sox stifle a Cubs rally to win the game 6-5.  Finally, the Series Finale saw the White Sox emerge victorious by a score of 5-1.  Final Results of the 2008 Crosstown Classic: 3 wins for the Cubs, 3 wins for the Sox.

     At the end of things, the all time series was tied 33-33, and the two teams still led their divisions.  There were still murmurs about another all-Chicago World Series, and while both teams made the playoffs in the same year for the first time since 1906, they both lost in the Division Series.

Fight! Fight! Fight!: Cubs/Sox Week Day 2

     The date is Saturday, May 20, 2006.  The White Sox are still ecstatic over their World Series win over the Cardinals the previous October.  The Cubs are in the midst of a moribund season that will see them lose 96 games and lead to the firing of Dusty Baker.  But as is customary for Cubs/Sox each year, you can throw the records out the window, because the unexpected can and does happen.

     On this specific occasion, our attention turns to the second inning of the ball game.  At that time, Brian Anderson of the White Sox had just hit a sacrifice fly, trying to drive in A.J. Pierzynski.  As he was sliding into home, he ran headlong into Cubs catcher Michael Barrett, who wound up dropping the ball from the shock of the impact.  The home plate umpire called A.J. safe, who slapped home plate in an emphatic celebration before turning back towards the dugout.  Perturbed over something, Barrett got in Pierzynski's face and decked him in the jaw.  As is customary, both benches immediately cleared and a brawl broke out right at home plate.  After the fracas finally cleared, the umpires were debating for more than 15 minutes over who would be ejected from the game.  After the umps restarted the game, Scott Podsednik loaded up the bases for the Sox, who received a Grand Slam when Tadahito Iguchi brought everybody home.

     The game was eventually won by the White Sox 7-0.  The White Sox ended up taking the season series that year 4 games to 2.  As for the fallout, Michael Barrett was suspended for 10 games, Brian Anderson missed 5, and Pierzynski received a fine.  And the flames of the rivalry were fanned for another year.

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.