More Than a Ballgame - Or Is It?

By: Angie Wiatrowski

The stadium is packed with over 39,000 cheering fans – a sellout crowd all hyped up just to see a ballgame at US Cellular Field.

This isn’t just a ballgame however, it’s the Crosstown Classic. To Cubs and Sox fans alike, this six-game series is one of the most intense ones of their lives. They wait anxiously for these two weekends to see Chicago’s best in baseball battle it out. Fights break out constantly between some fans that live or die by this series.

But what about the players? Are these games really a big deal?

22808053080_white_sox_v_rays.jpgWhite Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski is known for being involved in some controversy, especially in the 2006 Crosstown Classic. On May 20, 2006 Sox outfielder Brian Anderson hit a sacrifice fly to score Pierzynksi who collided with Cubs catcher Michael Barrett while crossing the plate. Barrett, now a San Diego Padre, then punched Pierzynski in the jaw after the Sox catcher reached back and tagged home plate. So far, nothing that extreme has happened this year, but you never know when it comes to the Cubs and Sox.

Pierzynski said he wishes the series could be just like any other.

“You try to look at it as another game but at the same time there’s definitely a different electricity in the air,” he said. “You have two teams in one city split half and half. The fans are very passionate about their team and want their team to win.”

Anderson agrees and said that the series has more of an entertainment aspect than anything, but that he doesn’t want it to affect his game.

“The media hypes it up but we can’t let it get to us and control the way we play.”

Sox outfielder Nick Swisher is new to the Cubs and Sox rivalry and didn’t let the hype get to him on Friday’s game. Swisher hit a grand slam – the sixth Sox grand slam this season – in the bottom of the third to give the Sox an 8-0 lead. It didn’t matter to Swisher that they were playing the Cubs.

“As players we have to treat it as just another game because if we don’t, we get all caught up in the hype and it takes you out of the game.”

White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen takes the series a little more seriously. Guillen said he was surprised that he hadn’t won a game against Cubs Manager Lou Piniella this year and really wants to beat the Cubs.

“I just want to win because I’m tired of fans calling me names,” Guillen said. “I don’t know why they hate me because we lost against the Cubs. It’s just unbelievably ridiculous. I just want to win to tear the fans away from my butt.”

Guillen also said that the fans shouldn’t take it as seriously as they do.

“(If) fans think this game is more important than the ones we’re going to play in Kansas City and Detroit then they’re wrong. I don’t care what kind of pride they have or how much they think they’re going to be abused for (us) losing against the Cubs. I get abuse too.”

Whether they felt it or not, it was definitely a different kind of atmosphere in the ballpark on Friday. Sox fans were hoping for at least one win against the Cubs and Cubs fans were hoping for another sweep this weekend. What about those fans that are in between?

White Sox General Manager Ken Williams believes that this series is very important to Chicago, no matter what side you’re on.

“I think it reverts back to the Chicago pride thing,” he said. “It’s too bad that the rivalry is so intense that you can’t allow yourself to revert back to a little pride for your city and your neighbor.”

However, deep down Williams wants to win this not only for some city pride but also for himself.

“I’m a competitive person and I want to beat everyone,” Williams said. “When there’s a team eight miles north of you and you are sharing a marketplace, as the person responsible, I want to make sure that we did our fair share. That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.”

Sox designated hitter Jim Thome says these games are pretty intense and a lot of fun. He said that they’re big games for the city, especially for bragging rights. However he does believe the main focus for the team should just be winning the division.

Many of the players agree that the fans and the media hype up the series a little too much. Tickets are impossible to get and extremely expensive, and it could be frightening getting caught in just a verbal argument between Cubs and Sox fans.

However, Sox third baseman Joe Crede says this kind of hype is good for both teams.

“Anything that’s positive for the game of baseball I’m all for it,” he said. “It’s fun coming to the ballpark knowing you’re going to have a sellout crowd.”

It’s known that the Sox have nothing against the Cubs and really only care about the game. They don’t take it as personally as the fans do. They just want to play ball and win. The main focus of conversation with the Sox was concentrating on staying in first place.

“(The fans) just need to realize that it’s not just us against the Cubs,” Thome said.

The Sox beat the Cubs on Friday 10-3, the Crosstown Classic continues through Sunday.

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Angie Wiatrowski is a journalism student at Columbia College Chicago and has been an active journalist since freshman year of high school. She attended Minooka Community High school, where she was the Special Features editor for the school newspaper. She was born and raised around baseball and is a diehard Chicago White Sox fan. Also, check out her blog.

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