Go Go Sox!

Congratulations to the Chicago White Sox on winning their first World Series championship since 1917. This must be a great day for all of the Sox fans who have spent years in the long shadow of the attention paid to their neighbours to the north. In actuality, I think the White Sox constituency is more representative of the city of Chicago than their Cubs counterparts - blue collar, ethnically diverse, and tough as nails. I'm sure the party will last for some time on the South Side.

As a lifelong fan of the dearly departed Expos, I have a bit of an affinity for this White Sox team. For one thing, there are a number of former Expos on the team. Their general manager, Kenny Williams, played briefly with the 'Spos at the end of his playing career. Their 1st base coach, Tim Raines, is a legend in Montreal. Carl Everett played part of last year in Montreal. Orlando Hernandez was an Expo in 2003 (although he never threw a pitch the whole season due to injury.) Dustin Hermanson and Chris Widger were both Expos for four years. And World Series hero Geoff Blum played three years in Montreal. But other than the personnel connections to the team, the White Sox remind me of the Expos in terms of the obscurity in which they have played for years. There hasn't been the same kind of notoriety surrounding the White Sox drought as has been attached to the Red Sox and Cubs, and I have an idea about the reason for that. The Red Sox, over the years, have usually fielded a contending team, but they often found spectacular ways to fall short that are the stuff of legend. The Cubs, apart from a few notable collapses, have usually been a brutal team, and that contributed to the affinity of their fans. But the White Sox have generally been not great and not awful - just somewhere in the mushy middle, out of the spotlight - the definition of mediocrity. That is what I can relate to as an Expos fan. So I consider White Sox fans kindreds, and I celebrate along with them.

And despite the brave face put on by many Cubs fans about how the White Sox success is great for Chicago, it all must be eating them alive. Now that the Red Sox and White Sox have won the World Series the last two years, the Cubs stand alone in baseball futility. 97 years and counting. Next in line are the Cleveland Indians, but it has only been a paltry 57 years for them. And unlike the Cubs, they have a very promising team that will make some noise over the next several years. The long Chicago winter be just a bit colder on the North Side.