Cubs vs. White Sox on the Horizon

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Crosstown Classic

The start of the annual White Sox vs. Cubs showdown looms tomorrow, with the 1:20 pm start of a three-game series at Wrigley Field.

I usually dread the series because it seems to interrupt the flow of a season with an over-sized, over-hyped, over-intense three games.  But with the Hawks earning so much buzz and media attention with their successful Stanley Cup-winning campaign, this year, the series is sneaking up on everyone a bit.  Now, with a parade and World Cup opener also falling on Friday, a lot is going on in the sports world.

But this year, I am actually looking forward to the series because, usually, something — good, bad, indifferent – happens.  We need that this year.  We need something to happen, something to change our fortunes and get our engines revving.  Maybe this will be it.

A Few Notes

The White Sox enter their series with the Cubs having won three straight and seven of the last nine against the Cubs to take a 37-35 lead in the all-time series.  The Sox have posted back-to-back shutouts and own a scoreless streak of 19.0 innings dating to 6/27/09.

The Sox also hold a 169-120-8 all-time series edge when you count postseason, exhibition, spring training and regular-season games.

A glance at the White Sox career batting and pitching leaders against the Cubs shows many current names.

Paul Konerko is the franchise’s all-time leader in games (53), home runs (14), hits (55) and RBI (38).  Carlos Quentin leads with a .464 batting average (min. 20 AB).

Mark Buehrle, with four victories, tops all Sox pitchers and also leads in strikeouts (50), IP (72.2) and starts (11). Freddy Garcia leads in ERA (0.41), with John Danks second at 0.90.