King Kaufman's Sports Daily

The case of the unloved White Sox. Until now: Chicago in 7. Plus: NFL Week 7.

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Oct. 21, 2005 | The Chicago White Sox get no love.

Wretcheder than a Red Sock, more unsuccessful than a Cub, able to leap Tigers and Indians in a singular quest to avoid pennants, the White Sox have built up none of the mystique and tragic beauty of some of their fellow losers.

That won't change with a World Series victory over the Houston Astros. But the White Sox'll have to live with that: Chicago in seven.

Last year the Red Sox went for and won their first World Series title since 1918 and it was a signal event in Western civilization. Two years ago the Cubs came within five outs of their first pennant since 1945 and it was a calamity on par with the destruction of Pompeii, or at least the cancellation of "My So-Called Life."

The White Sox haven't won the Series since 1917, a drought two years longer than Boston's. They won the American League title in 1959, more recently than the Cubs, but that was the Sox's only pennant since 1919, a time during which the North Siders won the National League five times.

This all proves an unavoidable fact about American life: You need star power, but what you really need is a good press agent.

By the dawn of the 1920s, when the White Sox, Red Sox and Cubs all started their decades-long cavalcade of futility, they were roughly on par. Boston had won five World Series, the Cubs had won two and lost three, and the White Sox had won two and lost one.

But they'd done it with some flair. Their win in 1906 was -- and remains -- the greatest upset in Series history, over the cross-town Cubs, no less. Their loss in 1919, well, you know about that. They threw the Series for gamblers' money.

Since then, forget it. They've had their decent teams over the years, some stars and Hall of Famers. Luke Appling, Luis Aparicio, Minnie Minoso, Nellie Fox, Harold Baines, Frank Thomas.

But the Red Sox had the Babe Ruth thing, Ted Williams, Yaz, Fenway Park and the Eastern literary establishment. The Cubs had Hack Wilson and Ernie Banks, Sweet Swingin' Billy Williams and Ron Santo, Ryne Sanberg and Sammy Sosa. They had the ballpark and the celebrities, they had Harry Caray becoming a national figure on their payroll.

The White Sox had short pants and Disco Demolition Night, a yard that was older than Wrigley but somehow not as mystically charming. They represented the wrong side of the tracks, the economically depressed, heavily ethnic South Side. They were strictly below the fold.

The Red Sox had the Yankees as rivals. The Cubs had the Cardinals. The White Sox had -- well, they had the Cubs, whom they didn't even play in real games between 1906 and 1997. Other than that it seemed like they spent an inordinate amount of time playing the Brewers or Indians on Tuesday nights. The White Sox always seemed to have more Tuesday nights in their weeks than other teams did.

Next page: The Curse of Shoeless Joe. Plus: Hey, what about the Astros? And: NFL Week 7