Sox Town? Nobody knows better than La Russa what's possible originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

DETROIT — Las Vegas and our own Chuck Garfein say the White Sox are headed to another division title this year — and probably the World Series.

But can they finally chase down the Cubs for their fair share of the city’s baseball love and popularity?

If not now, when?

The cynical answer is never. And that might even be the smart money.

For what it's worth, the Cubs delivered their own statement on the matter with a 5-4 win over division-favorite Milwaukee Thursday before the Sox even started the season.

But there is precedent — however short-lived (and a lot more recent than Shoeless Joe Jackson even).

In fact, with the Cubs abdicating the present for their one-eye-on-the-future-but-supposedly-not-tank-now approach — combined with the Sox’ roster full of exciting young players — this bears at least a slight resemblance to the start of that brief and bygone era.

So about turning Chicago into a Sox town?

“I would never disrespect the Cubs or anybody,” Sox manager Tony La Russa said Thursday on the eve of his second opener at the helm since his un-retirement as a manager and return to  Chicago.

“I’ve been taught what a team has to do to repeat its opportunity for success,” he said, “but there are clubs who will be in our way. We are going to take our shot. It remains to be seen if we are good enough.

“We will not disrespect the Cubs, starting with the manager, and I know Andy Green and the organization.”

If La Russa’s pushback seemed instinctively quick, maybe that’s because he’s been down this road, in real life.

Turns out La Russa is uniquely qualified from a Sox perspective to pontificate on such things, even if he won’t.

It’s well-documented that the Cubs routinely outdraw the White Sox and outperform them in broadcast viewership.

For example, the Cubs have drawn 3 million or more fans in 12 of the last 16 seasons where full-capacity crowds were allowed in the city’s ballparks all year — including four times with losing teams, including a last-place team.

The Sox, of course, have drawn 3 million or more (*checks notes*) never.

The only time in the last 38 years that the Sox stoked enough southward interest and energy to outdraw the Cubs were the first two seasons after opening their new ballpark in 1991 and ’92.

Before that?

It was four seasons in a row, starting in 1981 with guys like Harold Baines, Carlton Fisk and LaMarr Hoyt.

And manager Tony La Russa.

By the middle of 1986, La Russa was gone as a result of the dumbest decision by a GM in town until the Cubs let Greg Maddux go as a free agent a few years later.

Also by the mid-1980s, the Cubs had returned to the postseason for the first time since World War II, and Ryne Sandberg, Rick Sutcliffe, et al, had recaptured the city’s baseball imagination. And the Cubs haven’t looked back since.

So about that Sox Town thing.

Is it even possible these days, especially if the Sox do what Vegas and Garfein believe they can this year?

“Did you come to Comiskey last year,” La Russa countered — before catching himself and returning to the present. “Did you come to Guaranteed Rate at all? Did you see the fans loving our team.”

We definitely saw some fans punching each other.

“I’ve seen that at Wrigley, too,” La Russa said.

The point:

“So the fans last year, the last two years, have embraced this team,” he said. “They came out. How much did we draw?”

It was 1.6 million, despite COVID-19 limits on capacity for much of the season — almost as much their last pre-COVID season (1.65 million) and closer to the Cubs (1.98 million in 2021) than most years.

“[We can have] our fans; the Cubs can have their fans,” La Russa said, “and I think they are baseball fans for both if one team is having a good year; they like to watch Chicago be successful.”

That last part might be wishful thinking. It also might be as close as La Russa gets to suggesting his team might win Chicago’s larger share of baseball love, if not allegiance, on his watch.

Again.

This time with Tim Anderson, Luis Robert, Jose Abreu, Eloy Jimenez and Lucas Giolito.

“Our White Sox fans have proven they like this ballclub,” La Russa said. “We just have to make that an enduring love for the 2022 season. And we control that.”

Click here to subscribe to the Cubs Talk Podcast for free.