Chicago may be known as “The Second City,” but there is a rich tradition of Chicagoans fighting the label of second-best. One can only imagine, then, the plight of the White Sox—long known as the Second City’s second team. It’s bad enough that Sox fans are forced to watch their despised North Side brethren capture the country’s affection as they get set to play in their first World Series in 71 years, but now the Sox’s own accomplishments are being erased from existence.
Everywhere you turn these days, White Sox history is being left on the cutting room floor of media coverage. Here we have CBS This Morning apologizing for forgetting the Sox’s 2005 World Series appearance, yet still somehow giving the franchise short shrift:
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Cool story: The White Sox also made the World Series in 1959. But yes, if you leave out that one time…and that other time…Chicago hasn’t hosted a Fall Classic since 1945.
Here we have the Washington Post claiming that only fans of the 2004 Boston Red Sox can understand what it would mean for Cleveland or Chicago to break its epic World Series drought:
If the writer had bothered updating his “World Series champions” list just one more season, he would have stumbled upon another club who erased an even longer dry spell: the 2005 White Sox. Once again, for the record, that team also plays in Chicago.
But CBS This Morning and the Washington Post aren’t exclusively sports-centric entities. Surely ESPN will get it right…
Jumpin’ Jesus! Look, I get it: The 2005 White Sox didn’t leave much of an impression on the wider sports world. Sure, they won Chicago’s first Major League title since 1917, but it just didn’t have the pizzazz of Boston’s run just one year earlier. The Sox steamrolled through the postseason and were basically never heard from again. Guys like Mark Buehrle, Freddy Garcia, and Paul Konerko aren’t destined for Cooperstown. But they existed, dammit! The White Sox are a Major League baseball team, and they have accomplished things, whether we acknowledge it or not.
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