OT: Reasons for White Sox lack of popularity...

Inuyasha · Post by **Inuyasha** » Wed May 18, 2005 5:25 pm

different city, same stuff:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnist ... -headlines

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Wed May 18, 2005 5:44 pm

HouOilers wrote:

depends....

Baseball history says that Chicago was always a AL/White Sox town before the 80's. NY was always a NL town when they had the dodgers/giants there even though the Yankees would win every year. It's cyclical.

I meant currently. I grew up just over the border in NW Indiana in the 70s, and the Sox were pretty popular then. But right now, it's an NL town.

sfz_T-car · Post by **sfz_T-car** » Wed May 18, 2005 5:51 pm

HouOilers wrote: depends....

Baseball history says that Chicago was always a AL/White Sox town before the 80's. NY was always a NL town when they had the dodgers/giants there even though the Yankees would win every year. It's cyclical.

If you check out the attendance figures at Baseball Reference, you'll see this is true up to 1969. That year the Cubs outdrew the Sox by a factor of nearly 3-1. The Cubs haven't drawn less than a million in any non-strike year since, while the Sox had some really dismal years in the mid-70s.

I can remember when the Sox used to play some "home" games at Milwaukee County Stadium before the Brewers moved there. So even when the Sox were outperforming the Cubs at the gate, there was some softness in the support. Night baseball at Wrigley has been a good thing except for a few NIMBYs in Lakeview. The reach of WGN has also helped the Cubs build support.