As White Sox-Cubs takes center stage, Windy City envisions all-Chicago World Series

CHICAGO – Picture this following baseball scenario playing out as Halloween fast approaches in late October.

It’s a cool Fall night in Chicago, Friday, Oct. 23, to be exact. The World Series is getting ready to begin at either Wrigley Field or Rate Field for the Cubs or White Sox, the ultimate postseason competition that has played out exactly once on each side of town since 1960, and the opponent for this top baseball prize is …

Either the Cubs or White Sox.

Sure, there’s plenty of baseball to be played. And despite the Cubs holding a five-game lead in the National League Wild Card race and the White Sox lead in the American League Central ballooning to 5 1/2 games after a three-game sweep of the Tigers at Comerica Park, nothing is guaranteed.

But for the first full season since 2008, Chicago could have two playoff teams, so why not two L-train World Series entrants? Think about what those games could look like for the organizations, for the fan bases, for the city.

Maybe Pope Leo XIV would attend?

“Oh, my god, it would be crazy,” said White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas with a big smile. “Could you imagine that? That would be so sick. Probably the whole city of Chicago would stop working for that timeline.”

“That would be awesome,” White Sox starting pitcher Sean Burke said. “It would be the best World Series ever. I think it would be sick.”

In the interim, that “sick” feeling, which translates in this case to crazy, unmatched excitement, will play out at Wrigley Monday and Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon. The Cubs carry a six-game home winning streak against the White Sox into the opener, which has a first pitch time of 7:05 p.m. CT, although they have lost three of their last four contests, once against the Nationals and twice Cardinals.

The White Sox walked off the first Cubs series win from May 15-17 at Rate Field, with Edgar Quero’s home run against Ryan Rolison providing the final damage. This present branch of the Crosstown Classic has so much more than an intra-city trophy and bragging rights on the line.

Steve Stone was talking about this exact topic during his Sunday morning radio hit. He holds the unique perspective of playing for both the Cubs and White Sox, and then serving as a top-notch television analyst on the North Side and South Side of town, so he understands the rivalry.

He also sees the Cubs trying to catch Milwaukee in the NL Central, while the White Sox want to hold on in the AL Central and snag the all-important No. 2 AL seed.

“This is the first time in a long time that I can remember so much riding on this series,” Stone told MLB.com. “Because of that, I look forward to it like no other year I can remember.

“I believe this is going to be the most intense of the Cubs/Sox games, which are intense anyway. But there’s an added level of intensity that we are going to say on a play-by-play, inning by-inning basis.

"I'm looking forward to this series more than I’ve looked forward to any Cubs/Sox series because of the ramifications for both teams,” Stone added. “I know the fans are going to love it.”

What does Stone think of a potential Cubs/White Sox World Series? He smiled and said it would be one of the few things to keep him from going home to Arizona and staying in Chicago after the regular season. That Fall Classic would provide a vibrancy in Chicago only found during the Bulls' six NBA title runs with Michael Jordan, and the 1985 Bears Super Bowl title, per Stone.

Jed Hoyer, the Cubs president of baseball operations, had great praise for the job done by White Sox general manager Chris Getz when questioned after the Trade Deadline.

“He took over a very challenging situation,” said Hoyer of Getz. “The first year was obviously really hard. He’s made a lot of really hard, and sometimes unpopular decisions. It’s fun for me to see that a lot of those hard decisions, and those things that were unpopular, have paid off for him.

“They’re in a good position to get a bye, and they’ve got a really good young team. Candidly, I’m really happy for him.”

Getz and Hoyer are neighbors and friends, but good feelings are left at the local breakfast meeting spot when this series comes around. Just imagine what it would be like if they played in the World Series for the second time ever, with the White Sox winning in six games in 1906.

“People would be fighting each other,” Burke said. “It would be cool, especially being able to stay at your place the whole time. Feeling the buzz around the city would be pretty awesome.”