CHICAGO -- Chicago Bears fandom might not reside at the top of Chris Getz’s sports list as both a Michigan native and a member of the Grosse Pointe South High School Hall of Fame.
But in his role as White Sox general manager, Getz appreciates the fervor, frenzy and unabashed excitement traveling across Chicago centered upon the team’s NFL Divisional Round clash against the Rams at Soldier Field on Sunday night.
"It’s definitely a football town, based on the excitement and also the pain when the Bears aren’t playing well,” Getz told MLB.com during a recent interview. “But in this particular moment, this place has certainly come alive.”
Baseball devotion is equally as ardent throughout Chicago. But it’s well defined: You are either a Cubs fan or a White Sox fan and rarely is there any sort of meeting point in between. Similarly, football fans in Chicago support the Bears, with precious few exceptions.
Over the past month, excitement has been building within Chicago sports outside of the cardiac Bears’ stunning run. As Chicago rallied to eliminate the Packers last Saturday, 31-27, in one of the biggest games in franchise history, news broke of a five-year, $175 million free-agent deal between the Cubs and third baseman Alex Bregman.
The two-year, $34 million deal bringing the White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami as the South Siders’ most prominent presence from the pacific rim area was locked down on Dec. 20. It was the same night when the Bears rallied to topple the Packers in overtime during a regular-season contest.
Cubs Convention runs this weekend downtown at the Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk, with the sold-out event packed with fans Friday night. SoxFest Live hits Year 2 on Jan. 30-31 at the Ramova Theatre. Spring Training is just around the corner, with White Sox pitchers and catchers reporting on Feb. 10, only two days after the Super Bowl.
When the sports scene comes alive in Chicago, an already tremendous city comes to life even more. Getz was playoff present as the director of player development with the 2021 White Sox, and it’s a return post he’s targeting as part of this ongoing rebuild.
"Knowing that when the White Sox have been competitive, and certainly 2021 is a great example of that, the following that certainly the Cubs have and now the Bears, I think it’s the best city in the country. I do,” Getz said. “Perhaps I’m biased because I’ve got Midwest ties.
"Chicago has always been a home for me and our family, even though only my daughter has been born here. What makes it special is certainly being on Lake Michigan. You’ve got beachfronts, you’ve great restaurants, you’ve got tremendous amounts of concerts that come through.
"Then you’ve got our sports teams, and everyone is into it,” Getz said. “Look at a Cubs/White Sox series and the impact that has and the excitement regardless of where teams are in the standings. You add two competitive teams on top of it … This place is really special.”
Getz laughed when asked about feeling the need to make a roster move last Saturday behind that much ballyhooed playoff win from the Bears, regular-season victories by the Bulls and Blackhawks and the Bregman deal. He called Cubs president Jed Hoyer after the Bregman signing became official, just as they talked after the Murakami move.
There’s a friendship between Hoyer and Getz. They have the same goal in bringing success to their respective franchises and the city as a whole, as the Bears are doing now and the Cubs did in October.
"I think it’s the best thing about working in an awesome sports city,” Hoyer said. “When a team takes off and makes a run, it’s what everyone is talking about. It’s everywhere in the city. It’s a constant buzz. You don’t get that everywhere.”
"You look around the city and the direction we are headed,” Getz said. “You get an Alex Bregman signing to the Cubs. The last couple of weeks, I think it has really gotten people excited about the future of Chicago sports.”
There's a level of excitement carrying over to the developing White Sox as well. Theirs is a more positive vibe entering the 2026 campaign than the past three or four years, as has been discussed many times this offseason.
Maybe it’s the White Sox turn to follow Ben Johnson’s “Good, better, best” mantra, or at least the "better" part.
"There’s some real momentum here,” Getz said. “We are set up to continue that momentum. You really never know where it’s going to take you.
“We’ve shown an ability to maneuver and adapt. But we feel like we are certainly in a good place right now, and it’s only going to get better.”