CHICAGO -- The temperature was recorded somewhere around 20 degrees when the Bears hosted the Rams during the 2026 NFC Divisional Round at Soldier Field.
With the wind chill, it felt more like below zero. Yet Sean Burke, the White Sox right-hander, made the offseason trip to see the spine-tingling gridiron action on Jan. 18.
Weather will be much warmer when Burke takes the mound for the White Sox against the Cubs on Friday night at Rate Field -- and the crowd will be a bit smaller. But with the Cubs (28-16) sitting atop the National League Central and the White Sox (22-21) one game back in the American League Central, the atmosphere will be playoff-like.
“It will be similar,” Burke said. “I expect this place to be packed out. Definitely looking forward to throwing on Friday night.”
It wasn’t too long ago when the Crosstown Classic stood at the epicenter of Chicago baseball. Bragging rights were important. Rotations occasionally were mapped out for optimal series results.
Then, the Cubs came within five outs of reaching the 2003 World Series. The 2005 White Sox won the World Series for the first time since 1917 with a dominant 11-1 postseason run and the 2016 Cubs beat Cleveland in seven games for their first championship since 1908.
Much loftier team expectations coupled with extended rebuilds on both sides of town took this home-and-home six-game Interleague battle down a notch. That extra level of intensity returns this weekend to Chicago’s South Side, with both teams sitting above .500 in the matchup for the first time since 2020.
“We are all looking forward to it,” White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery told MLB.com. “We are all hyped up. They are a really good team. We know we are a really good team. It should be fun.”
“There’s a different level in this clubhouse overall going into every game. We expect to win ballgames now,” White Sox reliever Grant Taylor said. “Sometimes that maybe wasn’t as much of an expectation last year.”
Baseball is entertaining again for the 2026 White Sox. They play with intensity, they play with high energy, and they play for each other as much as with each other.
As manager Will Venable told MLB.com during a recent interview, his team might not be as talented overall as others, but all these intangibles give them an edge. Fans certainly have responded, with Friday and Saturday already being sold out, including significant standing-room-only purchases.
“Every single game [vs. the Cubs] is going to be one of those games where there’s going to be one play, one mistake, that costs each other the game,” Montgomery said. “It’s going to be tight games, so those little details matter -- beating out something, a double play, or first to third, just little things.”
“We obviously have the rivalry going and we want to be the best team in the city,” Burke said. “Get another shot at them, with how we are playing right now, and they are having a good season too. The weekend should be good. It’s awesome.”
White Sox Major League field coordinator Chris Denorfia played 103 games during his final Major League season for the 2015 Cubs, a team that went from five years of rebuilding and 89 losses in 2014 to the NLCS. It’s only 43 games in, but the White Sox could be making a similar upward move, after recording 102 losses in '25 and 121 in ‘24.
Similarities exist in the energy within the clubhouse amongst the guys, according to Denorfia. But the 2015 Cubs and '26 White Sox feature completely different makeups.
“We were much more of a veteran team over there in '15 with expectations on us,” Denorfia said. “This is something [with the White Sox] that we believed in before everybody else did. Now people are starting to come around a little bit.
“Energy is the same. The way the guys are going about their business every day and the energy they bring into team meetings and how they care about each other and interact with everybody, coaches, staff. That energy on winning teams, it has a feel to it.”
The Cubs have a 13-3 record against the White Sox since May 28, 2022, and a 77-75 all-time advantage.
Things are different. The White Sox are climbing. The Cubs are there.
Let the games begin.
“When I came out here for that Bears game, the whole environment of all the sports teams being better, it’s cool,” Burke said. “You feel the energy in the city.”
“Everyone here, if you ask,” Montgomery said, "we are all pumped for it.”
“It’s a unique thing when you can get such a great city with two competitive ballclubs that have a nice rivalry going on,” Denorfia said. “And they really, really, really care about beating each other.”