Baseball’s Civil War Is Revived in Chicago

The setting: A cool, crisp night. A sellout crowd of fans at Comiskey Park with a nearly even split between Sox and Cubs’ fans.

Ryne Sandberg against Harold Baines; Jody Davis against Carlton Fisk; Shawon Dunston against Ozzie Guillen.

The 1985 World Series? No, not yet, although Chicago baseball fans will tell you it’s a possibility.

No, this is only a dress rehearsal. The Cubs and Sox are renewing their intracity squabble on the field on Monday at Comiskey Park. The game is a sellout and the atmosphere should be nothing less than that of the Series.

The game will mark the first time the two clubs have played since August 7, 1981, when they opted to play back-to-back exhibitions to tune up for the second half of the season. There was a strike that year and the teams decided two full-scale workouts would be a good idea to shake off the cobwebs from the 50-day baseball walkout.

The two teams played a scoreless tie at Comiskey Park. The next afternoon, the Cubs edged the Sox, 4-3, at Wrigley Field.

Before then, the clubs used to meet semi-regularly. There was a city series after the regular season that used to be about as big a deal as a World Series game.

“It was bigger than the World Series,” recalls former baseball writer Bill Gleason. “We had one, Philadelphia had one. The reason it was stopped was that the national radio coverage put pressure on because people in Chicago cared more for that than the World Series.

The only time the Cubs and Sox had ever met in a World Series was in 1906--won by the Sox for their first title.

The two teams have met more than a 100 times in two separate eras from 1903 until 1942 and between 1949 and 1972.

One of the more memorable efforts in the series was when Hall-of-Farmer Grover Cleveland Alexander and Sox pitcher Ted Blankenship both hurled all 19 innings in a 2-2 tie. That isn’t likely this time around. The Sox have a road date the next day against Baltimore and the Cubs have a day game against the San Francisco Giants at home.

Curfew would set in before a 19th inning could take place.

Ernie Banks had a .400 lifetime average against the Sox. Billy Williams batted .357.

“It should be a whole lot of fun,” Cubs’ Manager Jim Frey saod . “It is, only, an exhibition, but I know what it means to the fans.”

Frey and his Sox counterpart, Tony LaRussa, engaged in some clever television promotions building up the game. Both were seen on split screen, engaging in a telephone debate about who would win the contest.

The man generally credited with reviving the rivalry is Sox President Eddie Einhorn.

“We thought it would be a good idea for Chicago baseball,” Einhorn says. “The renewal of the rivalry is at a time when baseball interest in both teams is at an all-time high. The city set a record for highest attendance last year and the spirit is here.”

Neither manager is likely go with his regulars for the entire game. It should provide a good vehicle for Frey to take a look at Dick Ruthven, who has been held prisoner in the Cubs’ bullpen because of open dates. The Sox may also want a further look at a Richard Dotson, who has been on the disabled list for part of the month, or even bring up a rookie from Buffalo for a quick look.

Still, Cubs and Sox fans will get their wish--albeit unofficially--to see the Western Division American League champions of 1983 face the National League Eastern Division champs of 1984.

Proceeds of the game will go to both clubs to do as they wish. The receipts will be higher this year because Comiskey Park seats about 44,000. That’s 8,000 more than Wrigley Field where the game will be played next year, most likely during the day.

The game is also going to be telecast locally by the Sox affiliate, meaning Superstation WGN-TV won’t be doing the game. That means the rest of the nation wired by cable will not be able to enjoy the rivalry.

It’s too bad. They are going to miss a whale of a show.