Baseball Has Come a Long Way in Chicago

It’s rivalry weekend in baseball, with hometown teams across the nation playing their nearest neighbors in many interleague series.

In Chicago, the Cubs and the White Sox are both within striking distance of first place in their respective divisions, bringing a charged atmosphere to their series. It also got Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Tribune thinking about how far things have come in the Windy City.

“It used to be that by raising their children to be White Sox or Cub fans, parents unwittingly were producing kids suited for just one career: crime scene photographer,” Morrissey wrote.

“People witnessed some horrifically bad baseball in this city, and the only thing that made it palatable was the knowledge, built on bravado, self-medication and other coping techniques, that their pathetic team was better than the pathetic team on the other side of town. This was like being smug about having heart disease instead of lung disease.”

Trivia time: Who is the last player to win the U.S. Women’s Open golf title in consecutive years?

Good luck: Jim Armstrong, writing for America Online Sports, says the lack of quality big men is the Lakers’ biggest problem while contemplating a deal for Shaquille O’Neal.

“Assuming Yao Ming and Tim Duncan aren’t going anywhere, the only players the Lakers could acquire for Shaq would be perimeter shooters who whine when they don’t have the ball,” Armstrong wrote. “Last time I checked, they already had one of those in L.A.”

Add Armstrong: Wheaties announced it would honor the NBA champion Detroit Pistons on a cereal box, prompting Armstrong to ask, “Any guesses as to how they’re going to fit Ben Wallace’s Afro on there?”

Royal pain: Joe Posnanski of the Kansas City star lamented being a Royal fan after the team traded outfielder Carlos Beltran to the Houston Astros for three minor leaguers in a deal that included the Oakland Athletics.

“The Royals on Thursday evening traded Carlos Beltran, the most exciting player the Royals have had in a decade, for three guys that, until three days ago, I had never heard of,” Posnanski wrote.

” ... But we’re not kidding anybody here. There is no grand scheme of things in baseball, not in Kansas City. Nope, here it’s baseball on a budget. You don’t need a baseball cap and a scorebook to be a Royals fan, you need an accounting degree.”

Trivia answer: Karrie Webb, 2000 and 2001.

And finally: Phil Mushnick has a hard time figuring out how one person in particular was selected to carry the Olympic torch:

“The guy has operated under three aliases, all street names,” Mushnick wrote in the New York Post. “He has grown fabulously wealthy promoting those inclined toward violent criminal behavior and/or those who publicly profit from the promotion and celebration of violent crime.

” ... And last weekend, the folks trying to bring the Olympics to NYC -- and they include political leaders -- bestowed a great public honor on this guy. They handed the Olympic torch to Sean (a.k.a. Puffy, Puff Daddy, P. Diddy) Combs.”