Never in the history of baseball has one town dominated the game.
The Cubs and White Sox have the best records in their leagues.
The Cubs have a 7 game win streak, beating top clubs in the Pirates and Nationals. The White Sox have a 6 game winning streak.
The Cubs are 24-6, an .800 winning percentage. They are on pace to win a record 130 games.
The White Sox are 22-10, a .688 winning percentage. They are on pace to win 111 games.
Combined, Chicago baseball is at a .741 winning percentage, or an average pace to win 120 games.
Even if the clubs come back down to Earth, and win only half of their remaining games, the Cubs would win 90 and the White Sox 87.
But as the rosters are constructed, the teams are expected to do much better than .500 down the stretch. The White Sox have a very good starting four rotation. The Cubs have a solid hitting core with an unbelievable run differential of +102 in only 30 games.
And the White Sox have $13 million in payroll to spend after Adam LaRoche left the club. The White Sox could spend that money on an outfielder (Jay Bruce) or a pitcher (Tim Lincecum who threw a show case event last week; he hit 88-92 on fastballs and showed some promise on 3 breaking pitches but he is not major league ready).
The only time the Cubs and White Sox met in a World Series was 1906, which marked the dawn of the modern baseball era. In that year, the Cubs had a record number of wins. The White Sox were the hitless wonders who won the pennant, and then on outstanding pitching, upset the Cubs for the championship.
There is an old principle that history repeats itself. We may be witnessing it.
SI reports the Cubs, at 24–6, equaled their 1907 squad’s record for their best
30-game start since the beginning of the 20th century; that team, led by
the famed double play combination of Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers and Frank
Chance, won 107 games and the franchise’s first World Series; the Cubs
won again the next year and haven’t won since. The franchise’s only
better starts date deep into the 19th century: In 1876, the inaugural
year of the National League, they were known as the Chicago White
Stockings and jumped out to a 25–5 record en route to the NL pennant,
while in 1880, they went 27–3 (with a tie) en route to another pennant.
