Like all weighty matters in America these days, any suspense surrounding Chicago baseball in 2017 can be reduced to 140 characters.
As the White Sox embrace the suck, will the Cubs enjoy so much success that the once-lovable losers become the team everybody loves to hate?
Nobody will be shocked if the Sox lose as many games as the Cubs win _ 96? _ and both teams can say it's by design. The Sox will develop talent and a winning culture as part of an overdue youth movement their smart fans should appreciate. The Cubs likely will capture another National League pennant and pile up runs and enemies on their way back to the World Series.
Realize that no matter how much your grandparents still love the Cubs, they stopped being warm and fuzzy to everybody else when third baseman Kris Bryant's throw hit first baseman Anthony Rizzo's mitt with the final out at 11:47 p.m. Nov. 2. With success often comes scorn, whose evil cousins envy and jealousy eventually will press their noses to the glass admiring the best team in baseball. Good for the Cubs that they probably will keep having too much fun to notice or care.
What commonly was referred to as the greatest story in sports preceded the longest victory lap, one expected to extend well into summer around Wrigleyville. Every joyous day brings another reminder of last fall. David Ross dancing still merits more attention than Willson Contreras catching, Dexter Fowler still looks odd wearing red and Chicago's Kyle Schwarber obsession continues. The Cubs' epic clincher against the Indians not only was the sport's most gripping finale ever but its most documented too, with enough literature and video to justify adding a Game 7 room to Wrigley Field renovations, accessible at Joe Maddon's whim, just like Aroldis Chapman was.
By the time Cubs fans stop celebrating last year's championship, North Siders likely will have started contemplating this season's playoffs. The 162-game schedule essentially will serve as filler between what was and what could be, a six-month tug-of-war between the glorious recent past and a brighter future. In the Maddon Era, the debate over the postseason rotation and roster typically begins July 4, or possibly sooner for the La Stellas. As a result, any discussion solely on the Cubs' regular season figures to last barely longer than one of singer John Vincent's national anthems.
That's Cub _ the slogan should be "That's So Cub" _ means an adoring public wanting more of everything. After seven weeks of spring training, we know almost every detail worth knowing about the Cubs, from Maddon distributing chocolate milk as a Catholic grade-schooler to Rizzo dancing naked before Game 7 to players ordering customized, commemorative cowboy boots.
We know who designed Bryant's wedding tuxedo, how much better a leader Fortune Magazine considers Theo Epstein than the pope and exactly what Jon Lester thought when he replaced Kyle Hendricks against the Indians in the middle of a dirty fifth inning (?$!!$?). We know every emotion expressed before, during and after the baseball-gods-inspired 17-minute rain delay and that, somewhere, Bill Murray is still smiling.
Alas, we still don't know how much the Cubs will miss Fowler or underappreciated 15-game winner Jason Hammel or Chapman or much about bullpen consistency, but those appear to be pesky questions apparently only a buzz kill would dare to ask.
Meanwhile, the White Sox have shown excellent transparency preparing their fan base for the inevitable struggles ahead, the latest gesture is 75 craft beers being added to the Guaranteed Rate Field menu. Nothing makes baseball's bad bounces easier to take than some good hops.
The schedule says the Sox will begin the season Monday at home but as much curiosity awaits Thursday's opener for the Knights in Charlotte, N.C. _ the Deep South Side, if you will. With so many top prospects at Triple-A, you wonder if the Knights' Opening Day roster will include more players who will play in the next Sox playoff game than the Sox's. Get your MiLB.TV packages now, Sox fans. You finally have reason to subscribe.
The biggest major league draws at Sox Park will be first baseman Jose Abreu and shortstop Tim Anderson, the two players most worth an emotional investment. Nothing against Jose Quintana, Todd Frazier, Melky Cabrera or David Robertson but every game could be their last in a Sox uniform and if they remain after the July 31 trade deadline, general manager Rick Hahn's grand plan has hit a snag.
Only health threatens to the Cubs' plans to win a second straight pennant, especially the condition of closer Wade Davis' forearm. Go ahead and safely predict 110 combined home runs from Bryant, Rizzo and Schwarber, Gold Gloves for Javier Baez and Jason Heyward, and 20-win seasons for Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta, in what needs to be a distraction-free contract year. Predict an MVP candidacy for Addison Russell and a breakthrough year for Albert Almora. You could predict all those things without exaggerating. Unfortunately, nobody can predict injuries, the one thing not even Epstein can outsmart.
If the Cubs stay healthy, the season can end happily again.
So let the drive for a dynasty continue for the Cubs, this time with less drama. And may the Sox plan to rebuild quietly commence, closing a gap between the city's two teams that looks as wide as ever.
