Sox Diary Posted at Gaslamp Ball Blog

Other than they typo re the White Flag Trade ('87 vs '97), this is a pretty good commentary by a former Chicagoan.  He's obviously older than some of you (not me) and there may be a nugget or two in here that you didn't know.
Ah... 1977!  That was a fun year!
More below the fold:

Don't worry Padres fans -- unlike Cubs fans, White Sox fans won't be flooding Petco.

The thing is though, you might see some of the same Cubs fans you saw last weekend -- except they will be rooting for the Padres. Yeah, there will be a few White Sox fans....after all, there are  probably a few. (Perhaps there are more in So Cal than in Chicago, because they sure aren't flocking to US Cellular Field, even with the best team in the AL)
A little background here: I grew up as a Chicago baseball fan -- I rooted for both the Cubs and the White Sox in the 60s and 70s....seemed like the proper thing to do. You live there -- you grow up with the teams...they are on TV almost every day -- even sharing the same TV broadcaster for many years (Jack Brickhouse on WGN-TV) Most of my peers felt as I did -- the Cubs, the White Sox, the Bears, the Black Hawks, the Bulls. Our teams.

All of this changed with a number of events:

The demise of the old Comiskey Park

Jerry Reinsdorf's ownership

Sports Talk Radio

The old Comiskey was -- well, an outdoor beer garden. It was rowdy, beery, boisterous -- kind of like a carnival midway, with one-legged Bill Veeck as the ringmaster. Harry Caray arrived in the 70s as the voice of the White Sox, with Jimmy Piersall beside him. I'd even watch more White Sox games on TV in that era, because of the devil-may-care attitude of the 2 broadcasters. Only a few of the teams were competitive (1977) but still, people enjoyed the atmosphere (or was it the smell?) of Comiskey Park.
Enter Jerry Reinsdorf -- he made sure Comiskey would soon be history, as under his ownership threatening to move the team to Florida. Well, he induced the State of Illinois and City of Chicago to build him his own stadium. (The current Tropicana Field was the possible destination of the White Sox)

That's strike 1.

The White Sox drew well the first years of the new Comiskey -- but the word got out -- this is a not a good place to watch a ball game -- "sterile" was the most apt description. Reinsdorf turned down a Camden Yards-esque design, for his new play pen, FYI, and, instead got the 80s' version of Dodger Stadium...but lacking any of the beauty of that venue. That stadium should NEVER have been built next to the old park -- another mistake. It should have been built in the South Loop -- which, at that time was beginning to 'gentrify'-- and another Wrigleyville/Gaslamp situation could have been created. Instead, you have a situation where the team keeps (in vain) trying to improve the park -- but nobody's buyin' the fixes. (Don't you love the view of the tenements just past the park's border?)

Strike 2 -- Jerry R. takes the White Sox off WGN. He creates his own cable network -- the problem is, cable penetration in Chicago in 1982 is -- well, near....ZERO. (Exit Harry Caray, and the legend is created on the Northside)

Strike 3 -- The 1987 'fire sale" in which Jerry R. started to sell off players, with the team 3 games out of the AL Central lead.

Strike 4 -- Jerry R. is credited with holding the MLB line, keeping undecided owners in line -- leading to a strike -- and no World Series in 1994.

Strike 5 -- In the mid to late 90's Jerry R. ran the team as if they were in a small market. You would have thought they were the Montreal Expos. Low payrolls....how can a team in the 3rd market be run as if they were in Kansas City? More people are turned off.

Strike 6 -- The rise of Sportstalk radio in Chicago. I work in radio -- conflict sells. Conflict gets ratings. So, the hosts play up conflict between the team's fans rises....it gets heated...it gets nasty...and now, the hatred is at a heated pitch.

It's very New York-like now. (Or, kinda like the Padres fans hatred of the Dodgers.) There's no such hatred between Giants & A's Fans....if memory serves me correctly, split Caps were produced for the 1989 World Series in both colors and logs. Dodgers Fans and Angels fans don't seem to be at war.

All of those events became the "Perfect Storm" to erode the fan base of the White Sox even further.

So now, the atmosphere between White Sox fans that are left (to their credit, they are very passionate) and Cubs fans has become toxic -- and, in reality -- it's the White Sox fans who hate the Cubs. I, as a Cubs fan don't hate the White Sox. I just don't care. And, by the crowd count -- most of Chicago is ignoring the White Sox. And, boy is that making the die-hard White Sox fan angry...and bitter...and angry...and bitter.....and angry...and bitter....After all, the White Sox haven't won a World Series since 1918 -- and all you would hear about was the drought that the RED Sox and the Cubs endured. (More angry, bitterness -- any reason why their fans sometimes charge the field and tackle coaches? OK, that's a cheap shot)

Yeah, the White Sox will sell out some games -- when the Cubs, Red Sox and Yankees come to town. But that's about it.

And did I mention the miserable PBP of "Hawk" Harrelson? "Grab Some Bench?" "He Gone?" "Put It On The Board -- yes!"  Just miserable work -- bad TV.

All right -- that being said the White Sox have had quite a run so far -- and might win the division. However, make them EARN it. Go Padres.
Edited to add link to original: http://www.gaslampball.com/story/2005/6/10/24715/3148