12 episodes
Chicago's Civil War Terry Bonadonna
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- Sport
From 1903-1942, the Cubs and White Sox met almost every year in a best-of-seven postseason series. The City Series ignited a baseball rivalry in the city of Chicago that still exists today. On this podcast, we look back on the no names who became stars for one week in October, the stars who turned into goats and the incredible stories that followed Chicago baseball throughout the first half of the 20th century.
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Episode One, Wherein a New League is Established and a Gauntlet Thrown Down
During the latter third of the 19th century, Chicago established itself as a world class city. It was becoming a world class baseball city too with the White Sox joining the Cubs in town. A rivalry was sparked instantly between Owners James Hart and Charles Comiskey, making an eventual competition between the two teams inevitable. John McMurray, the chair of SABR's Deadball Era Committee joins this week's show to talk about the formation of the AL and the start of city series all around baseball.
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Episode Two, Wherein the City Series is Inaugurated
In 1903, after three years of trying, the Cubs and White Sox get on the field together to play a best-of-15 series. In this episode, you'll get a front row seat to every game (in your imagination, that is). Then, in 1904, the peace established between the leagues is in jeopardy. Thanks to one of the biggest cheating scandals seen in early baseball, so is the city series.
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Episode Three, Wherein the World's Series is Played Entirely in Chicago
The rules are codified to ensure a World Series is played every year. That means an annual city championship series in Chicago too. In 1906, the two ideas merge as the record-breaking Cubs and the "Hitless Wonder" White Sox meet in the first ever crosstown World Series.
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Episode Four, Wherein a Stadium Rises, a Dynasty Falls and History is Made
The Cubs bounce back from their disappointing 1906 World Series loss to establish perhaps the greatest team in National League history. Cubs historian Ed Hartig joins the show to talk about the end of that great dynasty as the White Sox recapture the city's interests with a brand new stadium and one of the great postseason performances of all-time.
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Episode Five, Wherein the Federal League Tries to Force a Three-Team City Series
While the White Sox build a new contender, turmoil in the Cubs' front office sours their play on the field in the 1910's. A new challenger takes the opportunity to steal some of the west side fans as the Federal League pops up and builds a stadium on Chicago's north side. Sportswriter Sean Deveney joins the show to examine the impact of the upstart league and Kent State history professor Leslie Heaphy discusses some of the star Negro Leaguers who never got a chance to play in the city series.
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Episode Six, Wherein the History of Chicago is Explored
After the Cubs moved to the North Side of the city, a strong geographic rivalry took hold between the north side Cub fans and south side White Sox fans. In this episode, we take a look at how that rivalry developed and how each region of the city began to round into shape. Peter Alter of the Chicago History Museum and historian Richard Lindberg join in to break down the history of Chicago and how baseball fits into all of it.