1919 Black Sox Scandal vs Cubs

Lore & Background

The two Chicago teams only met once in the 1906 World Series, a celebrated event that seemingly put the city on hold for a full week. The heavily favored but young Cubs (who had won 116 games in the regular season) lost in six games to the veteran and pitching-strong White Sox, the 'Hitless Wonders'. From 1903 until 1942, excluding the years one team or the other won the pennant, the Cubs and White Sox played each other in a best-of-seven postseason City Series. The first series was played in 1903 and was a best-of-15. That year, the Cubs had a 6–3 series lead before the White Sox came back to force a 7–7 tie. Thanks to a rainout, they did not play the decisive 15th game as the players' contracts expired on October 15. Starting in 1905, the series became best-of-seven and remained that way until 1942. In all, they played 25 City Series with the White Sox winning 18 and the Cubs winning six to go along with the tie of 1903. The 1912 version marked the first time in a Major League Baseball postseason series that a team overcame a 3–0 series deficit as the White Sox won the final four games of the series.

In Their Own Story

There is a photograph, or maybe it's just a memory passed down, of the White Sox clubhouse after Game Four. The Reds had clinched. The lockers were half-open, bats leaning against the wall, a few towels still damp. Jackson sat on a bench, not crying, not shouting — just sitting, his cap pulled low, staring at a spot on the floor that wasn't there. The other players had already left. The building was quiet except for the hum of the lights overhead and the distant sound of the crowd still milling in the street, some of them booing, some of them just confused, trying to figure out what they'd actually watched. And Jackson sat there, the best hitter in the game, a man whose name would become a synonym for the sport's deepest shame, and the only sound was the tick of the clock on the wall and the slow, indifferent dark coming in through the window. That silence is the real story. Not the trial. Not the ban. The silence of a man who knew, in that empty room, that the applause he'd earned every night for three years had just been revealed as a performance he'd agreed to stop performing. And nobody was coming to tell him it would be okay.

Reader's Guide

The rivalry turned physical on May 20, 2006, when a brawl broke out during a White Sox-Cubs game at U.S. Cellular Field. In the bottom of the second inning, Brian Anderson of the White Sox hit a sacrifice fly, attempting to score catcher A. J. Pierzynski. Pierzynski collided with Cubs' catcher Michael Barrett. Barrett dropped the ball in the collision and Pierzynski was safe. After slapping home plate in celebration, Pierzynski began to walk away, but Barrett blocked his path and punched him in the jaw. Both benches cleared and a brawl broke out. Umpires debated for 15 minutes before ejecting Pierzynski, Barrett, White Sox outfielder Brian Anderson and Cubs first baseman John Mabry from the game. When play finally resumed, outfielder Scott Podsednik promptly got on base, loading the bases up, and second baseman Tadahito Iguchi cleared them with a grand-slam. The White Sox won the game, 7–0. Michael Barrett was suspended for 10 games, while Brian Anderson was suspended for five and A. J. Pierzynski was fined. In 2006, Pierzynski was named one of the five American League players in the All-Star Final Vote. Soon afterwards the Chicago White Sox organization began an election campaign using the slogan 'Punch A.J.', inspired by the May 20, 2006 collision and slugging incident between Pierzynski and Michael Barrett. Pierzynski received 3.6 million votes, the most votes in the American League, subsequently sending him to his second All-Star appearance.

Did You Know?

• As of May 17, 2026, the Cubs lead the regular season series 78–77.
• There have been nine 3-game series sweeps since interleague play began: five by the Cubs in 1998, 2004, 2007, 2008, and 2025, and four by the White Sox in 1999, 2008, 2012 and 2021.
• There have been three season series sweeps, all by the Cubs in 1998 (3 games), 2013 (4 games) and 2024 (4 games).
• The Chicago Transit Authority's Red Line train has stops within a block of both ballparks: Addison station for Wrigley Field and Sox–35th station for Rate Field.
• In a game on August 27, 2021, the White Sox and Cubs combined for 30 runs in a 17–13 White Sox victory at Guaranteed Rate Field, the most runs scored in a game between the two teams.