Could it actually happen in Chicago, where so many strange things happen in sports?
Could this city’s basketball team actually win more games in one season than either of this city’s baseball teams? I say it’s possible. Never underestimate the Bulls or overestimate the Cubs and White Sox.
Of course, we have to wait until next year, but we’re used to that in Chicago, anyway. Also, there are intangibles, such as injuries. For the unthinkable to happen, the Bulls would have to stay healthy, and so far, so good.
Dennis Rodman has hurt both calves already, but otherwise he’s in wonderful shape. As we have seen in Playboy magazine, Rodman apparently does a lot of swimming, terrific exercise.
Thing is, it’s important the Cubs and Sox stay healthy too. If any of their current players get hurt, management might have to go out and get better players, and then all bets are off.
However, early indications are for a Bull market. The Bears opened in September and the Blackhawks in October. They’ve been pretty soft, so far, and you can look it up. Combined, they’ve won 22 games, just one more than the Bulls, who didn’t begin playing until November.
Here’s the key, though. The Bears and Hawks have played 48 times, and the Bulls only 23. There’s a trend here. Around town, the question is whether the Bulls can win 70 games. Well, the same question could be asked of the Cubs and Sox.
But first I asked my good friend, Seymour Siwoff, a statistics wizard with the Elias Sports Bureau in New York. He was very happy to hear from me.
“Are you crazy?” he said. “An NBA team winning more games in a season than a baseball team? The closest thing I can remember is here in 1961, when the expansion Mets won only 40. But the Knicks were terrible too. They finished 1961 with 21 wins, and 29 in 1962. Can’t happen.”
“But, Seymour,” I said. “This is Chicago.”
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“Well,” said Siwoff, “I don’t think it can happen.”
The Cubs won 73 games and the Sox 68 last season, but the schedule was shortened because of the strike. Next season, it’s back to 162 games. Unfortunately, the Cubs and Sox haven’t exactly beefed up their rosters lately, have they?
The Sox wound up 32 games behind Cleveland last year and the party line over at Comiskey Park is that they can’t possibly finish 32 games behind Cleveland again. And the Sox might be right. With the Indians acquiring Julio Franco and Jack McDowell, the Sox might finish 42 games behind.
At Wrigley Field, Shawon Dunston and Randy Myers are gone. Mark Grace will return at first base, but what about third base? If the season started tomorrow, the best third baseman the Cubs have is Ron Santo, and he’s 55 years old.
My next call was to Ed Lynch, general manager of the Cubs. He was happy to hear from me too.
“It’s December,” he said. “Building a ballclub is a 12-month proposition. Are we to do everything now, when the free-agent prices are highest? It’s a sellers’ market.”
Chicago’s worried baseball fans shouldn’t be surprised. Recently, the Cubs and Sox revealed they had lost about $25 million combined last season. Both teams said their payrolls would be reduced slightly, as most teams are doing. Even the champion Atlanta Braves cut costs by trading a starting pitcher, Kent Mercker.
The Orioles, Indians and Yankees are spending wildly, but they’re the exceptions. Also, the Cubs and Sox have been leaders in the movement for fiscal reform during baseball’s ongoing labor strife. That’s not going to change, but still the Cubs’ and Sox’s payrolls are well above average.
Which doesn’t mean that, by the time the Bulls are finished in late June, the Cubs and Sox won’t be about done too.
And if it’s Jack McDowell versus Greg Maddux in Game 7 of the World Series next October, just be proud that you’re from Chicago, basketball center of the universe.