I have been a subscriber to the Chicago Tribune for almost half as many years as I have been a White Sox fan–40 years. I have never, in all my years of being loyal to both of you, seen such poor local and national media support for a truly remarkable baseball story.
Throughout this season, the White Sox have had the best record in the American League; a potential MVP, Triple Crown, comeback candidate in Frank Thomas; the best hitting team in the major leagues (batters No. 1 through 9); the most players with at least 10 homers or better in major league history (10 players, hitting in a pitcher-friendly park); and the best young pitching staff in all of baseball, featuring the best bullpen in baseball.
Please also note this team was supposed to go nowhere this year.
Even with all these accomplishments and more not mentioned, this team is constantly one of the last baseball stories nationally each night, at best a lead sports story on all local TV new shows and, worst of all, barely getting as much press in your paper in the sports section as Sammy Sosa’s strained back.
(Maybe keeping the White Sox a secret has helped them be successful.)
It’s no wonder they are averaging only 24,000 people at home. Where do we place the blame?
Being the No. 1 newspaper in Chicago and the Midwest, I can’t help but place some of it with the Chicago Tribune. I would hope that the fact that your paper owns the Chicago Cubs has nothing to do with the continual snubbing of the White Sox, and the constant negative slant to all articles mentioning them. I also can’t help but fault Jerry Reinsdorf for having poor sales/marketing people and poor marketing promotions. No question when it comes to promotions, the Sox take a back seat to the Cubs.
It’s not too late for the great Tribune to see the errors of your ways and see the great story still emerging on the South Side. I’m sure that if the Cubs clinched the division title they would get multiple well-deserved positive news stories throughout your paper–not because of your common ownership but because of the newsworthiness and hometown feel. The White Sox, their fans and all fans deserve no less.
