Cubs, Sox fans could show a divided country how to coexist
It might seem crazy to believe Chicago can set an example for the rest of the nation on howto heal the divisions that only figure to deepen after the presumptive election of Joe Biden as our next president.
Playing the role of gracious victors really isn’t our style.
As soon as the news broke Saturday morning, my longtime friend and Tribune colleague MikeDowney posted a timeless South Side chant on his Facebook page:
“Na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye,” Downey wrote.
Nancy Faust, the Comiskey Park organist who helped make that 1970s rock song famous, made a video of herself playing the tune and tweeted it at President Donald Trump.
Taunting the opposition is second nature for Chicagoans, whether itwas Chicago White Sox fanswaving bye to a reliever being removed froma game or Michael
Jordan shrugging his shoulders after hitting a barrage of 3-pointers against the Portland Trailblazers in the 1992NBA Finals.
William “Refrigerator” Perry would have been just another defensive lineman if not for coach Mike Ditka using him as a running back in a 1985 win over the Green Bay Packers, just to score a touchdown and shove it in their faces.
We like winning here andwe don’t mind letting everyone knowwhen we’re in a zone.
City of Big Shoulders?
Sure, but it’s also the City of Big Bat Flips, whether it’s Tim Anderson provoking the Kansas City Royals orWillson Contreras giving it to the Sox.
So if a progressive city that’s bluer than a pair of unwashed jeanswants to gloat over a long-awaited win over the much-hated opponent, there’s notmuch Trumpers or
anyone can do about it.
I’m no exception. When I heardmultiple news organizations had declared Biden the winner, I retweeted “Family Guy” writer Alec Sulkin, who tweeted a video of former Sox announcerKen “Hawk” Harrelson shouting: “HEGONE!!!!”
My apologies, but if the shoewere on the other foot, there’s little doubt Trump supporters in Chicagowould be doing likewise. That’s theway theworld is, and there’s no going back.
But according to election results, only 16.7% of citywide voters cast a ballot for Trump, so there’s notmany people in Chicago to taunt even if youwanted to get in their face. We only can turn to Facebook and Twitter to rub it in— or take a road trip to Indiana.
Once the celebrating ends, however, it will be time to start the healing process, which Biden already has saidwould be a priority in his administration. It sounds like mission impossible, especially if Trump doesn’t concede he lost, further escalating the animosity between the sides.
For the sake of argument, though, let’s assumewe get to a point at whichTrump shows some class. It’s possible. Even goons shake hands after the end of the Stanley Cup Final. If that happens, it’s then incumbent on all of us to live together in harmony for the sake of a countrywe all love, even ifwe don’t really get along and probably never will.
Chicago, believe it or not, can lead the way. We all knowhowthis stuffworks.
Cubs and Sox fans have coexisted since 1900 in spite of a mutual dislike that makes the hate between Biden and Trump supporters seem tepid by comparison.
We’ve held City Series games on both sides of town since 1997 without any major incident. There have been a few fist fights here and there, naturally, including the famous A.J. Pierzynski-Michael Barrett brawl in 2006, but no fatalities that I’m aware of.
For a CivilWar, it mostly has been civil. I’m not suggesting Cubs and Sox fans
will ever like each other, but they can sit side by side in the same ballpark and maybe have adjoining cubicles in the same office without resorting to violence or name-calling. Their differences never will be resolved, but there’s more to life than baseball and politics, sowhy can’twe all just get along?
One ofmy favorite examples of healing involved an old friend, Terry Armour, the late Tribune columnist and radio host of the “Stan& Terry Show” onWCKG-FM 105.9. During a heated Cubs-Sox game at U.S. Cellular Field, a Cubs fan used a racial slur after security asked his group to leave for using profanities.
Armour, whowas Black, followed the group into the Stadium Club, and a brawl ensued, leading to their arrests. After Armour died in December 2007 I mentioned his fight with a “foul-mouthed Cubs fan” in a remembrance in the Chicago Tribune. That fan later sent me an email apologizing for his “immature” behavior and revealing Armour not only had paid the Sox both of their shares for the damages but joked about the fan’s bad mug shot while theywere together six hours in the lockup.
The Black guy and the white guy who made a racist comment laughed about their brawl, then shared a cab home and kept in touch.
“He took a negative situation and made it a positive one,” the Cubs fan wrote. “It sounds like he could’ve done that in any situation.”
Instead of holding a grudge, Armour made the guy laugh. Thatwasn’t surprising to any of his friends. “That’s Terry,” we all said.
Unfortunatelywe don’t all share Armour’s capacity to forgive and forget. It’s hard for many of us not to hold a grudge against Trump for some of the things he has done and things he continues to do.
It will never fade, honestly, nor should it. This figurative bat flip feels good.
But canwe continue to dislike and taunt his supporters and still move forward as a country? Shouldwe at least make an attempt to get along, or is that impossible?
My guess iswe’ll be singing “NaNaHey HeyKiss Him Goodbye” for quite a while.
Howmuch longer really depends on him.