It was a tremendous weekend for baseball in the city of Chicago. After years of competence, the Chicago Cubs are once again out to a hot starts. After years of toiling away in mediocrity, the Chicago White Sox are playing inspired baseball.
So — for the first time in a long time — there was something at stake when both teams squared off on the South Side of Chicago over the weekend.
While the play of both teams heightened the rivalry, it also had the unfortunate side effect of a few fan exchanges that may have crossed the line. Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong happened to be at the center of the two biggest spats over the weekend.
One of those interactions occurred in the bottom of the fifth inning. With the White Sox trailing 4-2, infielder Miguel Vargas hit a ball to deep center with two men on base. Crow-Armstrong tracked it, but ran into the wall as the ball came down. He missed the catch, allowing both runners to score and tying the game at 4-4.
At some point after the play, Crow-Armstrong exchanged words with a fan in a White Sox cap who was sitting right behind the fence.
After the game, Crow-Armstrong was asked about the exchange. He told ESPN, “Some lady decided to start talking s*** and I felt the need to say it back."
Crow-Armstrong was involved in another exchange with White Sox fans in which he told a fan he would “f*** you up” while standing in the on-deck circle. The clip of the exchange contain some NSFW language.
It’s important to note that — in both instances — it’s unclear what the fans said to provoke Crow-Armstrong. Both exchanges, however, tainted an otherwise phenomenal series between both Chicago teams.
Over the three-game series, the upstart White Sox won two out of the three games, outscoring the Cubs by just one run in those contests. Sunday’s game proved to be the most exciting of those games.
The contest featured multiple late-inning rallies. With the the game tied 4-4 in the bottom of the eighth, White Sox outfielder Tristan Peters hit a three-run home run to give his team the lead. But the Cubs answered in the top of the ninth, when Michael Conforto tied the game on a three-run blast of his own.
That pushed the game into extra innings, where the Cubs were able to scratch one run across in the top of the 10th. With one out in the bottom of the 10th, White Sox catcher Edgar Quero came through, hitting a walk-off home run to win the game.
It was the perfect ending to a — mostly — excellent series between both teams. And the best part is … they get to do it again later in the season.
The White Sox will travel to the North Side in August to take on the Cubs in another three-game series. If both teams remain competitive in their divisions, that series could provide the same amount of hype and excitement as the first one.
That series will also put Crow-Armstrong in a much friendlier environment, which is probably a good thing after tempers flared Sunday.
