Chicago sports fans woke up today with BOTH the White Sox and the Cubs in first place in their divisions, the American League Central and the National League Central-- respectively.

The Chicago Cubs have been red hot lately and have not lost back to back games since early May.  The Cubs have won 8 of their last 10 games and with the Cardinals loss to the Dodgers last night, the Cubs have a half game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals.

The White Sox, despite injuries and Tony La Russa distractions have been keeping the rest of the American League Central at bay for weeks now.  After a 3 game sweeping loss to the Yankees, the White Sox have won 7 of their last 10 games and maintain a three and a half game lead over the Cleveland Indians.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME THE CUBS AND THE WHITE SOX WERE BOTH IN FIRST PLACE ON JUNE 1?

You have to go all the way back to the 2008 season to find the Cubs and the White Sox both lead their divisions on this day.

On this day, the White Sox had a half game lead over the Minnesota Twins and the Cubs had a two and a half game lead over the Cardinals-- it was so long ago that the Houston Astros were in the National League Central then.

That season the White Sox went on to win the AL Central in a one game playoff against the Twins.  The Sox lost to the Tampa Bay Rays in the divisional series.  The Cubs won the NL Central-- falling to the Dodgers in the divisional series.

IS THIS IMPORTANT?

Maybe not.

According to Baseball Reference, the Chicago Cubs right now have:

  • a 46% chance of making the post-season
  • a 44.5% chance of winning the NL Central
  • a 45% chance to make the NL Divisional Series
  • a 21.5% chance to make the NL Championship Series
  • a 7.4% chance to win the NL Pennant
  • a 2.8% chance to win the 2021 World Series

The White Sox have much better percentages than their cross town rivals.  According to Baseball Reference, the Sox right now have:

  • a 96.4% chance to make the 2021 post-season
  • a 91.8% chance to win the AL Central
  • a 94% chance to make the AL Divisional Series
  • a 57.3% chance to make the AL Championship Series
  • a 31% chance to win the AL Pennant
  • a 14.3% chance to win the 2021 World Series

I am not saying that we should buy tickets to a Cubs-White Sox would series just yet, but....

 

 

 

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