There were more fights at the Cubs/White Sox games at Wrigley Field

Last month, I wrote about multiple fights that broke out at the Cubs/White Sox games at Guaranteed Rate Field on the city’s South Side.

I’m sorry to have to report to you that this was again a problem at Tuesday night’s Cubs/Sox game at Wrigley Field. I personally witnessed someone being led out of the ballpark by multiple security folks with his hands held behind his back — apparently he wasn’t taking to friendly suggestions to tone things down — and apparently one of the fights got so out of hand that someone called 911. That’s why I saw quite a number of uniformed Chicago Police Department officers hurry by on the bleacher concourse behind my seat in left field.

In addition, I was told that there was a scrape between unruly fans and a Wrigley custodian in one of the men’s rooms right after the game ended.

This sort of thing isn’t happening at games at Wrigley against other teams. I will note that things seemed much calmer Wednesday night, and I think there are two reasons for that: 1) the game moved by at a swift pace, meaning it was nearly over by the time some fans often get unruly, and 2) the Cubs won in dramatic fashion, turning the ballpark into a love fest instead of a boxing ring.

None of this was anything close to what I saw on the South Side last month, but it’s still disturbing and shouldn’t happen at a baseball game. I always fear something worse might happen.

So I’m going to repeat the two things I wrote about in this article posted here last month about MLB’s same-city rivalries that I think are very important:

Don’t put the Cubs and White Sox in the same division

Realignment might come, over the next several years, if MLB expands. There is absolutely no reason to put the Cubs and Sox in the same division and have them play a dozen times a year or more. Plenty of other permutations exist to put nearby teams together to help reduce travel without putting same-city pairs together. Also, teams that DON’T have a nearby rival might object, as more travel for those clubs could be considered a competitive disadvantage.

Some of you might say that if the Cubs and Sox played more times, the individual games would become less important and so the bad behavior would be reduced. I disagree. For one thing, if the Cubs and Sox are in the same division, they would then be competing for the division title, thus making the games MORE important.

And just because there are more of them doesn’t automatically mean bad behavior would go away. It could get worse with more opportunities.

But even more importantly...

Stop scheduling Cubs/Sox games at Wrigley Field at night

Sure, it’s possible that people COULD get just as drunk and disorderly during the day, but somehow it just seems less likely.

The schedule sent to season ticket holders this week with a breakdown of pricing tiers has the Cubs/Sox games at Wrigley in 2024 the same as this year, Tuesday and Wednesday nights:

I cannot stress enough how bad an idea this is. So I’m going to make this suggestion to the Cubs, right now: Switch those two, June 4 and 5, to day games. Here are two day games listed above that could be then switched to night:

• Wednesday, July 24 vs. Brewers. Both teams have the next day off.
• Wednesday, August 7 vs. Twins. Again, both teams have the next day off.

In both cases, the Cubs opponent is close enough to Chicago that travel would be fairly quick (both head home) and they could still have their off day, even playing a night game on getaway day. After that Milwaukee series in July 2024, the Cubs have an off day, then a short flight to Kansas City. After that Minnesota series in August 2024, the Cubs have an off day and then don’t travel anywhere — they stay in Chicago to play the White Sox.

Would scheduling Cubs/White Sox games at Wrigley in the afternoon guarantee no fighting in the stands? No, but I believe it would help reduce the chances those could happen, because the vibe at Wrigley Field on weekday afternoons is far different than it is at night. The games would almost certainly still sell out.

Please, Cubs, get it done. (And the Sox should do the same on the South Side.)