{"id":2084,"date":"2010-03-07T19:47:33","date_gmt":"2010-03-08T01:47:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sox35th.com\/?p=2084"},"modified":"2010-03-07T19:48:59","modified_gmt":"2010-03-08T01:48:59","slug":"on-the-simple-thrill-of-hearing-the-cubs-suffer-at-the-hands-of-the-white-sox-even-if-its-only-an-exhibition-game-played-by-the-b-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sox35th.com\/index.php\/2084\/on-the-simple-thrill-of-hearing-the-cubs-suffer-at-the-hands-of-the-white-sox-even-if-its-only-an-exhibition-game-played-by-the-b-team","title":{"rendered":"On The Simple Thrill Of Hearing The Cubs Suffer At The Hands Of The White Sox, Even If It’s Only An Exhibition Game Played By The B-Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

My feelings on Chicago’s minor-league baseball club have been made known in this space before, so we’ll skip on the whole self-loathing\/visible outward contempt\/unjustifiable false hope rants for now. But I found myself driving home yesterday afternoon and, for the first time this year, was rewarded with the sweet sweet dueling sounds of Ed Farmer’s fresh-out-of-hibernation grizzle and Ron Santo’s two hours of whatever and non sequitirs just up the dial.<\/p>\n

So as the Sox got to simultaneously clobbering the Dodgers and Cubs like so many nemeses-turned-teammates<\/a> in batting practice<\/a>, it was hard not to smile at the nicety of the afternoon.<\/p>\n

Yes, they were a pair of hollow victories, as both of those National League teams will be terrible if all goes according to profit margin-maximizing plan. Yes, Ron Santo’s predictions quickly went from endearing (“I think Ryan Theriot is going to be a solid ballplayer for a long time”) to just flat-out ridiculous (“I have to think Aramis Ramirez will go into the Hall of Fame as a Cub”). Yes, Farmer sure got a jump on complaining about the umpires this year and yes, there was all kinds of laughable non-baseball happening as the B-team and JV backup squads hit the diamond.<\/p>\n

But at the core, what was really<\/em> happening?<\/p>\n