The Cubs and Sox both are in the Major League Baseball playoffs, thanks to their victories Thursday afternoon. While it’s rare for both Chicago teams to play in the postseason in the same year, it has happened before.
But it's the first time they've clinched playoff berths on the same day.
Here’s what you need to know about both teams being in the playoffs.
The Cubs and Sox made the postseason together in the 2020 COVID-shortened season, and in 2008 and 1906, when they met in the World Series.
In 2020, both teams lost in the best-of-three wild-card round. The Cubs lost to the Marlins 2-0, and the Sox lost to the then-Oakland A’s 2-1.
In 2008, both teams lost in the best-of-five Division Series. The Cubs had the best record in the National League that season, but they lost to the Dodgers 3-0. The Sox lost to the Rays 3-1.
In 1906, the Sox beat the Cubs 4-2 in the World Series.
Based on Saturday's games, we now know that neither team will play in Chicago in the best-of-three Wild Card Series, the first round of the postseason.
The Cubs will face the Padres in that series starting Tuesday, and all the games will be in San Diego.
The Sox also will be traveling, facing either the Houston Astros or Texas Rangers, depending on the outcome of Sunday's games.
For games to be played at Wrigley Field or at Rate Field, the Cubs or Sox would have to advance beyond the first round.
A Red Line/cross-town doubleheader is when the Cubs and Sox play on the same day at home, and it’s possible for fans to attend both games by taking the Red Line L (the subway) between Wrigley Field on Chicago’s North Side and Rate Field on the South Side.
There would not be a Red Line doubleheader in the wild-card round because the Cubs and Sox each will play all games on the road in that round. If they both advance, it becomes possible that they’d both host postseason games on the same day.
They’ve each won three times. The Sox in 1906, 1917 and 2005. The Cubs in 1907, 1908 and 2016.
PCA is MVP: Pete Crow-Armstrong has had one of the best individual seasons in history, hitting 40+ home runs, stealing 40+ bases and playing Gold Glove defense in center field. The likely National League MVP is the most exciting reason to tune in.
Defense wins championships? The Cubs have scored the most runs in baseball this season, but their defense is what makes them stand out, with five Gold Glove winners in their daily lineup.
“Chicago tough”: Third baseman Alex Bregman’s swung a remarkably hot bat in the second half of the season and is back in action just days after taking a foul ball to the face.
Will’s boys don’t quit: The White Sox have 35 comeback victories, and their 11 walk-off victories are the most in the American League.
Strokin’ is more than just a song: White Sox lead the American League in runs per game, and their 204 home runs are the most a Sox team has hit since 2012.
As Colson Montgomery once put it, “We don’t know what we don’t know”: The average position player age for the Sox is 25.8, the lowest in the American League. Randal Grichuk and Andrew Benintendi are typically the only members of the Sox lineup older than 26.
Pretty bad. From 2023 to 2025, the Sox lost more than 100 games each season. In 2024, the Sox went 41-121, setting the modern MLB record for losses in a season. The team also lost at least 100 games in 2018 and 1970.
No. The Sox would be the first.
Although both teams have won the World Series three times, the Cubs are more widely known and get more recognition nationwide than the Sox. This is due to several reasons, including that WGN made Cubs games available on cable nationally for decades.
The Cubs’ Wrigley Field is also a historic ballpark that dates from 1914. It’s located in the middle of a lively residential neighborhood.
Meanwhile, the Sox play at Rate Field, a modern stadium that opened in 1991 after Comiskey Park, its former home for 80 years, was demolished. ‘Sox Park,’ as many Chicagoans still call it with disregard to its corporate name, is on the South Side in Bridgeport, a more historically industrial area.
While Wrigleyville, home to Wrigley Field, also has working-class history, it began gentrifying in the 1980s and is more upmarket now.
The Cubs have more financial resources than the Sox. The Cubs were valued at $5 billion by Forbes in 2026 with revenue of $599 million. Meanwhile, Forbes valued the Sox at $1.94 billion, with revenues of $239 million.
For all these reasons, many Sox fans feel overshadowed by the Cubs, which feeds resentment and rivalry between the teams.
Yes. New York has the Yankees and the Mets. New York used to have the Yankees, Dodgers and Giants. After the latter two teams left for California, the Mets became an expansion team in 1962.
Los Angeles has the Dodgers and the Angels. But the Angels are officially based in Anaheim in Orange County, not Los Angeles County. The Dodgers started playing in LA when they moved there from Brooklyn in 1958, while the Angels became an expansion team in 1961.
California’s Bay Area has the San Francisco Giants, who moved there from New York in 1958. The A’s, previously in Philadelphia and Kansas City, were in Oakland from 1968 until 2024.
The A’s are temporarily playing in West Sacramento before a planned move to Las Vegas. The team expects to open its new ballpark for the 2028 season on the Tropicana site on the Las Vegas Strip.
Probably any bar with a TV. Here are some of our staff's favorites.
Nisei Lounge, opened in 1951, touts itself as the oldest bar in Wrigleyville.
3439 N. Sheffield Ave.
Mrs. Murphy & Sons Irish Bistro, North Center
3905 N. Lincoln Ave.
Mitchell's Tap, Bridgeport near Rate Field
3356 S. Halsted St.
Bob Inn, near Logan Square, has been family-owned and operated since 1945.
2609 W. Fullerton Ave.
