The Cubs and White Sox have faced each other annually since 1997, with varying numbers of games each season. Interleague play began in 1997, evolving MLB into a more unified league structure by 1999.
Key points
Interleague play began in 1997.
Cubs and White Sox have met annually since 1997.
The number of games played has varied over the years.
MLB became a unified league in 1999.
Universal designated hitter adopted in 2022.
CubsWhite Sox
Interleague play began in 1997, so 2026 will be the 30th season of MLB teams playing outside their own “league.” In reality, Major League Baseball became one league in 1999 when the positions of league president were eliminated and the umpiring crews were merged. The National League and American League still exist, of course, but they are now more like NFL-style conferences than actual separate “leagues.” The names remain because they have more than a century of history each.
The last “merger” was the adoption of the universal designated hitter in 2022.
For the first six years of interleague play, teams played only those in the matching division of the other league. In 2003, that was expanded to include other teams in the opposite league, and now every team plays every other team every year.
The Cubs and White Sox have met every year since that first matchup in 1997. They played one three-game series in each of the first two years, then six games a year split between the North Side and South Side from 1999-2012. In 2013 and 2014 that was reduced to four games. Again the teams played six times in 2015, then four times in 2016 and 2017, six times in 2018 and four times in 2019. In 2020-21, it went back to six, then four from 2022-24, and now it’s back to six.
All of that adds up to 152 games. The Cubs have won 77, the Sox 75. The Cubs have outscored the Sox 719 runs to 693. Most of that advantage has come since 2023 — over the last three seasons, the Cubs are 13-2 against the Sox and have outscored them 83-62 in the 15 games.
Here are 10 notable games from the rivalry, in chronological order.
This was the first game of the series, and happened at a time when the Cubs were off to a horrible start (27-40). The Sox, expected to contend, were also under .500 at 30-36. It was played on the South Side.
Kevin Foster threw six solid innings and Cubs hitters teed off on ex-Cub Jaime Navarro, scoring six runs in the first three innings. Ryne Sandberg went 3-for-5.
I will never forget sitting in the stands that day. I asked a Sox fan whether he would root for the Cubs when they played Cleveland, the Sox’ division rival. Answer: “Oh no, we could never do that.”
Q&A
When did the Cubs and White Sox first play against each other?
The Cubs and White Sox first played against each other in 1997.
How many games do the Cubs and White Sox play each season?
The number of games played each season has varied, with the current format allowing for six games per season.
What significant change occurred in MLB interleague play in 1999?
In 1999, MLB merged the National and American Leagues into a more unified structure by eliminating the positions of league president and merging umpiring crews.
What was the last major rule change in MLB regarding designated hitters?
The last major rule change was the adoption of the universal designated hitter in 2022.
Related Articles
Soccer
Farke tells Leeds he's 'not the right choice' if his ambition is not matched
Daniel Farke says he's not the right choice for Leeds if ambitions don't match.
Sky Sports··1 min read
Tennis·Recap
Caty McNally explains why she and Coco Gauff withdrew from Rome doubles tournament
Caty McNally and Coco Gauff withdraw from the Rome doubles tournament after reaching the quarterfinals.
Yahoo Sports··1 min read
Sports·Preview
Preakness Stakes Guide 2026: Start Time, List of Horses & How to Watch Triple Crown Race
Preakness Stakes 2026: Start Time, Horses & How to Watch
Yahoo Sports··1 min read
NFL
Patriots Branded 2026 'Losers' By CBS Sports Over Brutal Scheduling Quirk
CBS Sports Brands Patriots 'Losers' Over 2026 Schedule Quirk
Yahoo Sports··1 min read
MMA·Preview
UFC Vegas 117 Weigh-in Results: All fighters on point
All fighters on point for UFC Vegas 117: Allen vs. Costa weigh-in results
Yahoo Sports··1 min read
Soccer·Preview
Heidenheim vs. Mainz 05 preview: Only a win will do for relegation-threatened hosts
Heidenheim faces Mainz 05 in a must-win match for relegation survival.
The Sox took a 2-0 lead off Steve Trachsel in the first, then the Cubs went up 3-2 in the third and made it 5-2 in the fifth on Sammy Sosa’s 17th homer of the year. But the Sox got three more off Trachsel to knot it at 5-all in the sixth and that’s where it stayed until the 12th, when Brant Brown hit a walk-off homer.
No history of this series would be complete without noting the Michael Barrett/A.J. Pierzynski fight. (Also note that the Cubs lost the game, part of a horrid May in which they would go 7-22.
Here’s the fight:
Collisions at the plate like that are now outlawed in MLB. Good thing, too.
Jim Edmonds homered twice and Aramis Ramirez and Mike Fontenot also went deep in a nine-run fourth inning that led the Cubs to this win, though manager Lou Piniella had to call on Kerry Wood to save the game in the ninth after the Sox rallied off Bob Howry.
“His conduct wasn’t acceptable,” Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said. “His actions toward his teammates and staff were not acceptable.
“He will not be at the ballpark tomorrow. We’ll play with 24. We’ll play with 24 before we tolerate that kind of behavior.”
Asked if there was any doubt in his mind that Zambrano would pitch again for the Cubs this year, Hendry said he “certainly wouldn’t rule it out” and added “the rules of the game usually don’t allow long, long-term suspensions.”
It didn’t last long. Zambrano made his next turn in the rotation July 3, when he held the Brewers to one run in seven innings.
The Stanley Cup was paraded around Wrigley Field by the Blackhawks, who had just won their first NHL title in 39 years.
Then Ted Lilly took a no-hitter into the ninth inning, when Juan Pierre’s leadoff single broke it up:
Carlos Marmol then entered the game. 2010 was his best year, with 38 saves and a 41.6 percent strikeout rate. But on this night he was wild. He walked Andruw Jones, then balked the runners up a base. After a strikeout, Alex Rios was intentionally walked. Marmol then got Paul Konerko to hit into a 3-2 force play at the plate and Carlos Quentin to fly to short center to end the game. (You can see the rest of the inning after Pierre’s hit in the video above.)
In a wacky game that lasted more than four hours, the Cubs blew a 6-0 first-inning lead and found themselves trailing 9-6 after three and 13-6 after five. This was a month after the big selloff at that year’s trade deadline and the Cubs pitchers that night were Keegan Thompson, Adrian Sampson, Michael Rucker, Rex Brothers, Trevor Megill, Ryan Meisinger and Manuel Rodriguez. Of those, only Megill is still on an active MLB roster.
But the Cubs mounted a comeback of sorts. Trailing 14-7 going into the eighth, they scored three on doubles by Ian Happ and Jason Heyward. The Sox then matched that with a three-run homer by Yasmani Grandal.
So the Cubs again trailed by seven going to the ninth. The Sox called on Craig Kimbrel, who had not pitched well since they acquired him at the deadline from the Cubs for Nick Madrigal and Codi Heuer.
You don’t suppose… Nah. The 2021 Cubs were pretty bad. Kimbrel struck out Austin Romine to end the game. In three appearances for Kimbrel against the Cubs after the trade, he threw 2.2 innings and allowed six hits and six runs, with three home runs, for a 20.25 ERA.
The Sox came into this game 30 games under .500 at 15-45. The Cubs were at .500 at 30-30.
And the Sox teed off on Shōta Imanaga, scoring five runs in the fourth, in part due to an error on third baseman Christopher Morel.
The Cubs fought back to tie the game 5-5 after six, with Morel and Patrick Wisdom both hitting two-run homers in that inning. But Hayden Wesneski served up a solo homer to Luis Robert Jr. and the Sox led 6-5 going to the bottom of the eighth, when Ian Happ’s two-run double gave the Cubs a 7-6 lead.
Once again, the Cubs fell behind early to this awful Sox team, 5-1 going to the bottom of the fifth. The Cubs scored a pair in the fifth, one on a groundout and the other on a balk, to make it 5-3. Then they scored three in the seventh, on a wild pitch, a sac fly and a single (I told you that Sox team was awful!), to give them a 6-5 lead.
Wesneski, for the second straight night, allowed a key Sox home run, this one by Paul DeJong, that tied the game 6-6 in the eighth.
On an absolutely gorgeous Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field almost exactly a year ago, this was what we might call the “Pete Crow-Armstrong Game.”
PCA went 4-for-5 with a three-run homer and six RBI as the Cubs demolished the Sox, who actually took a 2-0 lead in the first off Cade Horton, who was making his first MLB start (after a relief outing in his MLB debut following an opener the previous weekend in New York).
