This will all sound very familiar to Baltimoreans used to being overshadowed in the national consciousness by their swankier neighbors in Washington.
The Chicago White Sox have the best record in baseball. They win with versatile offense, deep pitching and a pepper-tongued manager - the type of ball that appeals to a no-frills fan base.
But they just can't get a lick of attention compared with their richer, screwier neighbors to the north, the locally and nationally beloved Cubbies.
In Chicago, by all accounts, you can't fancy both baseball teams. And Sox people say brick, ivy and tradition be damned, they'll take their lot in life.
"It's an either-or thing," said Scott Reifert, vice president of communications for the White Sox. "It's where did your grandfather live? Where do you live? What's your mind-set? We like to think we represent the work ethic of Chicago where you just show up every day and work hard."
White Sox fans could blend right into Baltimore, said former Orioles general manager Roland Hemond, who has spent much of his career in Chicago.
"They're very loyal, they know the game, they study it very well," he said, "where the Cubs appear to be more of a social event than about the game itself."
And like Baltimoreans dissing the District, Sox fans love a little reverse snobbery toward the often hapless but always popular Cubs. "We think there's absolutely nothing lovable about losing," said lifelong Sox rooter Brett Ballantini.
The White Sox are one of baseball's best stories this year. Stripped of sluggers Carlos Lee and Magglio Ordonez, they seemed an unlikely challenger to the divisional kingpin Minnesota Twins or the up-and-coming Cleveland Indians. But these Sox are not only winning, they're also lapping the field.
The Cubs, by contrast, are a mess. Their pitching aces can't stay healthy, supposed star of the future Corey Patterson has been so bad he's now toiling in the minors and manager Dusty Baker's job appears in jeopardy.
None of that seems to matter when Chicagoans parse out their baseball loyalties.
The Cubs sell out virtually every home game, while the White Sox draw a mediocre average of 28,000. Cubs games routinely pull 150,000 more television viewers when the teams play at the same time. Forbes estimates the Cubs' value at $398 million compared with $262 million for the White Sox.
