Hear out the irony of things. The sudden fan brawl that broke out on Monday when the Chicago Cubs hosted the Chicago White Sox for the first game of the series was at the Friendly Confines. There was a two-and-a-half-minute video of the fight that seemed to have started with a bearded Cubs fan.
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The man in the Cubs jersey was yelling at a group of fans, standing a few rows below him. While at first it was just a few exchanges, the fight got intense when the bearded man threw a kick towards one gray T-shirt man. All while one fan was trying to make a point:
“It’s not that serious.”
Amid the boos and shouts, one guy in a gray sleeveless tank top threw a glass of beverage towards the supposed Cubs fan. And suddenly, more glasses and cans started showering from around that block.
Security was called in as the bleachers at Wrigley Field looked like a wrestling arena and not an MLB ballpark. A Cubs fan who goes by @crawlyscubs on X was on the opposite side of the field and recorded a part of the skirmish shortly after it began. Multiple fans were involved in the incident, and a couple of them fell down some rows after getting into awkward positions while hitting each other.
The fan in a gray tank top kept throwing several left hooks at the bearded guy non-stop for an uncomfortable amount of time, while he was trying to protect himself by putting up his arms in the shape of an X. When the scene cleared a bit, as others asked the officials to remove the man in gray, the other one looked injured, with blood around his mouth.
One fan even asked to call in security.
“A massive fight has just broken out in the bleachers,” @crawlyscubs wrote in the caption, sharing footage of the altercation.
While it was not clear when the fight broke out, the broadcasters’ camera showed multiple fans wearing rival team gear engaged in a chaotic melee. Also, per one Reddit update, the fight started on top of the 8th when the White Sox took the lead.
The bleacher-side staff intervened. Shortly after, the police entered from the right-center field bleachers as the brawl continued, and the fans were separated.
No arrests have been reported yet, but the news of the brawl surely entered the Cubs dugout. The man in gray was also taken out of the ballpark. The fight even captured the attention of the potential NL MVP Pete Crow-Armstrong, who hit a two-run walk-off homer and homered in the first inning to join the 30-30 club.
“The fights in the stand are unfortunate and somewhat nauseating. But you got people in the stands competing too,” Crow-Armstrong said after the game, per ESPN’s Jesse Rogers.
The game went to the 10th inning, and it was PCA’s walk-off home run that won the game for the Cubs by 7-5.
The last time the Cubs met the White Sox in May, unwarranted incidents followed in a similar way.
In the fifth inning, White Sox batter Miguel Vargas hit a double off the wall. Crow-Armstrong crashed hard into the outfield fence trying to make a play and narrowly missed the ball, allowing the tying runs to score.
Things escalated when PCA was down on the warning track processing the play. A female White Sox fan in the patio section ran up to the fence to heckle him.
She screamed, “You s—!”
Crow-Armstrong walked up to the fence and fired back expletives.
While the May confrontation is unlikely to serve as a catalyst for Monday’s incident, it definitely contributed to an already friction-filled environment between the two fanbases, adding another sour chapter in Chicago’s Crosstown Classic.
Infamous moments in the history of the Cubs-White Sox rivalry
Back in 1900, the rivalry began when Charles Comiskey moved his minor league team, the St. Paul Saints, to Chicago’s South Side. This immediately triggered a battle with the established National League Cubs for territory, media coverage, and fans. Typically, the White Sox represented the blue-collar, industrial South Side. The Cubs represented the wealthier, white-collar North Side. This rich history got amplified with more fan brawls over time.
One of the most infamous incidents may be from 2008, when three Cubs fans allegedly beat a White Sox fan at a toddler’s birthday party after teasing him about his team preference.
Then again in 2023, a serious fight erupted inside the luxury suites at the White Sox stadium. Video footage showed two separate fights happening simultaneously. Two women fought each other in the corner of a suite, while two male fans traded blows nearby. One man was even dragged over the stadium seats before being escorted out by security.
The game on Monday just carried forward the unfortunate, unneeded part of the rivalry. With both the Cubs and White Sox currently at a .500-plus winning percentage, things are getting more intense, and Wednesday’s game will be played with the aftermath of this incident in the background.