Can someone please explain to me why the Cubs/Sox Crosstown Classic is being played Monday-Wednesday? It seems Major League Baseball is doing everything it can to continue the “Second City” stereotype by giving the premiere weekend space to a showdown between the New York Yankees and the Chicago Cubs. Yawn. Wasn’t it great to watch the Yankees outplay the Iowa Cubs, featuring Alphonso Soriano?

And you wonder why White Sox fans have a complex.

In years past, the Crosstown Classic was a weekend destination, regardless of ballpark. This year, the Sox will host the first leg of the classic on weeknights. I’m sure neither Chicago ballclub has anything to do with scheduling, but it definitely wreaks of MLB manipulation. To me, it feels as if MLB gave the premiere match up of the N.Y. Yankees and Chicago Cubs to the weekend because they can count on sellouts and well attended Cubs/Sox games (regardless of when played). The big problem is that the fans lose, seeing that we have to attend a highly anticipated party baseball game on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night. Sox fans, curb your excitement. You have to work tomorrow.

So thanks MLB, for ruining what has become a summer destination for Chicagoans. It’s as much an event as Lollapalooza, the Gay Pride Parade and Taste of Chicago. That’s what you created. So keep it that way.

Oh, but Sox fans, don’t fret. The weekend of July 1, 2, 3 has the second leg at Wrigley Field. You guessed it: Friday through Sunday.

The Whammy: Value Mondays, when Sox tickets are half-off, don’t include the Sox/Cubs game tonight. They start up again next week, on the fourth of July, when the Sox play the Royals.