The Chicago White Sox are back on a mini-roll after a three game losing streak, punishing Arizona 6-2 and 8-2 Saturday and Sunday.  Now their interleague attention turns to the Chicago Cubs. Forgive me for not jumping up and down.

The excitement of the Sox-Cubs annual showdown jumped the shark in the minute Juan Uribe threw out Orlando Palmero to end the 2005 World Series.  It was at that moment that White Sox fans saw the big picture: Being world champions is the ultimate bragging rights. Don't believe me?  Try being a Bear fan in the heart of Cheeseland right now.

So, as the players usually say, the games mean far more to the fans then it does to the teams.  For the Sox, beating the Cubs is an opportunity to move up in the standings and with a series sweep, get back to .500.  For the Cubs, it's simply about respectability, although beating this current White Sox team isn't necessarily like taking down the Phillies or Red Sox. 

If you'd really like to make these games mean something, here's an idea. How about putting the Cubs, Sox, Cardinals, Brewers and Twinkies in the same division?  Then, the games actually mean something.  The Cubs and Sox become more than city rivals, they become DIVISION rivals, with the games taking on a two game swing in the standings.

Yes, I know the baseball purists are gnashing their teeth, but hear me out.  The time has long since passed for baseball to have two separate leagues.  Pitting the Sox against the Cubs 18 times a year helps puts butts in the seats, something both the Cubs and Sox are struggling a bit with right now.  Add the Brewers to the mix and you've got a horde of  Cheeseheads heading down I-94 ready to spend money in Chicago at both Wrigley and at US Comiskey Park.  And for the small market Brewers, an additional nine games at home against the White Sox would sure bring people to Miller Park (me included.) Cub fans would delight in heading to the south side to boo the Cardinals.  And the beat goes on.

There would be no interleague games because there are no more leagues.  Put the rivals in the same division and you've got automatic increased interest.  Make baseball like the NFL, the NBA or the NHL, where you have two conferences.  Maybe even let everybody play everybody at least one series during the year. 

Interleague play has stripped away the last vestiges of identities from the two leagues.  If you want baseball to continue to thrive, mix things up.  Put the Yankees, Phillies, Mets and Red Sox in the same division.  Put the Orioles, Nationals, Braves, Marlins and Rays in the same division.  Put the Dodgers, Angels, A's, Giants and Dodgers in the same division.  At this point, there are so many fans who have grown up with interleague play, mixing up the divisions won't change a thing.  I remember when baseball had ten teams in each league with NO divisions.  Then, in 1969 when they went to divisions.  There was a time where the White Sox played in the same division with A's, Mariners and Rangers.  The Cubs Phillies and Mets used to be in the same division.  Heck, the Brewers used to be in the American League.

I'm not jazzed about the Sox playing the Cubs as I am the Sox possibly being back to .500 by Wednesday.  I would be jazzed if they were in the same division. It's an idea worth considering.