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Today’s newsletter is 986 words — a 3.5-minute read.

Playoff baseball is back for both sides of Chicago.

The latest: Both the Cubs and Sox will start their 2026 Wild Card Series today. The White Sox will take on the Astros in Houston at 4pm, while the Cubs will travel to San Diego to play the Padres at 9pm.

The big picture: Both teams stumbled down the stretch and will play their three-game Wild Card Series on the road, meaning Chicago fans won't get to see either team play at home.

• Fans also won't be able to watch either Chicago team for free, as MLB put their first two Wild Card games on Peacock and NBCSN instead of over-the-air NBC.

By the numbers: This is the Cubs' second consecutive postseason appearance — their first back-to-back trips since making it four straight years from 2015-18.

• This will be the Cubs' 10th playoff appearance in the last 25 seasons.

Zoom in: The Cubs' playoff fortunes could hinge on young superstar Pete Crow-Armstrong, a leading NL MVP candidate who became the first player in franchise history to join the 40/40 club with 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases.

• PCA is just the seventh player in MLB history to accomplish the feat.

For the White Sox, they're looking for their first postseason series win since the 2005 World Series.

• They lost in the 2008 ALDS, 2020 Wild Card Series and 2021 ALDS.

What a turnaround: The Sox are the first team in MLB history to reach the playoffs immediately following three consecutive 100-loss seasons.

• Their playoff hopes could hinge on whether home run-hitting trio Munetaka Murakami, Colson Montgomery and Miguel Vargas can keep supplying the power.

Zoom out: This postseason is a rarity for Chicago baseball fans. It's only the fourth season in MLB history in which the Cubs and White Sox have both reached the postseason.

• The Sox beat the Cubs in the 1906 World Series. Both teams were eliminated before reaching the league championship series in 2008 and 2020.
• Thursday marked the first time in history the Cubs and Sox clinched postseason berths on the same day — and they did it within minutes of each other.

The bottom line: It's October baseball for Chicago. Let the good times roll.

Japanese art collective teamLab makes its Midwest debut at Chicago's Smart Museum of Art.

The (very) big picture: teamLab presents large-scale digital works that collide with color and movement and interact directly with their surroundings.

If you go: "teamLab: Everything Exists in Infinite Continuity" runs through Feb. 21 at the University of Chicago museum.

State of play: Twenty-five years after Toshiyuki Inoko started the collective, the group now includes hundreds of artists, scientists, computer programmers, mathematicians and architects, among others.

Zoom in: Many of the works speak to the environment where they're on display. "Continuous Life and Death at the Now of Eternity II" follows the life cycle of flowers, from bud to bloom to wilt, all against a backdrop that changes color with the sunrise and sunset outside the museum.

• Two new works for the Smart, "Sea of Darkness, Memory Shining from the Depths" and "Sea," feature copper squares, each uniquely designed, as a sort of three-dimensional backdrop that changes colors based on the reflections.

The intrigue: After weaving through the multi-gallery experience, one of the final works, "The World of Irreversible Change," most resembles a detailed painting of an ancient Japanese village.

• When a person touches the work, war breaks out on the screen, fire engulfing the village and its people, leaving it burned and destroyed.
• The landscape returns, but humanity does not.

Fair warning: In this show, you aren't allowed to touch the screen.

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💰 A majority of City Council members are warning Mayor Brandon Johnson against proposing a corporate head tax in the 2027 budget. (Tribune)

🚦 Chicago's first pedestrian-activated stoplight will be installed at the five-way intersection of Ridge, Wayne and Hollywood avenues in Edgewater. (Sun-Times)

⛴️ The downtown bridges along the Chicago River will lift tomorrow for boats heading to winter storage. (Block Club)

The Bears didn't miss a beat without injured star Caleb Williams last night, punishing the Eagles en route to a 27-7 beatdown at Soldier Field.

State of play: Third-string QB Case Keenum guided the Bears on key scoring drives, while the much-maligned defense impressed by shutting down Jalen Hurts and the high-flying Eagles offense.

• The Bears are now 2-1.

Meanwhile: Each week, we give you a chance to sum up your thoughts on the game through one photo (above).

• I'll go first: "In Ben Johnson we trust."
• Now, your turn. The best caption gets a shout-out. Reply to this email with yours.

For example, a reader perfectly summed up this photo from the Bears' ugly loss last week against the Vikings:

"Please don't take me to Indiana!" 🤣

While we were down in Atlanta, the Axios Chicago softball team did the unthinkable under the lights at the 16-inch Softball Hall of Fame fields in Forest Park.

• They won a Kup Media League championship.

Congrats to the team, which rallied to beat WGN Radio 10-8 and bring home this year's trophy.

• Justin, Monica and Carrie are beaming with pride this morning!

Edited by Larry Graham.

📺 Carrie is obsessed with the New York Times' best shows of the 21st century. Tell her what you think of the list!

🥎 Justin can't believe Axios are champs. He celebrated by running around the parking lot.

🗓️ Monica is on sabbatical.

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