DETROIT — After the Chicago White Sox swept the Los Angeles Angels to extend their run toward the biggest losses in MLB history to another day, team owner Jerry Reinsdorf left his suite and entered a crowded media elevator.
This was perhaps the closest thing the White Sox have had to a proud moment all season. Some of their fans still boo their pyrrhic victories. Others chanted barbed words directed at the owner: Sell the team.
“You saved your best for last, Jerry,” one reporter quipped inside the elevator.
“I see what you mean,” Reinsdorf replied, “but I hope we give our best for the first time.”
Now, after Friday’s 4-1 loss to the Tigers, the White Sox have officially lost more games in a single season than any other team in modern baseball history.
For 62 years, that record seemed untouchable. The 1962 New York Mets lost 120 games. Only the 2003 Tigers, who lost 119 games, really came close. Then came the White Sox, who had lost 121 games, with two more chances to make their new record even more difficult.
“I never thought this would be broken while I was still around,” said 86-year-old Craig Anderson, a member of the 1962 Mets. “For Mets fans, that’s off your shoulders. Now, we’re not the worst in the world.”
The title of worst in the world now belongs to Chicago’s South Side, where the specter of failure has loomed large all season. Choose any stats you want. The White Sox are likely at or near the bottom of the league. like The athleteThe White Sox have used 29 position players this season, Jason Stark of the White Sox noted. 17 of these amazing players deserve more to lose than to replace. Three others are at 0.0. Six at 0.2 or less.
The first resounding signs of desperation in baseball came after a 3-22 start in April. Then the idea of a special kind of failure gained traction during a 14-game losing streak. The White Sox then outdid themselves with a disastrous 21-game skid, narrowly avoiding setting the record for the longest losing streak in modern baseball history. After the latest downturn — a 12-game skid — a White Sox team beating the Mets for worst ever is a matter of when, not if.
The allure of witnessing this miserable history brought a massive media crowd to Guaranteed Rate Field before the team’s final home series against the Angels. There were 10 television stations, with lights and microphones focused on general manager Chris Getz, along with a crowd of reporters from outlets in Chicago and around the country.
Getz used his forum to apologize to fans.
“They don’t deserve this,” he added.
White Sox general manager Chris Getz speaks to a large media group on Tuesday. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
Like manager Grady Sizemore, Getz tried to frame the team’s struggles in a positive light. He pushed the idea forward this year and put the building blocks in place. Getz insisted that the White Sox are on the right track, and even said ownership would “likely” invest more in organizational infrastructure.
Sizemore took over from sacked manager Pedro Grevol midway through the season and said he was interested in remaining in the managerial position permanently. He wore the same bullpen jersey to every game against the Angels, sweating through the garment on a hot day but refusing to change it.
“In a year like this, I’m sure everyone will look at a lot of negatives in losing a year, I had a lot of fun,” Sizemore said. “I was thrilled just to be on the field with those guys and work with them and get to know them and learn from them and learn from the staff. I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.”
Such positivity is certainly a hard sell for fans who have watched this team come up short and fail to overcome a ninth-inning deficit even once all season. The White Sox recorded their first comeback in the eighth inning on Tuesday night, climbing back to earn a 3-2 victory that drew boos from the home fans who had paid money to see history.
The campaign against determinism finally ended on Friday. Flamethrower Garrett Crochet held the Hot Tigers at bay for four rounds. But by the fifth inning, the White Sox trailed 2-0 thanks to familiar self-inflicted wounds. Relief pitcher Jared Schuster walked a hit, surrendered a base hit, then walked another. Then he threw a wild pitch that could have just as easily been scored on a passed ball over catcher Corey Lee. The Tigers scored their first run on a home run, then added their second on a sacrifice fly. Chicago scored on a Zach DeLoach home run, but the team’s second error and third wild pitch of the evening contributed to the Tigers’ seventh inning run.
In the opposite clubhouse, the Tigers celebrated their first postseason appearance in a decade. As the Tigers, Royals and Guardians strengthened the AL Central, the White Sox only helped bolster their records.
For the players, the season has been frustrating and traumatic. There are remnants of the club that won the American League Central Division by 13 games just three years ago. Now the White Sox will bear the burden of 121 losses and face an uncertain future.
After several games this season, Luis Robert Jr., the best player on this team, was sitting in his locker, fully clothed, sitting in silence trying to decompress.
Robert said: “I see myself as one of the faces of this team. “And when the faces of this team don’t produce or struggle, in a tough season like this, that’s on us, that’s on me.”
Players like Gavin Sheets have tried to get through the tough days with hopeful reminders of what better times were like.
“I definitely didn’t expect to be in this position,” Sheets said. “As players, it’s on us. At the end of the day, wins and losses are what we do on the pitch. It’s sad to be in this situation now. Hopefully this is the last time we’ll be in this situation.”
Sometime during the summer, disappointment turned to numbness.
“I think when you lose $120, it’s easier to get rid of it,” Andrew Benintendi said earlier in the week. “It’s a bad thing to go through — no one wants to do that. But that’s where we are.”
But when Andrew Vaughn flied out to right center field for the final out that sealed an unfortunate place in history, a sense of finality emerged. As the Tigers embraced and piled on, Vaughn unbuckled his batting gloves and made a majestic run to the dugout. Inside the losing club, the room was silent until Sheets carried a part of his soul.
“I was definitely more frustrated than I thought I would be,” he said. “I think winning three in a row, it makes you start thinking, ‘Maybe we can do something special and come out of it and win six games in a row,’ and you start believing in that and you start thinking maybe (the losing record) isn’t going to happen.”
In 2003, the Tigers recovered to win five of their final six games and avoid final disgrace. That will not be the case for the 2024 Chicago White Sox.
“Suddenly, when you finally get out, you realize you’re part of the wrong side of history,” Sheets said. “It was a little frustrating, and a little more painful than I expected.”
Now with two games remaining, the White Sox may continue to tighten their grip on what could become an unbreakable record of futility.
The only silver lining?
This long, exhausting, embarrassing season is almost over.
(Top Image: Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
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