White Sox' Garrett Crochet on MLB-Record 121st Loss: 'Obviously, It Sucks'
Sep 28, 2024
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - SEPTEMBER 01: Garrett Crochet #45 of the Chicago White Sox reacts while Miguel Vargas #20 and Lenyn Sosa #50 of the Chicago White Sox show their support during the fourth inning against the New York Mets at Guaranteed Rate Field on September 01, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. The Mets defeated the White Sox 2-0. (Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images)
While the Detroit Tigers were celebrating their 4-1 win over the Chicago White Sox that clinched the team's first playoff berth since 2014 on Friday night, the White Sox set a new modern-era MLB record with their 121st loss of the season.
White Sox ace Garrett Crochet, who made his final start of the season against the Tigers, didn't mince words about the team's historically bad 2024 campaign.
"Obviously, it sucks," Crochet told reporters after the game. "We put ourselves in this position early on. We had a bad April. We just never dug ourselves out of that hole. We are where we are because of the way we played, which sucks."
Before the 2024 White Sox, the modern MLB record for losses in a single season belonged to the 1962 New York Mets team that went 40-120. Chicago needs to win each of its final two games to avoid finishing with a worse winning percentage than the '62 Mets (.250).
On the other end, the Chicago White Sox lose their 121st game of the year, setting the modern MLB record for losses in a season. It breaks the previous record set by 1962 Mets in their inaugural season that stood for 62 years.
The White Sox tied the modern record with their 120th loss of the season on Sunday against the San Diego Padres. They were able to stave off the record-breaking defeat by sweeping the Los Angeles Angels in a three-game series from Tuesday through Thursday.
That sweep marked their second three-game winning streak this month. They had just three winning streaks of at least three games all season prior to Sept. 14.
While the winning streaks were few and far between, the White Sox had three losing skids of at least 12 straight games. The peak—or valley—of those was an AL-record 21-game losing streak from July 10 through Aug. 5.
Crochet is one of the few members of the White Sox who came out of the season unscathed. He pitched four scoreless innings with six strikeouts against the Tigers. The 25-year-old will finish 2024 with a 3.58 ERA and 209 strikeouts in 146 innings.
White Sox Lose 121st Game to Break Modern MLB Record; Fans Troll Team's Historic Loss
Sep 28, 2024
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - SEPTEMBER 26: Andrew Vaughn #25 of the Chicago White Sox reacts against the Los Angeles Angels during the fourth inning at Guaranteed Rate Field on September 26, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
As the sun sets on what has been a disastrous season, the Chicago White Sox have made history.
With their 4-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers, the White Sox picked up their 121st loss this season, breaking the modern MLB record for the most losses in a season previously held by the 1962 New York Mets, who lost 120 games.
Chicago won its last three games against the Los Angeles Angels as it seemed the White Sox might avoid breaking the record, but the Tigers, motivated by a late-season push to make the playoffs, were too much for them on Friday.
After officially making history, fans trolled Chicago for the historically bad season.
What we’ve all been expecting all year is now official. The 2024 Chicago White Sox are officially the worst Major League Baseball team in modern history
When the Mets lost 120 games in 1962, it was their inaugural season as a franchise, so it makes sense why they struggled so much. The White Sox, who won the AL Central just three years ago, don't have the same excuse.
Though New York was historically bad in 1962, it won the World Series just seven seasons later. Perhaps Chicago will have that same kind of turnaround, though it doesn't seem likely at the moment.
The good news for the White Sox is they can only lose two more games as they'll close out their season on Sunday. After that, it will be a long offseason of figuring out how they can avoid breaking their own record next year.
While it was an unfortunate night for Chicago, it was a celebratory one for the Tigers, who have won 15 of their last 18 games and clinched a postseason berth for the first time in 10 years with the win.
Detroit was previously tied for the longest active playoff drought, but the Los Angeles Angels now have sole ownership of that crown.
MLB's Not-So-Secret Crisis Has Been Exposed by White Sox Historically Bad Season
Zachary D. Rymer
Sep 25, 2024
CHICAGO, IL - MAY 23: Security removes a sign that is hung from the upper deck of Chicago White Sox Chairperson Jerry Reinsdorf in the ninth inning during a game against the Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago White Sox on May 23, 2024 at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
What if I told you Major League Baseball is relatively healthy right now?
After all, you can directly link the quicker, more action-packed gameplay ushered in by the new rules to the league's rising attendance. It also helps that the sport is awash in generational stars like Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge and that competitive balance is trending back in the right direction after a lull in the 2010s.
Then there's the Chicago White Sox, along with the other franchises suffering from bad ownership.
Of course, Jerry Reinsdorf's White Sox aren't merely a bad team. With 120 losses, they are momentarily tied with the 1962 New York Mets as the worst in MLB's modern era. They must win all five remaining games to avoid claiming the record for themselves.
According to Baseball Reference, their entire 2024 roster is worth 4.7 WAR. It's thus less valuable than 20 individual hitters, and even doubling that figure still wouldn't get it to Bobby Witt Jr. (9.4) or Aaron Judge (10.4) territory.
Paradoxically, though, even these White Sox aren't much of an outlier in more recent history.
They're the only 100-loss team in MLB right now, but the Miami Marlins (99) and Colorado Rockies (97) are candidates to join the club before the regular season ends on Sunday. That would make this the sixth full season in a row with at least three 100-loss teams. Such a phenomenon happened twice between 1966 and 2017.
This mostly indicates a nefarious strain of indifference worming its way through MLB's menagerie of fantastically wealthy owners. But for the White Sox, the operative word is incompetence.
Reinsdorf's Unremarkable Reign on the South Side
It's fair to say Jerry Reinsdorf has done well for himself.
After originally making a fortune in real estate in the 1970s, the 88-year-old bought both the White Sox and the NBA's Chicago Bulls in the 1980s. The two franchises have since yielded seven championships and are now estimated by Forbes to be worth $2.1 billion and $4.6 billion, respectively.
Yet it is also fair to say that as a baseball owner, Reinsdorf is Very Bad At This.
It was a monumental occasion when the White Sox won the World Series for the first time since 1917 back in 2005, but overall they have a lower winning percentage under Reinsdorf (.495) than they did before his takeover (.502) in 1981.
How many White Sox players does it take to catch a ball?
And as good as it sounds in a vacuum, the franchise's valuation comes with an asterisk. The cross-town Cubs sold for just $2 million more than what Reinsdorf bought the White Sox for in 1981, yet the former is now worth twice as much as the latter.
Just as he owns the White Sox, Reinsdorf also owns the short-sighted design and implementation of Guaranteed Rate Field, which is about as nondescript as the team. And now more than ever, he also owns the listlessness that has led the team to ruin.
He's been lacking in imagination for the entirety of the 21st century, keeping the same front office in place for two decades and then hiring an underling (Chris Getz) to take over when he finally fired the old guard (Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn).
The team could reportedly follow the same playbook with interim manager Grady Sizemore. He has a worse winning percentage (.225) than Pedro Grifol (.239) prior to his firing, so that scans according to the White Sox's special brand of galaxy-brain logic.
Speaking of skippers, remember when Reinsdorf intervened to hire Tony La Russa to manage the team in 2021, thus denying the front office its preferred hire in A.J. Hinch? Bringing back La Russa, who had previously managed the White Sox between 1979 and 1986, was emblematic of not just Reinsdorf's to-a-fault loyalty, but also his disdain for modern analytical sensibilities embodied by Hinch.
"You got a baseball fan owner who thinks he knows everything, and maybe he did in 1992," a former White Sox employee told Brittany Ghiroli and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, "but the amount of info has skyrocketed in the last 30 years and he's put his middle finger up at that."
That Reinsdorf genuinely loves baseball—"it's in my blood," he said in 2023—is his most admirable quality as an owner. But given the results, it's also frankly his most useless quality as an owner.
Whether he sells the team or follows through on leaving that to his sons, the franchise will be worse for having known him.
Reinsdorf Is Not Alone on Bad Owner Island
As depressing as the White Sox are, it's a mercy that their story is also inherently comedic. Heck, even their social media department is finding lulz in the Ls.
By contrast, there's nothing funny about the other ownership-authored tale of woe in baseball this year.
What John Fisher hath wrought on the Oakland Athletics is a long story, but suffice it to say that it's basically the plot of Major League sans the triumphant ending. For all his "Rooted in Oakland" rhetoric, he began looking for a way out of Oakland as soon he first acquired a stake in the A's in 2005. His tactics pissed off basically everyone, even including a fellow nepo-billionaire owner of a once-great Oakland sports franchise in Mark Davis.
Fisher will, at last, get his wish when the A's relocate to Las Vegas in 2028. But he can only hope a loving fanbase will be waiting there with open arms, lest he come to be haunted by all the crud. People don't forget fire sales followed by raised ticket prices at a crumbling stadium.
In short, Fisher isn't fooling anyone with that eyeroll-worthy letter he sent out on Monday.
Dear John,
With all due respect, which is more than you likely deserve, save it. Be an adult. Get in front of a camera and say it with your chest. Releasing a letter, clearly written by someone else, and including a bunch of names you DEFINITELY do not know, is just… pic.twitter.com/3nOOC9xBit
Yet even if Fisher is king of the hill among MLB owners who see fans as easy marks for patronization or outright punishment, he's not alone in the bracket. Consider:
Castellini Family, Cincinnati Reds: That one guy actually thought "Where are you going to go?" sounded good.
John Henry, Boston Red Sox: Blames Red Sox fans for having high expectations that he himself set.
Christopher Ilitch, Detroit Tigers: Doesn't want to spend like his dad.
Tom Ricketts, Chicago Cubs: A big-market owner who sees big payrolls and stars as optional.
Bruce Sherman, Miami Marlins: Bought the team from Jeffrey Loria only to keep running it like Jeffrey Loria.
John Stanton, Seattle Mariners: Apparently comfortable aiming for 85 wins annually.
Hal Steinbrenner, New York Yankees: Owns MLB's most valuable franchise, cries poor anyway.
Major League Baseball is in a good place despite these goons, which is simultaneously good news and something that feels precariously precious.
It is ultimately the fans who decide how healthy the sport is. The more of them there are and the more invested they are, the better. And the notion that they will always be there is not one to take for granted.
Right now, too many owners are doing exactly that.
Must Bad Ownership Be Inevitable?
That competitive balance is trending in the right direction may not be an accident.
The collective bargaining agreement that went into effect in 2022 includes measures meant to prevent teams from deliberately racing to the bottom. The draft lottery is the big one. There are also incentives meant to discourage service time manipulation. And for all its faults, the expanded 12-team playoff field does incentivize more teams to compete.
Nonetheless, that MLB still has an epidemic of 100-loss teams and a broader culture of not-quite-all-in owners suggests more could still be done.
A salary floor will inevitably come up in such discussions. Other possibilities include giving the draft a fantasy-style snake order and shortening how much time young players must serve before qualifying for free agency. Such things would discourage the tired rebuilding tactic of stockpiling cheap, young talent and thus potentially restore creativity to front offices, where groupthink is the name of the game.
But even then, would cases of bad ownership dissipate entirely? Can MLB really hope to legislate away owners like Reinsdorf, who are bad at caring about wins and losses, and Fisher, who only cares about dollars and cents?
Probably not unless MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and the league's 30 owners willfully agreed to protocols designed to hold them all directly accountable. One's pie-in-the-sky brain imagines the commissioner being given discretionary powers to oust any owner who racks up too many losses or frequently spends too little on payroll.
But this will never happen.
Major League Baseball last forced out an owner in 2011, when Bud Selig muscled Frank McCourt into selling the Los Angeles Dodgers. It wasn't so much a choice as a necessity, as McCourt lacked the money to maintain the Dodgers.
Precedent? Technically, yes. But not applicable to any of the bad owners of today. Their revenue keeps going up, and labor costs (i.e., players) have only just begun to go up again after many years of stagnation. In this environment, it would take a dire case of dimwittery for an owner to lose enough money to force the commissioner's hand.
Instead of buying into impractical notions, it's easier to accept the reality that once someone accrues enough money and influence to acquire a baseball team, their money and influence are only likely to grow no matter how recklessly they act.
And so, fans faced with bad ownership will continue to have the only two options they've ever had: Stop watching, or keep watching and hope not to see 120 losses.
Grady Sizemore 'in Consideration' for White Sox Managerial Job, GM Chris Getz Says
Sep 25, 2024
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - AUGUST 09: Chicago White Sox Interim Manager Grady Sizemore walks towards the dugout before a game against the Chicago Cubs at Guaranteed Rate Field on August 09, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Griffin Quinn/Getty Images)
Chicago White Sox general manager Chris Getz confirmed to reporters on Tuesday that interim manager Grady Sizemore is being considered for the full-time position.
"Grady is in consideration," he said. "He has a lot of traits that we're looking for. But we certainly want to go through a full process before we make any sort of decision."
Getz had previously said that the White Sox would go outside the organization to find its new manager.
Sizemore, 42, took over as the interim manager on Aug. 8 after Pedro Grifol was fired, and he hasn't had much more luck than his predecessor, going 8-31 at the helm. He's brought a more positive approach to the clubhouse, however, something management has clearly appreciated.
As somebody who has watched or listened to nearly all 1-2-0 losses, I must respectfully disagree. Even somebody with your incredible mind cannot imagine what #WhiteSox fans have endured this year, sir. https://t.co/yahDWtnBdC
"We were very intentional on wanting to create an atmosphere that remained healthy for players to show up every day even though we're faced with challenges," Getz told ESPN's Jeff Passan last week. "These guys have shown up every day looking to compete knowing each game may be an uphill battle. There aren't a lot of wins in our record. We're looking to find wins in development, and the best way to do that is to have the best attitude possible about where we're growing and what we're learning."
Sizemore has attempted to restore confidence for a White Sox team that is historically bad and has found numerous ways to lose, going just 36-120 on the season.
"You can focus on the negative all day," he told Passan. "And I know we've done our share of that too, but at the end of the day, I think this team lost a lot of confidence. We've been told for so long that they're not doing this right. They're not doing that right. And I just think that this game is too hard to play if you don't have confidence. So all I've tried to do is try to restore some of that with the guys by being positive."
Sizemore, a former MLB player himself who was a three-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glover winner, has never been a full-time manager. And for the time being, his focus is on his interim duties and finishing the season on a high note.
"I don't have too many thoughts about it right now. Just worried about finishing out this season strong," he told reporters Tuesday. "I like everything about this organization. I like the opportunity that they've given me. I want to continue what I've started and be a part of this in any way that I can and just try to help turn this organization around, as fast as we can."
White Sox Lose 120th Game to Tie Modern MLB Record as Fans Troll Historic Struggles
Sep 22, 2024
SAN DIEGO, CA - Chicago White Sox playes look out from the dugout during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, September 22, 2024 at Petco Park in San Diego, California. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images)
The Chicago White Sox fell to the San Diego Padres by the score of 4-2 on Sunday, making some unfortunate history.
The White Sox suffered their 120th loss of the year, putting them in a tie with the 1962 New York Mets for the mostsingle-season losses in the modern era.
Congratulations to the Chicago White Sox. They have passed the 2003 Detroit Tigers and have set a new American League worse 120 losses in a single season.
Final: Padres 4, White Sox 2. The White Sox tied the 1962 New York for the most losses in a season during MLB’s modern era with their 120th defeat. Six games remain for the Sox, who are 36-120. The Padres scored 3 in the 8th as the Sox were swept for the 24th time.
It initially seemed as though the White Sox would avoid tying the record against the Padres, as they held a 2-1 lead through seven innings. San Diego struck in the bottom of the eighth, starting with a game-tying double by Luis Arráez.
Jurickson Profar's sacrifice fly gave the Padres the lead and a solo home run by Fernando Tatis Jr. put the team up by two runs.
Chicago started the 2024 season by losing 22 of its first 25 games. The White Sox didn't fare much better as the year progressed, tying an American League record by dropping 21 consecutive games from July 10 through Aug. 5. Manager Pedro Grifol was fired after the losing streak, getting replaced by Grady Sizemore.
The White Sox suffered their 100th defeat of the season on Aug. 25, becoming the third team in the modern era to reach the century mark in the loss column before the start of September. They were also eliminated from playoff contention on Aug. 17, the earliest mark in the wild card or divisional era.
Chicago will attempt to avoid setting a new single-season loss record as the team begins a three-game series with the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday.
All of White Sox's Funny Social Media Posts Immediately after Losing Games This Week
Sep 22, 2024
KANSAS CITY, MO - JULY 20: A view of a Chicago White Sox ball cap and glove before an MLB game between the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals on July 20, 2024 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO. (Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The Chicago White Sox may be historically bad, but at least the social media administration has a sense of humor about the entire thing.
Chicago tied the modern MLB record for most losses in a season with a 4-2 loss to the San Diego Padres, the team's fifth straight defeat. Each of those five losses prompted amusing social media posts.
Tuesday's 5-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels ended a three-game winning streak and started a five-post laughing streak:
Sometimes we all have to laugh to get through difficult times, and calling the 2024 season difficult for the White Sox would be quite the understatement.
The five-game losing streak against the Angels and Padres dropped their record to 36-120 with just six games remaining. They have been seemingly playing out the string for the majority of the campaign, as it didn't take long for it to be clear this was not a playoff team.
Chicago started 3-22 and was 27-71 at the All-Star break. As if that wasn't bad enough, it lost its first 17 games after the All-Star break as things continued to get even worse for the last-place team in the American League Central.
It was part of a 21-game losing streak that tied the American League record and led to the firing of manager Pedro Grifol.
To put things into perspective, the Angels have the worst record in the American League outside of the White Sox, and they have 27 more wins at 63-93. And it will be those Angels who could be on the field when Chicago continues to make history, as the two teams face each other again for a three-game set starting Tuesday.
Sunday's loss put the White Sox in a tie with the 1962 New York Mets for the most losses in a single MLB season since 1900 with 120.
At least fans know the ensuing social-media post following the record-setting loss will be must-see.
White Sox's Jerry Reinsdorf Ripped in Report amid Woes: 'Thinks He Knows Everything'
Sep 19, 2024
SUN VALLEY, ID - JULY 07: Jerry Reinsdorf, owner of the NBA's Chicago Bulls and the MLB's Chicago White Sox, attends the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 7, 2015 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Many of the world's wealthiest and most powerful business people from media, finance, and technology attend the annual week-long conference which is in its 33rd year. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
As the Chicago White Sox look to avoid setting a new modern-era MLB record for losses in a season, the knives have come out for owner Jerry Reinsdorf and his style of management that has put the franchise in this position.
In a report from The Athletic's Brittany Ghiroli and Ken Rosenthal detailing the process that led the White Sox to this moment, several current and former team employees and people within MLB spoke candidly about Reinsdorf.
One former team employee described Reinsdorf as a "baseball fan owner who thinks he knows everything, and maybe he did in 1992, but the amount of info has skyrocketed in the last 30 years and he's put his middle finger up at that."
The most obvious indication of Reinsdorf being stuck in the past was his hiring of Tony La Russa as manager in October 2020.
When Reinsdorf originally purchased the White Sox in January 1981, La Russa had been the club's manager for two years at that point. He remained with the team for five more years before being fired midway through the 1986 season.
At the time La Russa was brought back to the organization, he hadn't managed since his final season with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011. He did have various front-office roles during that 10-year period, including stints with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Boston Red Sox.
There was speculation at the time that some within the White Sox wanted A.J. Hinch, who was fired by the Houston Astros in January 2020 for his role in the sign-stealing scandal. He was also suspended for the entire 2020 season by Major League Baseball.
When the White Sox announced La Russa's hiring in an email sent to fans, the original graphic with an image included an electronic signature with Hinch's name.
The team included the correct signature in its official announcement on social media.
Tony La Russa, a member of baseball’s Hall of Fame, the third-winningest manager in baseball history, a three-time World Series champion and a four-time winner of the Manager of the Year Award, has been named the new manager of the Chicago White Sox. pic.twitter.com/RKP24rleHP
According to Ghiroli and Rosenthal, the mishap was seen by people inside and outside the White Sox organization as an indication that Reinsdorf went with his preferred candidate instead of the person then-general manager Rick Hahn wanted to hire.
Ghiroli and Rosenthal noted their sources regard Reinsdorf as "stubborn" and "generally unwilling to adapt" to the modern style of play.
The White Sox had an opportunity to overhaul their philosophy within the front office last year when Hahn and executive vice president Ken Williams were fired in August 2023.
Rather than use the extra time to put together a comprehensive list of outside candidates to interview, the White Sox promoted Chris Getz to general manager. He started with the organization in 2017 as director of player development before being promoted to assistant GM in 2021.
Another key issue that Ghiroli and Rosenthal highlighted is the lack of knowledge and understanding about incorporating analytics into game planning.
One former member of the White Sox baseball operations department described their approach to analytics as "comical" because "one knew what was what" when they were given different sets of data.
The White Sox won the AL Central with a 93-69 record in 2021 and appeared to be on the ascent with a promising young core, but it's been a steep decline in the three years since.
Chicago finished 61-101 in 2023, marking the first time in 53 years the franchise had lost at least 100 games.
The White Sox enter Thursday having already lost a franchise-record 117 games with nine games remaining. They are four losses away from passing the 1962 New York Mets (40-120) for the most in a single season in the modern era (since 1901).
During Reinsdorf's tenure as owner, the White Sox have had 22 winning seasons and made the playoffs seven times. Their World Series victory in 2005 ended the franchise's 88-year championship drought, but they have yet to win a postseason series since then.
White Sox Won't Work 'Heavy' in MLB Free Agency After Historic Struggles, GM Says
Sep 16, 2024
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - SEPTEMBER 13: General manager Chris Getz of the Chicago White Sox looks on during batting practice before a game between the Oakland Athletics and the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on September 13, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Matt Dirksen/Getty Images)
The Chicago White Sox will not be breaking the bank during 2025 free agency.
During an appearance on the team's Friday night broadcast on NBC Sports Chicago, general manager Chris Getz revealed that the team does not have plans to address its issues with splashy free agent signings and instead will focus on the talent in the organization.
"We're not going to be working heavy in free agency," Getz said on the White Sox broadcast (h/t R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports). "We've got guys out on the field right now that need to improve their game. A lot of these guys are young players and need to make the adjustments to be more productive.
The White Sox are currently 35-115 and on pace for the worst record since MLB began playing 162 games in a season.
The White Sox are just four losses away from the Detroit Tigers' 43-119 record from 2003, which is the worst of the 21st century. The 1962 New York Mets have the modern MLB record with 120 losses. Chicago would need to go 7-5 for the rest of the season to avoid exceeding that number.
Whether or not the team hits that unfortunate milestone, it has been a disastrous year on the South Side and major changes would appear to be inevitable. However, the first-year general manager's approach appears to be aligned with making responsible decisions that don't derail the team further.
The White Sox farm system ranks 11th in MLB, per MLB.com, and possesses four prospects ranked in the top 100 in the league. This places the system in the top half of MLB and a top-five pick in the 2025 MLB Draft should improve this.
Additionally, the team could move players like Luis Robert Jr. in the offseason and recoup further assets to improve the future. While adding some free agents could improve the play on the field in 2025, it may not be enough to push the team toward the postseason.
Chicago currently has the 18th-highest payroll in MLB, per Spotrac, so spending toward the league average did not pay off in 2024. Instead, it looks like the White Sox will look to the future and may embrace a few more difficult seasons.
White Sox Owner Jerry Reinsdorf: Team Is 'Extremely Unhappy' with 33-114 Record
Sep 11, 2024
CHICAGO, IL - AUGUST 24: Jerry Reinsdorf on the field before a interleague game between the Chicago White Sox and the Philadelphia Phillies on August 24, 2016 at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images)
Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf has spoken out about the team's performance this season as they are on the verge of potentially setting a new modern-era MLB record for most losses.
In a statement released after the White Sox fell to 33-114 following Wednesday's loss to the Cleveland Guardians, Reinsdorf explained that everyone in the organization is "extremely unhappy" with how things have gone in 2024.
Expectations were low for the White Sox coming into this season, but no one was predicting what they have done to this point. They lost 101 games in 2023, most by the franchise in a season since 1970 (56-106).
Things have somehow managed to get worse for the South Siders than they did last year. Pedro Grifol was publicly calling out the team for playing "f--king flat" after a May 26 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.
Grifol had to deny a report that he said the blame would rest with the players if the White Sox set a new single-season record for most losses. He was fired, along with three coaches on his staff, on Aug. 8 after the White Sox snapped an AL-record 21-game losing streak.
Former MLB All-Star Grady Sizemore was named interim manager for the remainder of the season.
The White Sox will avoid the all-time professional baseball record for most losses in a season held by the 1899 Cleveland Spiders (20-134). They are six losses away from tying the 1962 New York Mets (40-120) for most losses by an MLB team in the modern era.
Chicago's .224 winning percentage is on pace to break the record for the worst mark by an MLB team that is currently held by the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics (.235).
The White Sox have 15 games remaining in the regular season. They will need to go 10-5 to avoid the 1962 Mets' record. They could go 6-9 to avoid the A's record for worst winning percentage in a season.
They did have an 8-6 run over 14 games from April 26 through May 11. Unfortunately, though, they have only won a total of nine games since July 1.
There's no doubt that changes have to be made in Chicago, but this season will make it very difficult for Reinsdorf and the front office to attract the type of talent needed to make a swift turnaround.
White Sox Fall to Mets for Franchise-Record 107th Loss: Full Highlights and Box Score
Sep 2, 2024
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - SEPTEMBER 01: Interim manager Grady Sizemore #24 of the Chicago White Sox removes Garrett Crochet #45 of the Chicago White Sox during the fourth inning of a game against the New York Mets at Guaranteed Rate Field on September 01, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images)
A miserable year continues to get worse for the Chicago White Sox.
Chicago fell 2-0 to the New York Mets on Sunday, completing a sweep in the weekend series. More notably, it was the White Sox's 10th consecutive loss and 107th loss on the season.
This sets the franchise record for losses in a single season, beating the previous mark set by the 1970 team. That squad went 56-106.
White Sox Box Score
Lineup
LF Corey Julks: 0-3, 1 K; PH Andrew Benintendi: 0-1, 1 K
Despite taking the loss, starting pitcher Garrett Crochet looked pretty sharp. The southpaw struck out eight batters—including an AL record-tying seven straight to start the game—while allowing just three hits and a run.
Interim manager Grady Sizemore ultimately pulled the plug early to manage his inning count.
"He was pretty frustrated when I came out there, but I think he knows the situation and what we're trying to do," Sizemore said, per theAssociated Press. "He threw well. He was on, he had good stuff. It's going to be tough when he's on a short leash like that and a pitch count, that he's never going to get to go as deep as he wants."
The bats were ultimately unable to get anything going, which wasted a pretty solid day from the pitching staff. The two hits mustered came from Gavin Sheets and Miguel Vargas, neither of which resulted in anything beyond a single.
The loss officially makes this disastrous season historic and the franchise will have major decisions to make following the season. More history could be coming before that happens.
The worst record of all-time is unattainable, as the 1899 Cleveland Spiders went a dismal 20-134. However, the worst record of the modern era is still in play, as the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics went 36-117.
The worst record in a 162-game season belongs to the 2003 Detroit Tigers, who went 43-119. The White Sox would have to go 12-12 down the stretch to tie that record.
Chicago will be back in action on Monday against the Baltimore Orioles. That game has a 3:05 p.m. ET. start.
