HISTORY: White Sox lose 121st
Detroit clinches playoffs, Chicago clinches infamy
Thanks to Zach DeLoach, on Friday the White Sox didn’t have one of their worst offensive games in a torrent of them in 2024. Among the club’s THREE hits, DeLoach provided two, and for extra bases (double, homer) at that. Wait, did I just write that this wasn’t one of the worst offensive games of the season?
Garrett Crochet was really good, but as we are well aware, Garrett Crochet cannot hit. Maybe he needs to. He really can’t do much worse than a lineup with ONE player with an OPS better than .700 (don’t get too chuffed, it’s Andrew Vaughn, and it’s by THREE POINTS, at .703).
Anyway, the homer was the first of Zach’s career, so here it is:
The postseason is clinched for Detroit, but with it and Kansas City neck-and-neck in the wild card race, it would seem that at least tomorrow’s game, if not Sunday’s, will be a pre-playoffs matchup for the Tigers. I don’t know, like I’m paid to know playoff tiebreakers instead of track all-time franchise futility. But don’t be shocked if we’re at 122 tomorrow.
Futility Watch
White Sox 2024 Record 39-121, worst season in White Sox history, second-worst post-1899 MLB season all-time (to the 1916 Philadelphia A’s) and 82 games below .500
White Sox 2024 Run Differential -314, fifth-worst 160-game start in MLB history
White Sox 2024 Season Record Pace 39-123 (.244)
All-Time White Sox Record (1901-2024) 9,592-9,612 (.4995)
Race to the Worst “Modern” 162-Game Record (2003 Tigers, 43-119) CLINCHED, currently 3 games worse than the 2003 Tigers
Race to the Worst “Modern” Record in a 162-Game Season (1962 Mets, 40-120-1) 1 game worse; need to finish 2-0 to end season 41-121
Race to the Most White Sox Losses (1970, 106) new record set (121 and counting)
Race to the Worst White Sox Record (1932, 49-102-1) CLINCHED, currently 14 1⁄2 games worse than the 1932 team
Race to the Worst Post-1899 Record (1916 A’s, 36-117-1) FAILED; even a 39-123 finish is a .241 winning percentage, and the A’s finished at .235