For what it's worth: White Sox take positives from 5-1 finish

There was an oddity to the ambience of the visitors clubhouse at Comerica Park on Sunday after the White Sox’ final game — finally — that saw them defeat a playoff-bound team and actually win a series on the road.

There was joy, shouting, laughing, music and smiles, from players, coaches and interim manager Grady Sizemore alike. This wasn’t a celebration as much as a sigh of relief, or that “school’s out!” jolt of freedom kids live for once a year.

Having won five of their last six games including two of three from the Tigers ended the Sox’ season on a high note, but so what? Few will remember this pleasant lasting memory taken home on break that can’t erase the awful grades given to a team that finished 41-121 to set the modern day record for losses in a season.

“No one wanted the year that we had. It was unfortunate,” infielder Nicky Lopez said Sunday. “It’s done, it’s time to take it easy and reflect on it, but don’t dwell on it too much. Do the necessary things in the offseason to be better for the upcoming year.”

The Sox couldn’t have been worse. They were last in the majors with 507 runs scored, 97 fewer than the next lowest team, the Rays. They were also last in average (.221), on-base percentage (.278) and slugging (.340), and not close to the next-lowest teams in any of those categories. Their pitching was their strong suit, and it ranked 26th in runs allowed, first in walks allowed and second to last in walks and hits to innings pitched (WHIP).

The bullpen blew 37 saves, leading the majors, to go with a 35% save percentage. The second worst save percentage belonged to the Marlins at 53%.

The defense, ranked 27th overall per FanGraphs and 29th in defensive runs saved, was of little help to the pitching staff.

The Sox were swept by the Tigers at home to open the season, started 1-9 with four shutouts, quickly establishing themselves as baseball’s worst team. The 1962 Mets’ record 120 losses became a talking point in May and no one stopped talking about loss No. 121 on Friday in Detroit.

“We’ve all had a piece of it,” right-hander Jonathan Cannon said. “We’ve all played here and done things that contributed to it one way or another.”

That said, Sizemore was embracing the nice finish, the culture in the clubhouse and players’ attention to work all the way to the finish line.

“Anytime you go through any type of turmoil or just adversity, you can either learn from it and grow and be stronger or you can just lay down and fold,” Sizemore said Sunday. “These guys have done a good job of keeping their heads up and staying together and not letting a tough season or a tough night just dictate the attitude of how they work, how they go about their business.

“For sure, we’re going to learn from this, we’re going to grow and be stronger as a team.”

While general manager Chris Getz said a wide-ranging search outside the organization for his first manager hire is in store — and chairman Jerry Reinsdorf reiterated that in his letter to fans Sunday — players have thrown support behind Sizemore. That doesn’t make him the right choice, but if top targets such as Skip Schumaker pick better teams to manage and Getz believes Sizemore can oversee the vital development responsibilities facing the 2025 manager, he might get a chance.

Getz said last week that Sizemore would be under consideration. Sizemore said he and Getz are on the same page.

“It’s been good,” Sizemore, a 42-year-old former All-Star outfielder, said of his relationship with Getz. “He’s easy to talk to and get along with. We see things kind of similar. There’s been good back and forth. Just try to do right by everybody and I think we both have the same idea and vision of how we want it to look.”

What Sox decision-makers have in mind and what it actually looks like may be two different things. The Sox had much better things in mind before this season, too.