The Chicago White Sox made some unfortunate history on Sunday. During their 9-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers, the White Sox became the second-fastest team to reach 100 losses.
After the game, White Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi revealed what interim manager Grady Sizemore's message to the team has been during this disaster of a year.
“We have been talking about it all year,” Benintendi said. “It's beating a dead horse at this point. We are not where we want to be. [Interim manager Grady Sizemore] said it best: ‘Unless you win the last game of the year, it doesn't matter.' So, I think everyone has moved on.”
For a team that has struggled so much, this is probably the correct attitude to have it the clubhouse. It has to be demoralizing to lose so often, so keeping the ultimate goal of winning the World Series in mind is a great way to keep the difficulties of this season in perspective.
The White Sox's on-field performance has not necessarily improved under Sizemore, who is 3-11 since being named interim manager after former manager Pedro Grifol was fired on Aug. 8. However, based on Benintendi's comments it seems like Sizemore has done as good of a job as anyone could in keeping the clubhouse together, which is as important as winning games at this point in the White Sox's season.
White Sox's historically bad 2024 season
With a 31-100 record, the only team to hit the century mark faster than this year's White Sox were the Philadelphia A's in 1916, who reached 100 losses with a 29-100-1 record. Going forward, the White Sox need to go 12-19 to have a better record than the 1962 New York Mets, who ended their season with 1 40-120-1 record, the worst in modern baseball history.
This is the sixth time in White Sox history where they have lost 100 or more games, and the first time they have lost 100 games in consecutive seasons after going 61-101 last year. They dropped a franchise-worst 106 games in 1970. Their worst winning percentage came in 1932 when they went 49-102-1 (.325).
The White Sox have had two notable losing streaks this season, losing 14 games in a row in late May and early June and 21 straight through July and early August.
Despite all of the negatives this season, there is still some hope for the future. Even though he currently has the interim tag, it has been reported that Sizemore will be considered for the open managerial position this offseason if he impresses during the remaining few weeks.