For the first time since July 10, the Chicago White Sox have won a baseball game, defeating the A’s last night 5-1. The victory snapped their American League record-tying 21 game losing streak. Hallelujah.
Tag / A’s
21 Is The Loneliest Number
Following last night’s 5-1 loss to the A’s, the White Sox have now tied the 1988 Orioles for the longest losing streak in American League history with 21 losses. Only five teams in the history of Major League Baseball have lost more than 21 games in a row and only one of those streaks, by the 1961 Phillies, have come in the modern era.
197 pitchers have notched a win in the 26 days since a White Sox pitcher last won a game. In the history of Major League Baseball, only seven franchises have had a stretch worse than the season record of the 2024 White Sox, who will try to get back on track tonight against the A’s.
How Do You Lose 20 Games In A Row?
The White Sox fell 13-7 to the Twins this afternoon, pushing their franchise-record losing streak to 20 games. They now own the longest losing streak of the Wild Card era and are one of only twelve teams, dating back to 1889, to lose 20 or more games in a row. They are now just one game away from tying the American League record, set by the 1988 Orioles, and three from the modern record, owned by the 1961 Phillies. Their franchise record falls to just two games over .500.
The White Sox head to Oakland for the final time and will look once again to snap their losing streak tomorrow night against the A’s. It has now been 25 days since the White Sox last won a game and Pedro Grifol, who is 88-188 in his managerial career, is somehow still employed.
Looking Ahead To 2025
Last week, on the extra off day in the All-Star break, Major League Baseball released their tentative 2025 schedule while I was away in Amsterdam. For the third year in a row, MLB is keeping with a balanced schedule, playing 52 games against division opponents, 64 games against non-division opponents in the same league, and 46 interleague games, with series against every team in the opposite league. With the White Sox about to cement the worst season in franchise history and the Cubs trying to figure out what went wrong on their way back to contention, the 2025 season looks like it could be a long one for the city of Chicago. So, for one day, at least, let’s turn our attention to next summer for both teams.
The White Sox celebrate the 125th anniversary of the franchise, opening their season on March 27 at home against the Angels, kicking off a six-game homestand that also features the Twins. They will make their first visit to Sacramento, the new home of the A’s, in the last weekend of April.
The interleague schedule sees the Phillies, Marlins, Cardinals, Brewers, Diamondbacks, and Padres coming to Guaranteed Rate Field, while the White Sox will go on the road to face the Pirates, Reds, Dodgers, Braves, Mets, Rockies, and Nationals. The rivalry with their north side foes continues with a three-game weekend series at Wrigley Field in mid-May followed by another weekend at Guaranteed Rate Field the last weekend in July.
After wrapping up the home portion of the schedule in mid-September against the Orioles and Padres, the White Sox wrap up the 2025 season on the east coast, battling the Yankees and the Nationals to finish up the year.
On the north side, the Cubs head to Japan to open their season on March 18 with a two-game tilt against the Dodgers in Tokyo. They return to the US to face the Diamondbacks on March 27 before heading to Sacramento for the first time to face the A’s. They open up the home portion of the 2025 season on April 4 against the Padres.
Aside from the A’s, the Cubs will head out on the road to face the Twins, Angels, Yankees, Blue Jays, and Tigers, while the Mariners, Orioles, Guardians, Red Sox, and Royals will be coming to Wrigley Field.
Only ten of their 25 games in September are against their NL Central rivals, which could make a difference should the Cubs find themselves in contention. They end the year with a six-game homestand, facing the Mets and the Cardinals.
A Half Of Futility
As the 2024 season reaches its midway point, the White Sox are a wretched 21-60. Assuming they replicate this effort in the second half, they would finish 42-120, which would be the worst season in franchise history and one of the worst in MLB history. But, with the trade deadline fast approaching on July 30, anyone playing well will likely be shipped off to a contender, making the White Sox even worse down the stretch.
The worst team in White Sox history is, depending on your definition, the 1970 squad, which lost 106 games, or the 1932 team, who lost “only” 102 games but, due to the shorter season, had a lower winning percentage at .325. The current pace of the 2024 team would blow both of those records away.
Post-1900, the high-level mark for losses in a single season is 120, reached by the expansion Mets in 1962. The 1916 Philadelphia A’s managed a .235 winning percentage, holding the futility mark in that regard. The 2024 White Sox currently have a .259 winning percentage, so they do have some breathing room, but not a whole lot.
Heading To Vegas… Via Sacramento
Last November, MLB owners approved the relocation of the A’s from Oakland to Las Vegas, where the team hopes to have a stadium built by the 2028 season. A fine plan all around, except that the team’s current lease in Oakland expires after this season, leaving them in a bit of a bind for the 2025-2027 seasons. After failing to reach a deal with Oakland for an extension, the Sacramento Kings announced today that the A’s will play the next three seasons in Sacramento.
Sutter Health Park, the current home of the Sacramento River Cats of the Pacific Coast League, will house the A’s for through the 2027 season, with an option for 2028. The River Cats are expected to continue to use the stadium as well, which I’m sure will cause no scheduling issues whatsoever.
The move will end the team’s stay in Oakland at 57 seasons, after previously calling Philadelphia and Kansas City home. Assuming they ever make it to Vegas, and that seems less likely now than it did in November, the A’s will become the first franchise to have played in five different municipalities while using the same name. On a personal note, removing Oakland Coliseum from my active stadium count means I would now have eleven parks to get to in order to finish off the set. I’ve made two trips to the stadium once known as Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, first in 1999 and again in 2008, seeing the Tigers and Orioles respectively.
All Time Team Records
After a long, disappointing winter, the 2024 baseball season is set to get underway tomorrow. To celebrate, it is time once again to look at the all-time team records for games that I have identified as having attended dating back to 1984. Last year, I tied 2011 for my eleventh highest game total of all time, an increase of ten games from the year before, and managed to see 21 out of the 30 teams, so there should be some nice changes.
The White Sox just may be worse this year following a disappointing 2023, with new general manager Chris Getz treading water by bringing in defensive upgrades who can’t hit their way out of a paper bag. On the other side of town, the Cubs brought in Craig Counsell to push a team that overachieved back into playoff contention but didn’t do a whole lot to improve the roster to help him do so. The 2024 season may just be a maddening year on both sides of town.
All-Time Team Records
| Team Name | Won | Loss | Winning Pctg |
|---|---|---|---|
| California Angels | 2 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 16 | 4 | 0.800 |
| Florida Marlins | 15 | 8 | 0.652 |
| New York Yankees | 19 | 12 | 0.613 |
| Colorado Rockies | 11 | 7 | 0.611 |
| Cleveland Guardians | 3 | 2 | 0.600 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 13 | 9 | 0.591 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 17 | 12 | 0.586 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 20 | 15 | 0.571 |
| Boston Red Sox | 19 | 15 | 0.559 |
| Washington Nationals | 7 | 6 | 0.538 |
| Cleveland Indians | 31 | 27 | 0.534 |
| Chicago Cubs | 235 | 213 | 0.525 |
| Chicago White Sox | 366 | 342 | 0.517 Continue reading → |
Heading To Vegas
Earlier today, MLB owners, in a unanimous vote, approved the relocation of the A’s from Oakland to Las Vegas. Earlier this year, the team signed a binding agreement to purchase 49 acres of land off the strip in Las Vegas, where they now hope to have a stadium built by and ready by the 2028 season.
However, that puts the team in a bit of a bind for the 2025-2027 seasons. The team’s current lease in Oakland expires after next season. Nothing has been decided as of yet, but rumors have them splitting time between the existing Triple A stadium in Las Vegas and/or Sacramento, across the bay at Oracle Park, and the Coliseum. The city of Oakland says they are open to the team continuing to play at the Coliseum, as long as certain conditions are met. What those conditions are remain to be seen, but, in the past, the mayor has asked that that A’s team name and history remain in Oakland for a future expansion team.
Assuming the team name remains the same, the A’s will become the first franchise to have played in four different municipalities while using the same name, starting in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City, Oakland, and now Las Vegas. On a personal note, removing Oakland Coliseum from my active stadium count means I would now have eleven parks to get to in order to finish off the set. I’ve made two trips to the stadium once known as Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, first in 1999 and again in 2008, seeing the Tigers and Orioles respectively.
A Change Can Do You Good
New general manager Chris Getz put his first stamp on the White Sox organization yesterday, declining the team’s $14 million option on Tim Anderson’s contract for 2024, making him a free agent. Anderson, who was arguably the face of the franchise, saw his fortunes fall in the second half of 2022 and continued to freefall in 2023.
Drafter by the White Sox in the first round in 2013, Tim Anderson made his major league debut on June 10, 2016, going 2-3 in a victory against the Royals at US Cellular Field. Replacing veteran Jimmy Rollins, who would be released five days later, Anderson played 99 games, hitting .283 with nine home runs, and finished seventh in Rookie of the Year balloting. Showing that he was still a work in progress, Anderson slashed .257/.276/.402 in 2017, with a 2.1% walk rate, the lowest in the major leagues. Defensively, he led the major leagues in errors, with 28, as well as fielding errors (16) and throwing errors (12). He showed slight improvements in 2018, with slight improvements in his OBP and slugging percentage, while reducing his overall errors.
2019 was Anderson’s coming out party. He led the major leagues with a .335 average while raising his OPS to .865, setting career highs with 167 hits, 32 doubles, and 81 runs. He still had some issues on defense, leading all major league players with 26 errors, leading to the lowest fielding percentage amongst all shortstops. His hot bat continued into the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, notching a .322 average and an .886 OPS. He won his first Silver Slugger award while leading the White Sox to their first post-season appearance since 2008. He thrived in the Wild Card series against the A’s, going 9-14 in the three-game series.
Anderson continued to prove that he his offensive improvement wasn’t a fluke when baseball returned full time in 2021. He was named to his first All Star team and, on the game’s biggest stage, he hit a walk-off home run against the Yankees in the inaugural Field of Dreams game in the cornfields of Iowa. Overall, he hit .309 and posted an .807 OPS while hitting 17 home runs and driving in 61 RBIs. Continuing where he left off the previous October, Anderson hit .368 in the ALDS against the Astros.
Things started to sour for Anderson in 2022, both on the field and off. Injuries limited him to just 79 games and left him with his lowest OPS since 2018. Off the field, an Instagram post by a woman who was not Anderson’s wife insinuated they were in a relationship, and he was the father of her unborn child. Looking for a fresh start, Anderson played with Team USA in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, earning praise from manager Mark DeRose and outfielder Mike Trout. Unfortunately, those good vibes did not spill over to the 2023 season. After an early injury, Anderson struggled the entire year, his OPS dropped to a career-low .582 and he managed just a single home run.
Now Anderson will look to rebuild his career outside of the only franchise he has ever known while the White Sox look to find a stopgap shortstop for 2024 until 2021 first round draft pick Colson Montgomery is ready to take the reins.
Anderson’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:
2023 Final Standings
A disappointing season on both sides of town came to an end this weekend, leaving both Chicago teams home for October. The Cubs looked like a lock for a Wild Card spot heading into September, and even were holding on to the last spot within the past week, but managed to squander their lead. The White Sox, on the other hand, managed to lose 100 or more games for just the fifth time in franchise history. Despite all this, I ended up attending 43 games, tied with 2011 for my eleventh highest total of all time. I only managed to add one new stadium, bringing my total up to 28. All told, I managed to see 21 of the 30 teams.
2023 Team Records
| Team Name | Won | Loss | Winning Pctg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto Blue Jays | 2 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 2 | 0 | 1.000 |
| San Diego Padres | 2 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Miami Marlins | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Chicago Cubs | 9 | 2 | 0.818 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 2 | 1 | 0.667 |
| Seattle Mariners | 2 | 2 | 0.500 |
| San Francisco Giants | 1 | 1 | 0.500 |
| Oakland Athletics | 1 | 1 | 0.500 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 1 | 1 | 0.500 |
| Detroit Tigers | 1 | 1 | 0.500 |
| Cleveland Guardians | 1 | 1 | 0.500 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 1 | 1 | 0.500 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 1 | 1 | 0.500 |
| Chicago White Sox | 15 | 21 | 0.417 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks Continue reading → |