Embattled rookie play-by-play man John Schriffen kicked off last night’s broadcast with a prediction. “I feel good,” he said during the open. “Tonight is the night the losing streak comes to an end.” Two pitches into the game, the White Sox were trailing 1-0. It did not get better from there.
When the damage was done, the White Sox fell to the Red Sox 14-2, setting a single-season franchise record with their fourteenth consecutive loss. The overall team record is fifteen straight losses, which happened with five losses to end of the 1967 season followed by another ten straight to start the 1968 season. The 2024 incarnation will attempt to avoid tying this mark tonight.
On Thursday, the White Sox announced that John Schriffen, a 39-year-old from New York, had signed a multi-year deal to become the team’s new television play-by-play announcer. He replaces Jason Benetti, who, due to growing frustrations with the White Sox front office, left in November to fill the same role with the Tigers after seven years in the White Sox booth. Schriffen, who is biracial, becomes the second Black television play-by-play announcer in MLB, joining Dave Sims of the Mariners.