With the Chicago White Sox drawing national attention as they close in on the modern-day MLB record for losses, Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf conceded the obvious Wednesday, calling it a “very painful” season.
“Everyone in this organization is extremely unhappy with the results of this season, that goes without saying,” Reinsdorf said in a statement released after reporters left the clubhouse following the team’s 114th loss, a 6-4 defeat at the hands of the Cleveland Guardians.
“This year has been very painful for all, especially our fans. We did not arrive here overnight, and solutions won’t happen overnight either. Going back to last year, we have made difficult decisions and changes to begin building a foundation for future success. What has impressed me is how our players and staff have continued to work and bring a professional attitude to the ballpark each day despite a historically difficult season. No one is happy with the results, but I commend the continued effort.”
Reinsdorf ended the statement by saying he expected to “have more to say at the end of the season.”
According to the press release, Reinsdorf decided to issue the statement in response to “a number of requests” from media outlets. The Washington Post and ESPN were among those requesting interviews Wednesday. One media outlet was told to send questions via email for a possible response.
Reinsdorf hasn’t addressed the media about his team in more than a year. The last time he spoke about the team was to a small group of handpicked reporters on Aug. 31, 2023, to explain his reasons for promoting Chris Getz to general manager.
“One of the things I owe the fans is to get better as fast as we can possibly get better,” Reinsdorf said at the time. “Speed is of the essence. I don’t want this to be a long-term proposition.”
Apparently that narrative was deemed out of date. The Sox have gone from awful to historically bad and are on track to smash the expansion 1962 New York Mets’ record of 120 losses. They need to go 10-5 over their final 15 games to avoid tying the Mets’ record for futility.
Statement from Chicago White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf on the team’s current season: pic.twitter.com/ykQpYuihMi
— LaMond Pope (@lamondpope) September 11, 2024
That’s why the new narrative is “solutions won’t happen overnight.” Wholesale changes are on their way in 2025, including a new manager to replace Pedro Grifol, who was fired Aug. 8. Interim manager Grady Sizemore is 5-25 in his first month on the job, a .167 winning percentage that makes Grifol look like Joe McCarthy.
The Sox are dealing with a growing contingent of national media parachuting into town to report on their likely descent into the record books. It’s not nearly on par with the group that followed Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire in the Great Home Run Race of 1998, but for a laughingstock team like the Sox, any crowd is impressive.
The Washington Post, New York Times and ESPN baseball expert Jeff Passan — who still gets grief for picking the Sox to win the World Series in 2022 — were on hand Wednesday to chronicle the madness.
After the loss in front of a few thousand mildly interested observers at Guaranteed Rate Field, the Sox found themselves a whopping 51 1/2 games behind the Guardians. They extended their franchise-record home losing streak to 15 games and are 18-57 at home with six games remaining on the South Side.
With all of their resources and playing in the largest American League Central market, I asked Guardians GM Mike Chernoff why the Sox shouldn’t contend for a division title every season.
“That’s so hard for me to say,” Chernoff replied. “That’s the goal of every market, to win consistently and be competitive. They certainly have been that in the past, and there’s obviously opportunity for them to be that again moving forward.”
Photos: Cleveland Guardians 6, Chicago White Sox 4 on Wednesday at Guaranteed Rate Field
Well, at least he’s not gloating, as the 2022 Guardians did after clinching the division and yelling, “F−−− the White Sox” in the postgame clubhouse while chanting, “Fire Tony (La Russa).” Two years later, it’s a kinder, gentler Guardians organization, and maybe these Sox are just too pitiful to mock.
The Sox were swept for the 24th time. They’re 6-47 since July 10 and 81 games under .500. The ’62 Mets finished “only” 80 games under at 40-120, so arguably the Sox are already worse.
“I dont give a s−−− about our record right now,” losing pitcher Davis Martin said. ‘I’m pissed. Everybody’s pissed. … These are all competitors in here. It doesn’t matter if we’re playing ping-pong or video games on our phones. We want to beat the crap out of each other. The same is thing going on out there.”
Maybe some of them should switch to ping-pong when looking for work next year. Many of them wouldn’t be in the majors on any other team, so at least they’re making major-league money in 2024.
Sizemore said “everyone in there is aware of where we’re at,” meaning their fast-moving charge at the Mets’ record, which could be broken in the next week.
“If you’re sitting there only focused on the negative, you’re probably going to have negative outcomes,” he said. “It doesn’t do us any good to sit here and be like, ‘We have to win this many games to avoid whatever.’ We have to compete every night.
“Whether we hit some magical number or not, it’s still not a winning season. It’s not the season we hoped for. The goal is to try to finish as strong as we can, get better and see where we’re at for next year.”
Sizemore won’t be there next year, at least not in the manager’s spot. But at least he was brave enough to take the job, knowing his name would be forever linked with a team that’s soon to be etched into the history books for the wrong reasons.
“There’s a lot that goes into it that people don’t see,” Sizemore said. “I enjoy, though, being in the fight with the guys and trying to come up with any way we can to scrape out a win.”
Scraping was not evident Wednesday. In the first three innings, the Guardians twice scored a pair of runs on an infield hit, and Andrés Giménez beat out a grounder Andrew Vaughn fielded in front of the first-base bag. Vaughn glanced at the runner heading to second and was a step late in getting to the bag. He received a mock ovation from Sox fans moments later when he fielded a routine grounder and quickly stepped on the bag.
Vaughn conceded it was “a mistake on my part.” Sizemore maintained the “breaks haven’t gone our way” and lauded the “heads-up” running by the Guardians.
Just another day on the South Side, in front of a crowd announced at 11,252 that was so small and quiet you could hear the rattle of the “L” cars going by and the Sox coaches complaining about calls from the dugout.
After a day off Thursday, the Oakland Athletics — a team that didn’t bother pretending it would compete this year and still had 30 more wins than the Sox entering their game Wednesday night — arrive for a three-game series to close out the homestand at the House of Pain.
Good seats are still available.
