THE 1919 WHITE SOX (Wikipedia).

The Chicago White Sox are about to make history. Bad history.

Oh, it’s not quite as awful as the 1919 “Black Sox” scandal in which eight members of the team accepted bribes to throw the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds.

I mean, although the 2024 ChiSox are on track to set a record for the worst season in modern Major League Baseball history, at least this team is trying to win.

I assume.

No, Jim, no need to be snarky.  If you’ve ever played on (or followed) a team riding a train toward ignominy, you know how painful that can be.

As of this writing (mid-day Tuesday), the Pale Sox have lost 11 games in a row. They had a 21-game losing streak this season. On Sunday they set a new team record for most losses in a year (107) and added to that on Monday.

They are coming off the team’s first-ever 0-10 homestand, but the train is headed for a further inglorious finish. The Sox now have a .223 winning percentage. The record for lowest percentage is .250 by the 1962 New York Mets. They’re also in the record books for 120 losses.

It’s very doable. The Detroit Tigers came close, with 119 losses in 2003 and 114 in 2019.

But sometimes the crash is followed by rebirth. The Mets won the National League pennant and World Series in 1969 and 1973. They even got Willie Mays back in a New York uniform!

The New England Patriots were 1-15 in 1990, but since then, have won six Super Bowls and 11 AFC titles.

As recently as 2021 the ChiSox were the AL Central champs. That was just three seasons ago. Who’s to say that in three seasons from now they won’t be back on top again?