I have been a fan of the Chicago White Sox for roughly 30 years as a young boy who finally understood what being a fan meant to be. I'm a 34 year old man who grew up in Washington D.C., didn't really have a local side to cheer for (no Baltimore doesn't count) with parents who were both White Sox and Red Sox fans. My father grew up on the South Side of Chicago and naturally raised me as a White Sox fan considering I got my love of the sport from him (my mother loves based baseball and the Red Sox, but she got me more into football). This season has been the most depressing for me in so many ways.
A lot of people know that I got involved in baseball in 2008 when I did some work ironically for the White Sox and again in 2009, but when I really got involved on an everyday basis was in 2013 for the Birmingham Barons, still one of my favorite years working in baseball. My last season working in baseball was in 2016 with the Cincinnati Reds, so I still have a lot of credibility here even getting credentialed by the Reds through 2019. Essentially, I know my baseball and know it better than most of you reading this, but that doesn't mean my feelings about this version about the White Sox is more justified than you. We all should be feeling this grief. It's disgusting. How can things come to this?
Frankly, the White Sox making history of the worst team ever is more historic than we all think. They have had three separate occasions of having a losing streak of 10 games or more. Three! I'm sorry, but you literally cannot try hard if you have losing streaks that long that many times. That's fucking disgusting.
Ozzie Guillen in one of the post game shows on NBC Sports Chicago has expressed that this team clearly isn't trying hard because if they had then this team wouldn't be this bad. The 1962 New York Mets, whom have the worst record of all time, are a special case, but a side of players for the Sox playing this bad considering the level talent (no matter how bad it is, is still higher than the 1962 Mets team) shows how much this side does not care about winning. Players like Luis Robert or Andrew Vaughn not hitting for shit is proof of this. You can make the argument of not having protection in the lineup for them not hitting well, but this is their chance to step up and they are not doing that. Andrew Benintendi has been a frustrating case, though that might be explained because of his heel problems, but his contract has been the worst in franchise history. Benintendi has hit well in the second half and if they can offload him in the offseason in a trade or next trade deadline if he continues to hit the way he is, then that will be beneficial to the team. That being said, having a lineup with Vaughn, Robert, and Benintendi hitting as bad they are this season, you have to luck into being this bad. That's absurd.
Lots of fans who have followed my writings or podcasts/vidcasts probably have labeled me as a bootlicker for owner Jerry Reinsdorf. Lots of fans of fans find him to be cheap, which he is factually not. But lots of what has happened this season, he should hold himself accountable for. He's allowed this. His recent comments about him saying "No one is happy" should feel a lot more to be desired by those comments. How about saying "This season has been unacceptable. I will not accept this crap. I will do everything I can to make sure that we won't be THIS bad yet continue to rebuild."? Then with general manager Chris Getz in his most recent interview saying the team won't be free agent heavy is very angering to hear. Why the FUCK are you not trying to improve the team? That's what I'm hearing. You won't have a top ten draft pick in the MLB draft lottery next season, so what the hell are you doing to improve the team?! There has to be a plan! What is it?!
I'm absolutely disgusted that the Sox this year will obviously break the worst possible record. Scott Garfien on NBC Sports Chicago tried to mitigate the hurt by saying that this team was trying, but Guillen was right. If the team was trying, then they wouldn't be THIS bad. Having three separate losing streaks of ten or more is absurd and ridiculous. That's really hard to do unless if you're truly not trying to win. I have been a part of teams who were terrible and losing never felt fun and I always tried my best to win. But these are professionals, to be this bad is remarkably bad. Most teams shouldn't even consider acquiring these players who will be free agents from this side at the end of the season or even a trade. Most free agents probably would be turned off from coming over to the South Side. This is fucking ridiculous. I love this team, my absolute favorite baseball and sports team, but for fucks sake make me hopeful again! While the most recent report of the team needing to shed payroll is the right move, Reinsdorf needs to restore hope. I know the man wants to win, but he needs to prove it so that he can shut haters up. You wanted me to be your bootlicker? Start winning.
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