The White Sox' season/streak deserves its own thread

[G-Fafif]

Tim Britton asks all kinds of people about the 2024 White Sox reverse-chasing the 1962 Mets.

Greg Prince, who pens the popular blog “Faith and Fear in Flushing” and has written four books about the Mets, ultimately agrees with the majority.

“I’ve been charmed by all that went into creating 40-120 my entire rooting life,” Prince wrote in an email. “The legend of the 1962 club will endure no matter who holds the record. All that being said, hell yes, let somebody else lose more than my team. Plus, you know, history. Somebody setting a mark like this while we’re here to witness it is worth a dozen Danny Jansens facing off against another dozen Danny Jansens.”

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/572968 ... st-losses/

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

I'm glad they sought out such a respected authority on Mets fandom! Great work!

[G-Fafif]

I'm glad they sought out such a respected authority on Mets fandom! Great work!

Thanks — really great that Jay Hook and Craig Anderson are still ready to field these questions 62 years later.

[Benjamin Grimm]

The nine living 1962 Mets are Jay Hook, Craig Anderson, Felix Mantilla, Cliff Cook, Galen Cisco, Rick Herrscher, Jim Marshall, John DeMerit, and Ed Kranepool.

[MFS62]

The nine living 1962 Mets are Jay Hook, Craig Anderson, Felix Mantilla, Cliff Cook, Galen Cisco, Rick Herrscher, Jim Marshall, John DeMerit, and Ed Kranepool.

Sigh.
Later

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

That there's some good quotin'

[G-Fafif]

That there's some good quotin'

Gracias.

[Edgy MD]

South Siders came to Baltimore and got their sox washed by the Birds, 13-3.

With that elusive 32nd victory continuing to remain out of their grasp, The Disco Demolitionists are now 31-108. It's a .223 pace, pointing at a 36-126. season. Incredible!

Those 36 wins, on the other hand, would match Walter Johnson's 1913 season.

[Benjamin Grimm]

They need to go above .500 over their last 23 games in order to avoid 120 losses.

I want them to go no better than 39-123. Not only do I want them to lose more games than the 1962 Mets, I also want them to have fewer wins.

[Centerfield]

They need to go above .500 over their last 23 games in order to avoid 120 losses.

I want them to go no better than 39-123. Not only do I want them to lose more games than the 1962 Mets, I also want them to have fewer wins.

Agreed. 121 is important. 123 is the real goal.

[Centerfield]

The White Sox are now 33 and 112. A .228 win percentage. 17 games left.

To get to 39 and 123, the Sox need to go no better than 6-11. (.353%)

To get to 41 and 121, the Sox need to go no better than 8-9. (.471%)

If they continue at their current pace, the Sox will go 4-13 and finish with a record of 37 and 125. I would love to see this happen.

[AIMrMet]

Can't believe the bloody White Sox are close to beating the '62 Mets humiliation of a record! That's like hiring a coyote to guard your hen house and faking surprise when all you see is feathers in the a.m. Swigging down this 'Komodo Eclipse' Stout, bit smokey, bit vanilla living it up with these comical statistics that taste better with each gulp. Feels like slow dancing with a bear, spectrum of jeopardy and excitement to it, don't cha think?

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

"AI Mr Met" lol

[Centerfield]

Now 33-114.

[Benjamin Grimm]

They have to win two thirds of their remaining games (10 of 15) to avoid 120 losses.

They have to win no more than two fifths to end up with the outcome I'm rooting for, fewer than 40 wins.

[Cowtipper]

Pedro Grifol winning percentage: .239

I didn't think it could get any worse! But...

Grady Sizemore winning percentage: .172

Not looking promising.

[Gwreck]

The 1916 Philadelphia Athletics went 36-117 (.235), the worst record ever in the modern ERA.

“Besting” that winning percentage is certainly possible. In fact, I’m fine with the White Sox ending at 35-127.

[G-Fafif]

Zack Meisel is The Athletic’s Guardians writer, and one of their best in general. He directed his focus on the Sox fans who’ve refused to unspool.

CHICAGO — Seventy times a year, Barry Antoniazzi tosses on his black No. 27 jersey with “Bagodonuts” stitched onto the back, dons a firefighter helmet covered in Chicago White Sox pins and walks a block and a half to his baseball sanctuary.

Antoniazzi grew tired of paying for parking at Guaranteed Rate Field, so 11 years ago, he moved to W. 35th Street and S. Parnell Avenue where, in a normal year, he can hear celebratory postgame fireworks from his residence.

This is, of course, no normal year, and the skies over the ballpark are quiet nearly every night. The White Sox haven’t won a home game in more than a month, and stand on the doorstep of undesirable history as they limp toward the 1962 New York Mets’ record of 120 losses.

And yet, Antoniazzi’s faith in the franchise hasn’t wavered, even though his house of worship has become a house of horrors that has hosted one defeat after another. On Tuesday, Antoniazzi, a paramedic for the Chicago Fire Department, watched his beloved, beleaguered club drop its 26th game in 27 attempts at home. Just as no two snowflakes are exactly alike, the White Sox have repeatedly found new and increasingly painful ways to lose in a season that has felt like one long, extraordinary blizzard on the South Side.

On Monday, Cleveland Guardians rookie spot starter Joey Cantillo retired the first 20 hitters he faced. On Tuesday, a line drive to the thigh knocked out Guardians starter Ben Lively after two innings, but the team’s bullpen covered the last seven frames to seal a shutout. On Wednesday, Lane Thomas delivered a pair of two-run infield singles to fuel a Cleveland sweep.

Antoniazzi traveled to San Francisco last month to complete his mission of watching the White Sox in all 30 ballparks. He’s drawn to Guaranteed Rate Field for the chance at seeing something new — he’s never witnessed a no-hitter in person, for instance — and to support a team he insists can only go up from here.

“We’re not going to be this bad forever,” he said. “We’re going to get better. So when we do get good, I can say, ‘I stuck with them through thick and thin.’ That’s what keeps me coming back.”

Antoniazzi is not alone in his loyalty; some of the few thousand fans in attendance each night are true diehards, willing to stick with their team even as it careens towards the worst season in baseball history. But what inspires others to pass through the turnstiles? Why do they choose to devote several hours to watching a predictable ending unfold on the diamond instead of, say, cruising along the Chicago River on an architectural boat tour, or riding the Centennial Wheel at Navy Pier, or watching pennant races play out on the TVs at Timothy O’Toole’s Pub, or shopping on Michigan Avenue, or even just lounging on the living room sofa?

The White Sox sold 11,429 tickets for Monday’s game, though the true attendance count appeared to be less than half of that. There was a slight uptick Tuesday, maybe because of a $5 beer promotion or because fans wanted to snatch up some of the last Campfire Milkshakes of the season. Or there’s another reason, one that has grown in importance as this impressively bad season has worn on: witnessing the train wreck, one loss at a time.

“We’re here to see them make history,” as one fan put it.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/575745 ... -mlb-team/

[Centerfield]

The White Sox are now 33 and 114. A .224 win percentage. 15 games left.

To get to 39 and 123, the Sox need to go no better than 6-9. (.400%)

To get to 41 and 121, the Sox need to play above .500 and finish 8-7. (.533%)

If they continue at their current pace, the Sox will go 4-11 and finish with a record of 37 and 125.

They've reached a soft part of their schedule, relatively speaking, with 6 games against Oakland and the Angels. I would love if they can lose all 6 and get to 120 so they can sweep the Padres in their next series.

[kcmets]

They've reached a soft part of their schedule

I got here and spit stuff up on laptop.

Have to go get a towel, this thing is wet and plugged in.

[Benjamin Grimm]

This thing is wet and plugged in.

That's what she said.

[kcmets]

**Buh dum ching! **

[Benjamin Grimm]

Apparently we were similarly following the Oakland A's last year: 1962 Mets vs. 2023 Athletics

And in case you were wondering, the A's finished 2023 with a record of 50-112.

The Royals, also mentioned in that thread, finished at a relatively robust 56-106.

[Frayed Knot]

The Royals, also mentioned in that thread, finished at a relatively robust 56-106.

KC, already guaranteed an over .500 season, are on pace for 89-90 wins this year despite a .346 win pct last year.
But those kind of one season turn-arounds don't happen in baseball, only in the NFL ... (or so I'm told).

[metirish]

Reports say the White Sox plan is to cut payroll never season