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The 1962 New York Mets lost 120 games, setting the record for most losses in a single season in modern baseball history. The 2024 Chicago White Sox are on track to supplant the Mets as the worst team ever. As the season comes to a close, we’ll follow their efforts to avoid disgrace.
Chicago’s seemingly inevitable march toward the all-time losing record took a pause Saturday. Instead, it was a hit parade on the south side, with the 16th and final strike coming on a walk-off homer by Andrew Benintendi in a 7-6 victory.
Chicago’s bullpen created two separate three-run leads, including one in the ninth inning. But the violation made their fight moot. It was their first home win since August 12.
This beleaguered bunch will still need to win nine of their last thirteen games to keep the 1962 Mets from matching the 120-loss mark. And eight wins to avoid setting the record itself.
Another matchup against the Athletics and six chances against the lowly Angels provide an opening for the White Sox to pull off a last-minute miracle to avoid disgrace. Remember, the 2003 Detroit Tigers won five of six to end their season finishing with just 119 losses. Perhaps the record books provide the most motivation.
The White Sox won their second consecutive game that Chris Flexen pitched. That’s especially important since they had lost his previous 20 games. He navigated traffic through five scoreless innings.
Chicago posted seven hits in the first two innings off of Oakland starter JT Ginn. Gavin Sheets added a solo home run.
ANDREW BENINTENDI RUNS IT OUT FOR THE WHITE SOX! 👏
(via @NBCSWhiteSox)pic.twitter.com/WfmHjtkcBR
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) September 15, 2024
It seemed like this game would follow a familiar pattern. The A’s immediately scored three off reliever Chad Kuhl. But Enyel De Los Santos steadied the effort, pitching 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Justin Anderson blew another three-run lead in the ninth.
But Benintendi held on all day. He posted two tie-breaking hits, including the game winner.
In any offseason, a losing team hopes to at least grow in certain areas. However, when you’re 81 games below .500, sustainable growth is inherently elusive.
Saturday may not have represented growth. But their home fans could finally celebrate a victory. — Sam Blum
Current pace: 125 losses
Remaining games: 13
Wins needed to avoid matching the ’62 Mets: 9
Next game: SSunday vs. Oakland. LHP JP Sears 11-10, 4.18 ERA (A’s) vs. RHP Sean Burke 0-0, 0.00 ERA (White Sox)
September 13: Shutout loss brings Chicago within six losses of MLB record
The intention was for the roles to be reversed. If you had asked a casual baseball fan at the beginning of the year which team would enter this mid-September series – Oakland A’s vs. Chicago White Sox – to avoid the losing record, the answer would have been Oakland.
Preseason expectations certainly weren’t high for the White Sox. Just now ask their GM. But it was Oakland that put a 110-loss season behind it amid a chaotic storm off the field.
Instead, Oakland is building an exciting young core. And the White Sox are counting down the days until the season ends. Their relevance is directly related to their uselessness. With a record of 33-115, their club is six losses away from solo ownership of the record.
This 2-0 defeat was no blowout. Zack Gelof doubled for a run in the fourth. Brent Rooker gave the A’s some security an inning later with a two-out single. Chicago’s pitching held strong, but the offense was unable to produce a run.
2024 White Sox: Heading for the worst in history
2025 White Sox: Not Adding Decent Free Agents
This is not a serious MLB franchise.
— Brett (@brett_haffner) September 14, 2024
Out of context, it was just a normal game – unlike many giant blowouts that populate their schedule.
In context, however, it contributed to their unwanted history.
The White Sox lost their 16th straight home game in a span of more than a month. They fell to 5-26 in the Grady Sizemore era. They tied the 2018 Baltimore Orioles and the 1935 Boston Braves for the fourth-most losses since the American League was founded in 1901.
In an alternate universe, it’s the A’s who are desperately trying to avoid disgrace. In this world, however, it’s the White Sox who seemingly resign themselves to it. — Sam Blum
September 11: Rally falls short after 15th straight home loss
The White Sox have gone an entire month without a home win.
Way back in the day, sometime around the Mesozoic Era (okay, it was August 12), Chicago defeated the New York Yankees 12-2. Since then, it’s been one loss after another, each time the White Sox take the field they’ve gotten one step closer to history. The latest edition featured a pair of two-run infield singles from Guardians outfielder Lane Thomas in a 6-4 loss on Wednesday afternoon that sealed Cleveland’s three-game sweep.
An error and a balk helped spark a four-run White Sox outburst, but like the previous two games of the series, they never took a lead. They have lost 15 straight games at Guaranteed Rate Field, and 27 of 28.
The White Sox are now 33-114. Since their founding as a charter member of the American League in 1901, only five teams have recorded more losses in a season: the 2018 Baltimore Orioles (115), the 1935 Boston Braves (115), the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics (117), the 2003 Detroit Tigers (119) and 1962 New York Mets (120).
With the first-place Guardians reluctantly leaving town, the White Sox welcome the Oakland Athletics to the South Side this weekend for a three-game series. Chicago dropped two of three in Oakland in early August. — Zack Meisel
I’m afraid it’s time we have this conversation.
Relegate the Chicago White Sox pic.twitter.com/mAYNihULHx
— MLB Deadline News (@MLBDeadlineNews) September 11, 2024
September 10: Loss No. 113 produces the 17th shutout of the season
CHICAGO — Before Tuesday’s game, a White Sox executive jokingly asked two reporters to try using “record-setting” for the team name instead of a less flattering description. Well, the record-breaking White Sox did it again on Tuesday, setting a new record for consecutive home losses with 14. Naturally, they broke the record they set on Monday night.
Their 5-0 loss to Cleveland was also their 26th loss in their last 27 home games.
It’s starting to become a trend.
LANE LANE LANE LANE!#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/DpcYUR28Gr
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) September 11, 2024
Led by Lane Thomas’ three-run homer off Sox reliever Gus Varland in the sixth, Cleveland sent the White Sox to their 113th loss, home or away, of the season. This was the seventeenth time this season that they were shut out. They are eight losses away from surpassing the Mets’ modern-day losing record from 1962, and the only drama now is whether they can win three games between now and September 24 so they can set the record in their final home series.
The Sox are 18-56 at home and their last win at Guaranteed Rate Field was an improbable 12-2 loss to the New York Yankees on August 12. Their previous home win was against the Twins in the first game of a doubleheader in July. 10. The Sox responded with 21 consecutive losses, tying the American League record.
Before the game, the Sox called up right-hander Sean Burke, who was making his major league debut. He struck out three in two scoreless innings before the Guardians got an unearned run from him in the ninth. The foul was his own, which stemmed from an off-target pickoff throw.
Burke, a third-round draft pick in 2021, was set to pitch in the Arizona Fall League but instead is the 62nd player the White Sox have used this season, extending a club record. — Jon Greenberg
September 9: Loss No. 112 comes as the Guardians pitcher flirts with perfection
CHICAGO — The White Sox, who have scored 104 fewer runs than any other team, have proven to be an elixir for any struggling pitcher. That now includes Cleveland Guardians rookie Joey Cantillo, who retired the first 20 Chicago hitters he faced on Monday and handed the White Sox their 112th loss.
Cantillo recorded an 8.47 ERA in his first four starts, but in Cleveland’s 5-3 win he struck out 10 and kept the White Sox off the bases until Andrew Benintendi’s two-out single to right in the seventh.
What a night for Joey Cantillo!
He struck out ten batters during his performance tonight. #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/LJ8jZstH78
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) September 10, 2024
Oddly enough, the White Sox have more wins against the first-place Guardians (five) than any other opponent this season. However, their loss on Monday marked the 13th in a row at home and the 25th in their last 26 games at Guaranteed Rate Field. They have just eight losses after matching the Mets’ dubious mark of 1962. They sit 40 1/2 games out of fourth place in the five-team American League Central. — Zack Meisel
(Top photo by Andrew Benintendi: Nuccio DiNuzzo / Getty Images)