Chicago White Sox catcher Martín Maldonado stands with his mask up between plays during the first inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Monday, April 15, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Erin Hooley/AP Photos
Enough history, already.
It’s not the kind the White Sox want to make.
When they were swept by the Reds over the weekend, the Sox’ 2-13 start gave them the distinction of owning the worst 15-game start in franchise history.
It was the kind of start that moved manager Pedro Grifol to hold a clubhouse meeting before the Sox opened a three-game series. Media waited 45 minutes outside till it was finished.
“It was beneficial but I’m not going to talk about it,” Grifol said.
“We have little ones every day. That’s just a part of what we do. The big one today, the full team meeting, it was just something I felt like we needed to get together and discuss.”
It didn’t stop the bleeding that is a five-game losing streak, a 1-8 record at home after the latest loss and shutout, a 2-0 to the Royals, and now a 2-14 record.
If you thought Lee Elia’s 1983 Cubs were bad when they started 5-14, regardless of the former manager’s famous profanity-laced dispute of that fact, these Sox are worse. And unlike those Cubs, who would finish 71-91 and win the National League East in 1984, the direction these Sox are headed is a mystery.
Is there more history to be made?
The 1932 Sox, with a 49-102 record and .325 win percentage, was the worst in club history, followed by the 1948 team that finished 51-101 for a .336 percentage.
Of more recent vintage, the 1970 Sox were 56-106, the third-worst team in franchise history with a .346 win percentage; last season’s team, owning the distinction as the most disappointing in recent memory considering its seemingly reachable postseason expectation, was 61-101, the sixth worst at .377. Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf called it “the worst year I’ve ever suffered through; it’s been a horrible experience” after he fired general manager Rick Hahn and vice president Ken Williams.
The 2018 team under Rick Renteria was 62-100, seventh worst at .383, but that was year two of a rebuild thought to be oozing promise and known to be promising “multiple championships” from Hahn. Turns out, a Wild Card berth was claimed in a season shortened by COVID in 2020, a division was won (with a startling exit in round one of the playoffs) in 2021 and nothing more.
Also among the franchise’s worst in recent history: the 2013 team finished 63-99, ninth worst with a .389 winning percentage, and Bill Veeck’s 1976 team, which busted out those historic shorts, was a bust at 64-97, 11th worst in club history at .398.
What was said in the Sox’ meeting is not known, but there isn’t much to say.
“At some point, sometimes you need it, and I think that was the right time,” said Eloy Jimenez, who came off the injured list Monday. “Today was good.”
Words won’t get it done. Publicly, they say there is a lot of season left, and the record is magnified because it’s right out of the gate. “Trying to do too much,” a common refrain from managers trying to help struggling players relax, is already getting old.
Trying to avoid getting shut out for the sixth time before a paid attendance of 10,569 – there were fewer fans in the stands, some of whom were heard booing — the Sox were blanked for seven innings on four hits allowed Seth Lugo (1.05 ERA) and finished off by relievers Chris Stratton and James McArthur.
Sox righty Nick Nastrini retired the first 11 Royals in a row before Vinnie Pasquantino homered in the fourth. Kyle Isbel bounced an RBI single through the infield for the Royals’ other run in the inning.