2024 White Sox Are Running Out Of Time In A Race Against History As Worst Team Ever

The Chicago White Sox won a baseball game Wednesday night. With just 32 victories this season, that is certainly news for the franchise in cataclysm, though it may not be enough to keep the team from its historically tragic fate.

While nearly half the league is vying for playoff contention with a month to go in a uniquely competitive season, the White Sox are competing with ancient foes. With a 32-109 record through 141 games, they are trying to avoid becoming the worst MLB team to ever exist. It may come down to the wire.

Let’s meet the competition. Their fates were sealed a long time ago, but with history unfolding in real time, they have risen again. They mark the thresholds that the White Sox cannot cross.

In 1962, their first season as an MLB franchise, the New York Mets earned every bit of their nickname, “The Lovable Losers,” charming baseball-hungry fans in Queens while bumbling their way to a 40-120 record. In doing so, they set the record for most losses in an MLB season.

Forty-six years earlier, in 1916, the Philadelphia Athletics attempted to bounce back from a dreadful 1915 season in which they lost 109 games. They failed in that effort. In Hall-of-Famer Nap Lajoie’s final season, the A’s somehow regressed to earn a 36-117 record. Their .235 winning percentage is still the lowest in league history.

The 1962 Mets and 1916 Athletics often share the dishonor of the worst MLB team ever, as the former has the most losses while the latter has the worst winning percentage. Other historically bad teams, like the 1935 Braves and 2003 Tigers, can claim the worst for coming close in one of the two stats.

With 21 games remaining in the 2024 MLB season, the White Sox are on pace to break both records. In fact, they’re on pace to shatter them.

With 109 losses and a .227 winning percentage, they’re currently projected to end the year with an approximate record of 37-125.

If this comes to pass, there will no longer be a debate. The 2024 White Sox will indisputably be the worst team in 123 years of baseball.

The finer points of the team’s season do not need mentioning. In broad strokes, Garrett Crochet has proven to be a rising star on the mound and everything else has been terrible. The team sold everything that wasn’t nailed down at the trade deadline. No one in the current starting lineup is batting above .250.

The team has had three separate losing streaks of 21, 14 and 12 games, the last of which finally ended this week. An 8-1 win for the team over the Orioles, current A.L. East leaders, on Wednesday, is a much-needed jolt out of the record books. It’s time to make it happen on the field. Unlike their long-gone rivals, the White Sox still have time.

In the grand scheme of things, none of Chicago’s misadventures this season will matter if the team can put a run together to finish the season. If the White Sox can get to 39 wins, they will surpass the all-time low winning percentage. If they can get to 43 wins, which will require an 11-10 record from here on out, they will avoid the losses record. If they can finish strong and accomplish these things, they will simply be remembered as another terrible roster.

Bad teams get forgotten in time; the 2023 Athletics drew historically bad comparisons for a time, but they finished 50-112 and everyone moved on. Being bad in baseball isn’t acceptable, but it is forgettable. Being the worst, on the other hand, is so unimaginable that it must be remembered. These are the stakes for the 2024 White Sox as the record keepers ready their chisels.