Few, if any, thought it would be this bad. But the signs were there, as Yahoo Sports’ Russell Dorsey pointed out in a mid-April analysis of the already struggling White Sox. And sadly for the South Siders, the 2024 season continued to nosedive toward historic lows, eventually to the point that inglorious history — 121 losses — became inevitable.
Here’s a timeline of Chicago’s season from hell, one that gives the 2024 White Sox a compelling case as the worst team in baseball history — or at least the worst since the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, who went 20-134.
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March 28: Opening Day, when hope is at its peak in the baseball season. The hosting White Sox got shut out 1-0 in front of 33,420 fans against the Detroit Tigers and ace Tarik Skubal. In the series, Chicago was swept, starting the season 0-3. Each defeat was by one run.
April 2: Finally, a victory after starting 0-4. Garrett Crochet showed why he’s the organization’s ace with a strong outing vs. Atlanta.
April 5: In perhaps the first omen of how the season would pan out, 2023 All-Star Luis Robert Jr. strained his right hip flexor rounding first base while trying to leg out a double.
Robert missed two months due to the injury before returning June 4. The club went 14-33 in his absence.
April 9: Just four days after Robert’s injury, Chicago lost third baseman Yoán Moncada for more than five months due to a left adductor strain. Moncada was attempting to beat out an infield single when he suffered the injury.
April 15: The White Sox held an extended pregame team meeting. Manager Pedro Grifol declined to tell reporters about the specifics of the discussion, but it’s fair to guess that it had to do with the team’s 2-14 start to the season. Chicago lost its next two games to the visiting Kansas City Royals.
April 19: The White Sox were shut out again, this time against Philadelphia. The loss, which marked the sixth time the team was held scoreless in the early weeks of the season, dropped them to 3-16.
“I just think guys are pressing,” Grifol said of the team’s early season struggles. “They really care. They want to turn this around. They want to produce and be a part of the solution and part of the turnaround.”
April 28: Pitcher Erick Fedde led the White Sox to a 4-2 victory against Tampa Bay with nine strikeouts…