Culture
Infamy, thy name is White Sox. We’re past the point of embarrassment here
It was another day and another loss for the Chicago White Sox, but there was something extra special about Sunday’s defeat.
Sunday’s loss, a standard 13-7 defeat at the hands of the Minnesota Twins, marked their 20th in a row — a nice round number to give this franchise the national stage it deserves. No team had lost 20 in a row since the 1988 Baltimore Orioles, who lost 21 times in succession.
In Chicago, we’re used to the White Sox losing. It’s kind of their thing. But 20 in a row? We’re past the point of embarrassment here.
In Chicago, we’ve been laser-focused on the Sox being on track to break the 1962 Mets’ modern-day record of 120 losses, but now we’re at the point where they could surpass the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies’ record of 23 straight defeats.
Infamy, thy name is White Sox.
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On NBC Sports Chicago’s beloved, painfully honest postgame show Sunday, host Chuck Garfien was rattling off some familiar insult statistics.
“Twentieth loss in a row, 40 games back, 1-12 against Minnesota,” he said. “I could go all day on this, 1-12 against Kansas City …”
That’s when Frank Thomas interrupted him. Thomas is, of course, the greatest player in franchise history and a semi-regular co-host on the show. As a hitter, Thomas was a stickler for details. On this show, too, he wanted it to be accurate.
“Sixty games under .500,” he said. “Under. Sixty games.”
That’s when Garfien realized his mistake. With the loss, the White Sox had dropped to 27-87. Talk about a Big Hurt.
“Sixty games,” he said. “I said they were 40 games under .500.”
With a little theatrical flourish, he slammed his stack of papers on the carpet.
“They’re 60 games under .500!” Garfien yelled, before settling back in his chair.
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That’s when Ozzie Guillen, Garfien’s everyday co-host and the team’s World Series-winning manager, brought up the stat that I came up with recently: If you take out the Sox’s two franchise-record losing streaks, they still have the worst record in baseball.
See, it’s one thing to be the worst team in baseball in a singular season. Someone has to do it, after all. But add to that a 14-game losing streak and a 20-game (and counting) losing streak, and it makes them a contender for the worst baseball team in modern history. A laughingstock for the ages.
The ’62 Mets were an expansion team with a certain sense of whimsy. They had Marvelous Marv Throneberry and Casey Stengel. Jimmy Breslin’s book, “Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game?” was a classic, and seven years later, the Amazin’ Mets were world champs.
But the White Sox have been around since 1901. Their franchise record for losses is 106, which should be eclipsed before Labor Day. It’s been a long way down from the rebuild that was supposed to bring multiple championship parades to Chicago.
Two years after the Sox won 93 games and the AL Central, they hit what we thought was rock bottom. That was last year when they lost 101 games and Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf made the move none of us saw coming by firing his longtime front-office duo of Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn. Reinsdorf promised a quick turnaround behind new general manager Chris Getz. No one believed Jerry then because why would they? He has no trust left with the fans, not after all these years.
For some reason — OK, money — the team kept manager Pedro Grifol, whose managing record is currently 88-188. But he’s been a dead manager walking all season, and after the trade deadline passed, the focus quickly turned to his job status. It almost seems cruel that Getz and Reinsdorf haven’t fired Grifol yet. Maybe they’re waiting for him to win a game so he can go out on a high note.
“That means Pedro is 100 games under .500 since he got the job,” Guillen said. “Hoo, hoo boy.”
Ozzie is having an existential crisis on the Postgame Show right now pic.twitter.com/5eCUlirBgI
— White Sox Talk (@NBCSWhiteSox) August 4, 2024
Guillen, who led the Sox to their World Series victory in 2005, said he needs to see a psychologist because he’s been more angry and sad than usual lately. The reason?
“I don’t think I was that bad a manager, but they picked Pedro in front of me,” Guillen said to laughter on the show.
After Tony La Russa stepped down following health issues in 2022, Guillen was given a token interview for the open job, the one that he gave away in 2011. Guillen has wanted this job back for years, but the previous regime of Williams and Hahn didn’t want him back and they had no intention of hiring him two years ago. I agreed with them but only because the organization needs to move forward, not backward.
Guillen added: “I swear to God on this, when Rick Hahn called me and said I don’t have the job, he said, ‘We found the next Ozzie Guillen.’”
While Hahn was trying to compliment Grifol, Guillen, who went 678-617 (.524) in eight seasons, sure doesn’t appreciate the comparison now. But I bet he’s getting a kick out of how bad the Sox are without him.
A lot of fans want Guillen to immediately replace Grifol if and when the team fires him, but why would he want that headache? If I were any of the coaches on Grifol’s staff, I wouldn’t want to take the job, either. You don’t want to have to answer questions about this team, this season, twice a day.
Now, in what could be his waning days in the job, Grifol took some time to do what a lot of failed coaches and managers do in a Reinsdorf regime: kiss up to the boss.
“I’ve said this before and I’m going to say it again,” Grifol said according to the Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune. “This gets taken out of context and somehow it gets turned around over and over again, how people want to perceive it. Jerry’s a winner, OK? He’s an absolute winner. He’s a competitor. No, he’s not content. Who is?”
People have funny definitions of what makes someone a winner, especially when they work for a perennial loser.
The Bulls are under .500 since their actual, absolute winner, Michael Jordan, retired in 1998. The Sox have made the postseason just seven times in Reinsdorf’s 44 years of ownership. The 2005 playoffs were the only time they won a series, and 2020 and 2021 were the only years they reached the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.
But Grifol is speaking to an audience of one, even as he’s left dangling.
If the Sox get swept in Oakland this week, they could break the ’61 Phillies record at home Friday against the Cubs. The atmosphere will be somewhere between funereal and riotous.
I can’t imagine Grifol is on the top step for that one. How could you do that to him? How could you insult the fans’ intelligence by keeping him around?
It’s an awful situation for everyone, but this isn’t just on Grifol, though he’s certainly culpable for making a bad situation worse.
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While he’s focused on building up the farm system, Getz tried to add some defense to last year’s slapdash fielding team to make the major-league product more palatable, but he failed in a very public fashion. The core hitters who are always hurt were, surprise, injured again early in the season (Yoán Moncada has played only 11 games and is in the team’s top 10 for bWAR), and the season fell off the rails with a 3-22 start. The starting pitching, at least, has been solid, and Getz and his staff have bolstered the organization’s pitching outlook.
That’s all part of the upside to losing: It allows a front office the runway to improve an organization, sometimes fairly quickly. That was the plan after the 2016 season, and it worked until it didn’t. But in his first trade deadline, Getz’s moves were widely panned, and new baseball rules are limiting the Sox to the 10th pick in next year’s draft.
Money is going to be an issue. The Sox are having another attendance decline, and their TV broadcasts, which were a highlight for the team, are now thought of as the worst in baseball. The team’s deal with NBC Sports Chicago is ending and a new RSN (in partnership with the Bulls and Blackhawks) will debut this fall.
It’s going to be a long road back to respectability. At least there’s still the TV pre- and postgame shows, which were as unfailingly honest and critical as ever Sunday. Those shows, the Campfire Milkshake and the pitching in the minors are the only things the organization has going for it.
The White Sox lose and lose and lose, and they’ve gotten so much practice, they now might be the best to ever do it.
(Photo of Nicky Lopez reacting to Sunday’s loss: David Berding / Getty Images)
Welcome to Great Adaptations, the Book Review’s regular multiple-choice quiz about books that have gone on to find new life as movies, television shows, theatrical productions, video games and more. This week’s challenge is focused on sports books that have been adapted into films within the past 25 years.
Just tap or click your answers to the five questions below. And scroll down after you finish the last question for links to the books and their movie adaptations.
Culture
Cardinals’ DeeJay Dallas scores first kickoff return touchdown of 2024 season under new format
The NFL saw a record-low 22 percent of kickoffs returned last season, and only four of those were returned for scores. The NFL introduced significant changes to its kickoff rules for the 2024 season to boost the incentive for more players to return kickoffs — while limiting touchbacks and injuries.
In Week 1 of the new kickoff format, Cardinals returner DeeJay Dallas ignited the comeback with a thrilling 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
THE FIRST DYNAMIC KICKOFF RETURN TOUCHDOWN.
DEEJAY DALLAS. 96 YARDS.
📺: #AZvsBUF on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/COYfonnYxR— NFL (@NFL) September 8, 2024
Slicing through three tackles at the 40-yard line, he dashed toward the end zone, diving past kicker Tyler Bass to score. The Bills, leading 31-20 with 8:44 left, regretted kicking deep. The Cardinals then capitalized with a successful two-point conversion by James Conner, narrowing the gap to 31-28.
The touchdown marked Dallas’ first career kickoff return in his NFL and collegiate careers, although he has return experience, having returned kicks in all three of his seasons in the league.
Although the new rule had a slow start, the first Sunday of the NFL season still delivered excitement with three kickoff returns exceeding 50 yards. In 2023, there were only 10 returns of 50 yards or more.
The Bills held on to their lead to start the season 1-0 as they beat the Cardinals 34-28. Buffalo will face AFC East rival Miami on the road during Week 2 of “Thursday Night Football.”
Required reading
(Photo: Brooke Sutton / Getty Images)
And now, 18 thoughts on an early September Saturday that dared AP voters to just blow up their ballots and start over.
1. Two weeks in, I feel confident that Georgia, Ohio State and Texas are the correct top three teams. After that, I’d be guessing just the same as you. A lot of highly ranked teams had close calls against inferior opponents. And one top-five team flat-out lost at home to NIU as a 28-point favorite.
2. This was supposed to be the year Marcus Freeman led Notre Dame back to national title contention, not to yet another Week 2 home loss to a Group of 5 opponent. (2022 Marshall, meet 2024 NIU.) He already had a stacked, veteran defense before landing renowned offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock from LSU and transfer quarterback Riley Leonard from Duke. But on Saturday, Leonard went just 20 of 32 for 163 yards and two interceptions against a MAC opponent. NIU took advantage of that second pick to sit on the ball for five minutes before hitting a last-minute field goal to stun the Irish 16-14.
From Day 1, Freeman has been unofficially auditioning for the job he already landed, at age 35, after Brian Kelly bolted. After a rough Year 1, he was trending in the right direction. But Saturday was an absolute confidence crusher that sapped all the momentum from Notre Dame’s season-opening win at Texas A&M. If anything, it brought back questions long ago assumed buried about the state of Freeman’s program. Yes, Notre Dame can still reach the 12-team Playoff, but only if Saturday’s game proves to be a complete fluke.
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3. A team like NIU will never experience a national title but winning at Notre Dame Stadium as a huge underdog surely feels as sweet. The Huskies coach, Thomas Hammock, himself a former NIU star running back, was sobbing during his NBC postgame interview. The program has had its moments over the last two decades, most notably the Jordan Lynch era circa 2012-13, but this was by far its biggest win. I would not have suggested before the season that the MAC could produce the G5’s CFP rep, but I can’t imagine another G5 team will earn a more significant nonconference win.
“THEY BELIEVED.”
Northern Illinois HC Thomas Hammock spoke from the heart after an incredible upset over Notre Dame. @NIU_Football pic.twitter.com/pFrS5ok5U7
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) September 7, 2024
4. No. 10 Michigan came out Saturday against No. 3 Texas wearing the same uniforms and playing in the same stadium as the 2023 national champions — but that’s where the resemblances ended. The Longhorns’ 31-12 rout at the Big House confirmed the most dire concerns about the Wolverines’ depleted offense. Much more stunning was the ease with which Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers (24 of 36, 246 yards, three TDs, no INTs) shredded a Michigan defense that still boasts star power.
The Horns controlled the line of scrimmage, and Steve Sarkisian was his usual masterful self in scheming guys open, most notably tight end Gunnar Helm (seven catches, 98 yards). It should be a nice confidence boost for Texas as it embarks on its first-ever SEC schedule.
5. New Wolverines head coach Sherrone Moore, who took over when Jim Harbaugh left for the Chargers, succeeded in keeping the defending champs’ roster together, but he didn’t do much to upgrade it either. I was surprised last spring when he did not bring in a transfer quarterback to compete for the starting job. Two games in, I’m bewildered by it. Davis Warren seems like a serviceable backup who’s been thrust into the starting job, which does not speak well for the guy he beat out, Alex Orji. We’ll see if Moore gives Orji more reps next week against Arkansas State.
6. Nebraska’s 28-10 rout of old rival Colorado was exactly the kind of party long-suffering Huskers fans have been thirsting for. Five-star freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola looked the part (23 of 30, 185 yards, 1 TD, no INTs), and Matt Rhule’s second team looked faster on offense and fiercer on defense. For Deion and Shedeur Sanders, on the other hand, it was a depressingly familiar plot. Colorado gave up six sacks and ran for just 16 yards, leaving Shedeur Sanders (23 of 38, 244 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) and Travis Hunter (10 catches, 110 yards) to play their own game of catch after the outcome was long decided.
The Buffs defense has improved from 2023, but there remains a considerable gap between their offensive skill talent and their offensive line. Maybe AFLAC can help close it.
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7. The best player in the country so far has been Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, who followed up a 267-yard, six-touchdown clinic at Georgia Southern by running for another 192 yards and three TDs against No. 7 Oregon. It wasn’t quite enough to top the Ducks, who won 37-34 on a last-second field goal, thanks in large part to an 85-yard Tez Johnson punt-return touchdown and 100-yard Noah Whittington kick-return TD.
Without those, Oregon might have been in trouble, as its normally explosive offense is not clicking. Following key losses on the inside of their offensive line, the Ducks through two games have already allowed seven sacks. That’s two more than they gave up in either the 2022 or 2023 seasons.
8. On the night Alabama dedicated Nick Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium, the Tide’s offense gave a performance that would have frustrated their former coach to no end. Fourth-ranked Alabama scored on just two of its first 11 possessions against pesky USF and led just 21-16 with 6:45 left before exploding for back-to-back-to-back long touchdowns to win with a deceiving final score of 42-16. Kalen DeBoer’s team is not lacking for weapons, such as running back Jam Miller (15 carries, 140 yards) and freshman receiver Ryan Williams (four catches, 68 yards), but on this night, the Tide’s offensive line brought back troubling memories of its rocky 2023 campaign.
9. Saturday night’s Tennessee-NC State game in Charlotte was shaping up to be Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava’s coming-out party, but his defense upstaged him. The No. 14 Vols shut down Wolfpack quarterback Grayson McCall, the former Coastal Carolina standout, and held No. 24 NC State to just 143 total yards in a 51-10 blowout. We knew Tennessee had an elite pass-rusher in James Pearce, but nose tackle Omari Thomas and the rest of the Vols’ D-line dominated the Wolfpack. Iamaleava (16 of 23, 211 yards) had his moments as well, but he also threw a pick six that became NC State’s only touchdown.
10. Here’s one I did not see coming: South Carolina, a week removed from eking out a 23-19 home win against Old Dominion, going on the road and suffocating Kentucky in a 31-6 beatdown. The Gamecocks D, led by five-star freshman pass rusher Dylan Stewart, notched five sacks and a pick six of Wildcats quarterback Brock Vandagriff while allowing just 188 total yards.
In addition to starting 1-0 in SEC play, Shane Beamer’s team, 5-7 last season, messed things up for ESPN’s GameDay. The show was expected to be in Lexington next weekend for Georgia at Kentucky. Now: LSU at South Carolina.
11. Former star quarterback Brock Purdy led Iowa State’s ascent under Matt Campbell a few years ago. Enter Rocco Becht, a sophomore in his second year as the starter. Down 19-7 against rival Iowa’s notoriously salty defense, Becht hit Jaylin Noel for a 75-yard touchdown, then in the final minute, connected with Noel again for a 30-yard gain to set up Kyle Konrady’s game-winning 54-yard field goal. With the 20-19 victory, Campbell has beaten Kirk Ferentz two of the past three years after losing his first five Cy-Hawk games.
#IowaState reels #Iowa back in after Rocco Becht hits Jaylin Noel for a 75-yard TD pass. The battle for the #CYHawk trophy is close. pic.twitter.com/OrgAiUwoOm
— College Football Buzz (@CFBBUZ) September 7, 2024
12. The Big 12 dodged a pair of upsets in the early window Saturday when No. 16 Oklahoma State, down 21-7 at one point, held off Arkansas 39-31 in double overtime, and No. 17 Kansas State, down 20-10 at halftime, survived 34-27 at Tulane.
The losers of those games will be kicking themselves for some time, though. Offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino’s Razorbacks racked up 648 yards but lost three turnovers and got stopped twice on fourth down. Meanwhile, Tulane redshirt freshman quarterback Darian Mensah put on a show, with four 30-plus-yard completions, and it appeared he’d thrown a tying TD with 17 seconds left. But officials negated it on a non-existent offensive pass interference call. Mensah then threw a dagger interception.
This was an offensive pass interference on Tulane.
The Wave got robbed pic.twitter.com/ApTZ5Wb1ws
— Boot Krewe Media (@BootKreweMedia) September 7, 2024
Perhaps one or both quality wins will end up boosting the Big 12’s at-large chances.
13. Clemson heard all our mockery after last week’s Georgia game and took it out on respected G5 team Appalachian State. Behind a near-perfect performance from quarterback Cade Klubnik (24 of 26, 378 yards, five TDs, no INTs), the Tigers scored 35 points in the first quarter and 56 before halftime in a 66-20 blowout. It served as a friendly reminder that despite losing its opener 34-3, Clemson could well turn around and win the ACC. And also that Georgia remains a holy terror.
14. The offensive wizardry Hugh Freeze showed at Ole Miss and Liberty has yet to make an appearance at Auburn. In the second game of Freeze’s second season, visiting Cal smothered the Tigers passing game, picking off Payton Thorne four times and holding Auburn to 286 total yards in a 21-14 win. Auburn fans will surely call for the head of Thorne, who has never been able to replicate his great 2021 season at Michigan State, but it’s hard to say how much of the problem is him and how much is the Tigers woeful offensive line.
15. A year ago on this same weekend, Illinois went to Kansas and fell behind 34-7, losing 34-23. So it was a big deal for Bret Bielema’s team to not only win Saturday’s rematch, 23-17, but also to stifle the 19th-ranked Jayhawks veteran offense. Kansas’ star quarterback Jalon Daniels finished just 18 of 32 for 141 yards and threw three picks against the Illini’s defense. Perhaps this means Illinois is poised for another season like 2022 when it won eight games and gave Michigan fits. Or perhaps KU is not yet ready for preseason Top 25s.
16. Last week, Syracuse coach Fran Brown joked that he should send a bottle of champagne to Ohio State’s Ryan Day for letting quarterback Kyle McCord become a free agent. McCord looked even better in his ACC debut, going 32 of 46 for 381 yards, four touchdowns and no picks in a 31-28 home win over Georgia Tech. Brown, formerly Georgia’s defensive backs coach, was fairly unknown before getting the job last winter but earned instant credibility from the fan base when Syracuse became the surprise landing spot for the Buckeyes’ 2023 starter. It looks like the pair will be a factor in their new conference this fall.
17. The realignment gods tried to kick Washington State and Oregon State to the curb, but they’re not exiting quietly. The Cougars throttled Big 12 foe Texas Tech 37-16 in an AfterDark game on Fox, with quarterback John Mateer responsible for 197 of his team’s 301 yards on the ground. Next week brings a mid-September Apple Cup against Washington in Seattle. Meanwhile, the Beavers won 21-0 at San Diego State in advance of a huge grudge match at home next week against the hated Ducks. That one is also on Fox.
The two programs’ futures remain uncertain. For now, they’ve opted against continuing their Mountain West scheduling partnership next season, presumably to schedule more P4 opponents. For one week at least, it will feel like old times on those campuses.
18. Finally, when UAB savior coach Bill Clark had to step down for health reasons before the 2022 season, offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent stepped in as interim head coach and went 7-6. That wasn’t good enough for UAB, which made a big-splash hire with Trent Dilfer, despite his never having coached college football.
Vincent is now the head coach at Louisiana-Monroe, which on Saturday whooped Dilfer’s Blazers 32-6. Dilfer, the former NFL quarterback and ESPN analyst, has three FBS wins in his first 14 games at UAB.
As always, the splashiest hire is rarely the best hire.
(Photo of Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers celebrating after a touchdown: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
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