It’s no secret that the 2024 season has been rough for the Chicago White Sox, but Wednesday’s 4-3 loss to the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers proved that even things that look good turn out terribly for the MLB’s basement dweller.
Trailing by a run in the bottom of the ninth inning with only one out, designated hitter Andrew Vaughn appeared to hit a walk-off three-run bomb for the South Siders. But Rangers left fielder Travis Jankowski scaled the wall to rob the would-be home run as if powered by the baseball gods to smite the White Sox.
If Jankowski’s incredible grab wasn’t torture enough, the next batter, first baseman Gavin Sheets, walked to load the base. Though, with a glimmer of hope still flickering, second baseman Lenyn Sosa popped out meagerly to right-centerfield for the final out, thus ending Chicago’s chances at securing a precious victory.
The loss marked a new low for the White Sox if that was possible. After dropping a 3-1 decision to the Rangers earlier in a resumed game from Tuesday delayed because of rain, they suffered two losses in less than 24 hours.
The White Sox are now an MLB-worst 31-103 and remain the only team mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. With a month to go in the season, Chicago is not only 45 games behind the American League Central-leading Cleveland Guardians (76-58) but 37 games out of fourth place in the division, occupied by the Detroit Tigers (68-66).
The White Sox’s nightmare season hasn’t reached the bottom of the barrel yet, but it’s getting closer with each passing day. As Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn pointed out, the franchise is on pace to be the worst team in the 20th and 21st centuries.
