Chasing 100 losses: White Sox at 99 after falling to Padres
It's one thing to have a season like this, a season White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf described this way:
"The 2023 season was my 43rd season in baseball. It was absolutely the worst season I've ever been through. It was a nightmare. It's still a nightmare. It's embarrassing. It's disgusting. All the bad words you can think of is the way I feel about the 2023 season. It absolutely was just awful."
Reinsdorf was speaking in the past tense, even though a full month of misery remained.
And, oh yes, the nightmare continued Friday night with a 3-2 loss to the Padres at Guaranteed Rate Field.
With two games left, it could get even worse.
If the Sox drop one of their final two games against San Diego, they'll have 100 losses.
In the first 122 years of the franchise, the White Sox have lost 100 games only four times:
2018
The Sox went 62-100 in the first year of a full-blown rebuild. That's why this season's run at futility has taken such a heavy toll on fans - the White Sox were projected to be legitimate playoff contenders.
1970
The Sox went 56-106 while burning through three managers: Don Gutteridge, Bill Adair and Chuck Tanner. General manager Edwin Short also failed to survive the season.
Bill Melton had a big year at the plate and Tommy John pitched 10 complete games, but that was about it for player production.
1948
This was manager Ted Lyons' third, and final, season.
The White Sox were 9-26 at the end of May, didn't get much better from there and pulled in at 51-101.
Hall of Famer Luke Appling was nearing the end of the line in '48 and starting pitcher Bill Wight somehow managed to go 9-20 with a 4.80 ERA.
1932
Talk about a lack of power.
The Sox's eight regulars combined to hit only 16 home runs, with left fielder Bob Fothergill (7) leading the way for a 49-102 team.
Starter "Sad" Sam Jones lost 15 games, as did Hall of Famer Ted Lyons.
In Friday night's loss to the Padres, starter Dylan Cease went 5 innings, throwing 105 pitches and allowing 1 run on 4 hits and 2 walks.
Cease winds up the year at 7-9 with a 4.58 ERA and 214 strikeouts. The right-hander had 227 strikeouts last season and 226 in 2021.
"Overall, I'm proud I made all my starts," Cease said. "I don't think it was my sharpest season by any means, but it was solid."
In the ninth inning, catcher Carlos Perez tried to rally the White Sox back with a solo home run off San Diego closer Josh Hader. It was Perez's first career homer.
"I'm so happy for that," he said. "I wanted to just get on base and try to help the team win. I know he throws hard. The ball crossed the plate and I hit it good."