The 2024 Chicago White Sox lost their 100th game of the season. On Sunday, they fell to the Detroit Tigers, losing 9-4 and dropping their record to 31-100. And there are 31 games left to play.
Chicago initially looked like it might avoid its 100th loss Sunday, taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning on RBI doubles by Andrew Benintendi and Andrew Vaughn. Vaughn added a homer in the third inning to give the Red Sox a 3-1 lead.
The Tigers then roared back with a three-run fifth inning, later adding an Andy Ibanez homer in the seventh and a two-run double by Colt Keith in the eighth.
Jonathan Cannon took the loss, allowing five runs and eight hits, walking four and striking out four.
This is the sixth time in franchise history that the White Sox have lost 100 games. It happened twice before MLB expanded in 1961, first in 1932 (49-102) and then in 1948 (51-101). Since 1961, it has happened four times: 1970 (56-106), 2018 (62-100), 2023 (61-101) and now 2024.
While the 2024 season isn’t over yet, the Sox need just six more losses to match the record for the worst team in franchise history (set in 1970) and seven to take the outright lead. With 31 games left to play this season, they have a legitimate shot at becoming the losingest team in modern MLB history — a record currently held by the 1962 New York Mets, who lost 120 games in their first year of existence.
The White Sox (31-100) are the first team since the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics to have 100 losses in 131 games.
— nugget chef (@jayhaykid) August 25, 2024
Here are some “fun” facts about this team that lost 100 games:
This marks the first time in franchise history that the White Sox have lost more than 100 games in consecutive seasons. Before the White Sox lost 100 games in 2018, they hadn’t lost 100 games in more than 40 years.
Half of the White Sox’s 100-loss seasons have come under the same owner: Jerry Reinsdorf. Since purchasing the team in 1981 for $13 million, Reinsdorf has had three 100-loss seasons and six with 90 or more losses.
This team had two long losing streaks and many shorter ones. The White Sox lost 14 straight games from May 22 through June 6, then lost 21 games from July 10 through Aug. 5. But they began the season with four straight losing streaks, each longer than the last. They lost the first four games of the season, then lost five in a row, then six in a row, then seven in a row. Each streak was separated by one win.
Despite all those losses, this team swept the Tampa Bay Rays. That was a three-game sweep early in the season, and marked the first of three times this season (so far) that the White Sox won three straight. They won four straight games, their longest winning streak of the season, from May 8-11.
The 2024 White Sox are the fastest team to a losing season (82 losses) since MLB expanded in 1961. The 1962 Mets are the poster child for losing teams in modern MLB, and even they weren’t that bad. It took those Mets 111 games to rack up 82 losses; the 2024 White Sox needed 109 games.