In September, all eyes in baseball turn to the teams likely to win spots in the post-season championship games. You'll see in the standings that some teams have a "magic number:" the combination of their wins and other-team losses that will move them into the playoffs. Today, for instance, the New York Yankees are in first place in the American League. Because of math™, any combination of 14 Yankees wins or Baltimore Orioles losses will mean the Yankees finish first in their division.
Chicago's American League team, the White Sox, have a different number to ensure every baseball fan will remember them forever. They have lost 114 games so far this year. So, with 15 games left to play this season, the White Sox have to lose only 7 games to break the all-time record for most losses by a major league team in a full season:
The 1962 New York Mets lost 120 games, setting the record for the most defeats in a single season in modern baseball history. The 2024 Chicago White Sox are on pace to supplant the Mets as the worst team ever. As the season winds down, we’ll track their efforts to avoid infamy.
The White Sox have gone an entire month without a home win.
The White Sox now sit at 33-114. Since their inception as a charter member of the American League in 1901, only five teams have recorded more losses in a season: the 2018 Baltimore Orioles (115), the 1935 Boston Braves (115), the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics (117), the 2003 Detroit Tigers (119) and the 1962 New York Mets (120).
Note to football (soccer) fans: we don't have relegation in baseball. We're stuck with them.
But hey, they could still win 10 of those 15 games and defy history! They already did it earlier this season when they failed to lose 23 games in a row to tie the worst-streak-ever record set by Philadelphia in 1961. Will they fall short (long?) of losing 121 games this year? We'll know in just over two weeks.