Take Me Out To A Bad Ballgame

Baseball looks forward to World Series; one team's fans lament a horrid season

Chicago (AP) This week sees the beginning of professional baseball's fall classic, the World Series. The New York Yankees face off with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Yankees fans are ecstatic about seeing their team in the final round. Fans of most other teams just want to see the Yankees lose. But in the mid-west, fans of one team are still trying to come to grips with what went so horribly wrong for their team over the last season, and what to do next.

That team, of course, is the Chicago White Sox.

In what is now regarded as the worst season in modern day Major League baseball history, they had a 41 wins, 121 losses season of losing streaks, disasters, blunders, and excuses. They were the first team eliminated from playoff contention on August 17th, deep into a season full of heartbreak. The fans started leaving in droves, making White Sox home games a fairly empty affair. The team was so bad that they elevated the rest of their division by the sheer amount of beat-downs the Sox had coming- perhaps all of Major League baseball as a whole.

At this point, with the season dead and finished in Chicago, it's time for soul searching and rebuilding. Local pundits note that it could take years or decades for the White Sox to become a contender. Others note that at least in September, when they had little to play for, they ended the season going five wins to one loss in their last six games.

"This year just hurt," longtime fan Stu McNeil told this reporter. "I mean, what did we do to deserve this? Does God hate us? Is he a Cubs fan? Don't know. All I know, it's painful. It's like my cousin up in Toronto feels like with the Leafs every April. If Jerry ever reads this, sorry about makin' fun of your boys so much."

A reckoning is at hand. Some heads with the team have already rolled. Many of the players are doubtful that any other team will want them in a trade. "Don't use my name, okay?" one of the team players told this reporter. "We had a cruddy season. It happens. It hurts. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. Some of the guys, well... we've been careful with our money. If this is the end of the line and we have to retire, well... okay, we'll be fine. Some of the boys aren't good with their money, and between you and me.... some of them are screwed big time if they don't get picked up for next season."

Fans are calling for change across the board. The manager was already replaced during the season from hell. Some are demanding the coaching staff all be fired. Others are saying the owner should sell, or be sent adrift in a leaking boat. Some have asked if a season this catastrophic might be enough reason for documentary filmmaker Ken Burns to add another chapter to his Baseball saga. 

This reporter spoke with Burns. The director is no stranger to catastrophes, having had directed films on diverse calamities like the Civil War, World War Two, the Vietnam War, the Dust Bowl, and country music. "Yes, I did do a follow up several years ago on the game, as the main series had been done in the 90s. But I don't think enough time has passed for an additional follow up. Who knows? A few years down the line, and I might be inclined to. Even including such a record breaking- in a bad way- season for the fans of the White Sox. I'm a Red Sox fan, after all, and we're used to heartaches."

There's always next year, they say. But prospects are bleak. Rebuilding will take a long time, and it will have to be across the organization as a whole. How long will fans wait? Time can only tell. But this has clearly been the lowest of seasons. Or has it? Could the 2025 season be even worse? 

"I hope not," longtime fan Joe Carruthers admitted. "I've been a season ticket holder since 1974. Seen a lot of bad years, but this was the worst. I don't know if we can sustain ourselves like this. There were times it got like.... well, I could personally recognize everyone sitting in the stands while our boys were losin'. How do we come back from that?"

"We're going to get everyone good and drunk," White Sox spokesperson Allie MacPherson admitted. "November 5th, the booze is on us. A good boozefest will make the pain go away. We've already set it up with the bars all across town."

This reporter reminded MacPherson that was the same date as the elections. MacPherson was silent for a moment, and then said, "it is?" And then she ran off in a panic.

To borrow a sentimental line from a poem about baseball, there is no joy in Chicago- the mighty White Sox have struck out.