This story has been updated to add new information.
The Chicago White Sox are officially the kings of futility in Major League Baseball.
With their 121st loss of the season, the White Sox stand alone as the losingest team in modern baseball history.
The record-breaker happened Friday night in a 4-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers.
White Sox ace Garrett Crochet held the Tigers in check until the fourth inning, but the dam finally broke in the fifth inning after he was lifted. That was enough for Detroit, with two RBIs from reliever Jared Shuster to break the scoreless tie (though the Tigers added two more runs in the seventh inning for a better performance). Zach DeLoach’s solo home run in the sixth inning was the White Sox’ only run.
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The loss broke the 1962 New York Mets, who finished their first year with a record of 40 wins and 120 losses, and manager Casey Stengel lamented, “Can’t anyone here play in this game?”
The same question could be asked of the 2024 White Sox.
Chicago (39-121) has lost streaks of 21, 14 and 12 games this season, the longest losing streak leading to the firing of head coach Pedro Grifol in early August.
Avoiding baseball’s notoriety is also part of the plan, as the White Sox released pitchers Eric Fedde and Michael Kopech and outfielders Eloy Jimenez and Tommy Pham just before the July 30 trade deadline. The team on the field was further weakened.
Entering Friday’s game, the White Sox ranked last in the majors in runs scored (3.1 RBI per game), batting average (.221), on-base percentage (.279) and slugging percentage (.340). Their pitchers have the best team ERA in the American League (4.71), behind only the Miami Marlins (4.77) and Colorado Rockies (5.40), which are the worst in the majors.
They bounced back from solo notoriety with a blowout win over the Los Angeles Angels earlier this week, but couldn’t avoid losing 121 on Friday night.
“If we win three games in a row, maybe we can do something special to get by, but that’s probably not going to happen,” White Sox forward Gavin Sheets said after the game, according to Darryl Van Schoewen of the Chicago Tribune. I don’t think so.” “And all of a sudden on the last out, you’re on the wrong side of history. That hurt a little more than I expected.”
On Friday night, while the White Sox continued to lick their wounds, the Tigers celebrated their better history by clinching their first playoff berth in 10 years. Bad news for the White Sox? There are still two more games this weekend, which will add to their record number of losses.
However, the only team the White Sox cannot surpass is the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, who had a record of 20 wins, 134 losses, and a winning percentage of .130.
