Every so often, a Major League Baseball team has a season so bad that there’s nothing anyone can say to sugarcoat it.
Not that the folks over at NBC Sports Chicago have been trying, but their conversations following the latest Chicago White Sox loss this year have become more interesting than the games themselves.
Of course, when you’re on pace to lose more games than the 1962 New York Mets, it’s not that hard to be outshined by your postgame show.
On Sunday, the Sox lost 13-7 to the Minnesota Twins for their 20th-straight loss, dropping to 27-87 on the year.
What’s it like to be a White Sox fan in 2024? John Schriffen summed it up wonderfully.
“When you look back at this streak we’re on right now 19 (now 20) losses in a row. Each one has been uniquely painful.” pic.twitter.com/wXwfFNgOAo
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 4, 2024
“When you look back at this streak we’re on right now, 19 (now 20) losses in a row. Each one has been uniquely painful,” said play-by-play announcer John Schriffen during the game.
Afterward, as they’ve been doing all season, NBC Sports Chicago’s Chuck Garfien, Frank Thomas, and Ozzie Guillén didn’t mince words following the latest loss. They discussed how even if you removed Chicago’s 14-game losing streak and now 20-game losing streak, they’d still have the worst record in baseball, a brutal distinction.
From there, Guillén focused on White Sox manager Pedro Grifol, pointing out a dubious mark on his managerial record.
After clarifying that Pedro Grifol is 100 games under .500 as White Sox manager, Ozzie Guillén explains, as only Ozzie can, how he reacted when Grifol was hired over him. pic.twitter.com/XKeCnFvOx9
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 4, 2024
“That means Pedro is 100 games under .500 from the time he got the job,” said Guillén of Grifol’s 88-188 managerial record. “I gotta go to psychologist tomorrow… A few years ago, I was happy, man. Now, I’m bitter and weird… Because I don’t think I was a bad manager but they picked Pedro in front of me… I was like, ‘God, I’m this bad?'”
Guillén added that he feels like he should be embarrassed for not getting another stint as White Sox manager in 2022 when the franchise hired Grifol instead.
Guillén has gotten his revenge of sorts. In his job, he’s been able to be the one calling our Grifol and the White Sox for their miserable play the past two seasons. On the team’s broadcasting partner, no less. All the while he’s been endearing himself to the fanbase, which is desperately looking for a hero, or at least someone to share their misery with.
He might be burning any potential bridges to ever return to the bench, but Guillén has made himself the only thing about the White Sox tuning in for this season.
