By Woodrow Carroll
The Chicago White Sox schedule looked pretty good prior to the start of this season. At least on paper! Three home games with the Detroit Tigers to start the campaign presented the White Sox with the opportunity of a good, if not overpowering, start. Of course that assumes the White Sox would make the best of the situation, which turned out not to be the case!
All three games with the Tigers ended in one-run results, all Sox losses! Last season the White Sox record was 61-101. The opening series with the Tigers this year did little to erase the memory of last season’s disaster, or, offer hope for improvement this season!
The series with Detroit may have been competitive, despite the three defeats, however, recent outings by the Sox have been mostly one-sided, and, not in the Sox favor.
Sunday, April 14, the White Sox lost 11-4 to the visiting Cincinnati Reds which concluded a three-game sweep by the Reds. Unlike the series with the Tigers, the games were not close, rather a Reds’ sweep of 11-1, 5-0, and 11-4. Being out-scored 27-5 over the course of three home games is hardly a confidence-builder, especially early in the season when the need to build up fan support is vital.
The Sunday loss to the Reds lowered the White Sox season record to 2-13, the worst 15-game start in franchise history.
The White Sox franchise has a 124-year history. Over that time, the Club will have its good and bad moments. Short of a major turnaround, we are going to see more of the bad when this season moves along.
From 1951-1967, the White Sox ended up with a winning record each season. In 1951, the White Sox attracted 1,328,234 fans to Comiskey Park, the first time the franchise drew more than one million fans in home attendance in one season.
After that glorious 17-year run in the 1950s and 1960s, highlighted by the American League pennant in 1959, things went sour on a number of occasions.
After putting together that 17-year winning streak, the Sox finished 67-95 in 1968 and, more bad for fans of the Pale Hose, was on the horizon.
Probably, the all-time ugly for the franchise was in 1970. The White Sox ended up 56-106 (.346) and 42 games in back of the Minnesota Twins in the American League West. Chicago fans apparently knew they had a stinker that season, because only 495,355 made their way to Comiskey Park.
Sometimes you can look at attendance figures to get a grip on how well a franchise is doing. The 1970 White Sox figure is just one example.
On many occasions, the worst gate for a White Sox game during the course of the season was the second home game on the season. Great crowd for the home opener then a big drop for the next home game. Understandable, given that the start of the season is often played in less than desirable weather conditions. Such was not the case, however, this season. For the opener with Detroit 33,420 showed up at Guaranteed Rate Field followed by a gate of 28,176 for the second game with the Tigers.
From the end of World War II until the mid-1960s, the White Sox generally pulled in better crowds than the Chicago Cubs. The White Sox were winning, while the Cubs struggled. The Cubs’ lack of lights may have appealed to the purists; but, most likely hurt attendance. There were other factors for sure. Fans of both teams will offer their opinions as to the Cubs’ popularity vis-a-vis the White Sox. There is likely a degree of validity in what each has to say. What the White Sox have put on the field so far this season will not help the Sox’ cause.