These were worst of times for Cubs, White Sox

To truly appreciate the best of times, Chicago baseball fans should be able to recall the worst of times as well.

Here's a glance back at five seasons in which the Cubs and the White Sox already were looking ahead to next year.

Not seventh heaven (1921)

The first two decades of the 20th century were pretty favorable to the Cubs and the Sox.

But the Sox were reeling from the aftermath of the 1919 Black Sox World Series scandal that led to the banishment of eight players after a successful 1920 season.

The wreckage resulted in the worst season to that point in franchise history and started three misery-filled decades.

They went 62-92 and were seventh in the eight-team league. A .331 season from Eddie Collins and 25 wins by Red Faber were offset by a 4-20 finish from Roy Wilkinson.

It wasn't much better for the Cubs on the way to their worst season. Former playing legend Johnny Evers didn't even make it to 100 games as manager.

It was a 64-89, seventh-place finish that probably drove the team's lone star, Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander, to drink. The guy immortalized on the Silver Screen by Ronald Reagan did go 15-13.

Last-ing memories (1948)

A combined 191 losses. A combined 72 games out of first place.

It added up to a first -- both teams at the bottom of the standings.

The Cubs were only three years removed from a trip to the World Series but were starting a steep decline. Johnny Schmitz managed to win 20 games despite a sieve-like left side of the infield, where Andy Pafko and Roy Smalley combined for 63 errors in a 64-90 season.

It was even worse for the White Sox as Hall of Fame pitcher Ted Lyons didn't have similar success in his third and final season as manager.

Fat Pat Seerey provided one of the few memorable moments when he hit 4 of his team-high 18 homers in one game. Aging shortstop Luke Appling hit .311.

But the pitching was atrocious as Bill Wight lost 20 games with a league-high 135 walks, and no one on the staff had a winning record in a 51-101 debacle.

Spirit-less season (1976)

Most of the memorable moments on both sides were of the sideshow variety -- especially with the return of Bill Veeck as White Sox owner.

He put his team in silly-looking softball uniforms, and made them wear shorts in one game. Once-sharp Paul Richards was brought out of retirement to manage, and ageless Minnie Minoso was activated in September and became the oldest player in major-league history to get a hit.

But this was basically a season to miss despite a 10-game winning streak in May. Jim Spencer and Jorge Orta each had 14 of a paltry 73 team homers. Hall of Fame closer Goose Gossage was forced into a starting role and went 9-17. The Sox ended 64-97 and 11½ games out of fifth place in the AL West.

It wasn't much better across town as Rick Monday gained headlines for racing in and taking the American flag from two yahoos who tried to set it on fire at Dodger Stadium.

Monday also provided a spark with 32 homers as a leadoff man, and Bill Madlock won his second straight batting title on the last day of the season.

But light-hitting catcher Steve Swisher was the Cubs lone All-Star Game representative. Naturally, he didn't play.

There was some hope in a 75-87 fourth-place finish that was 26 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies. A kid named Bruce Sutter debuted in May.

Changes coming (1980)

Two eras were coming to an end off the field as the cash-strapped Bill Veeck was in his final year as Sox owner. The next year the Wrigley family would unload the Cubs to the Tribune Company.

On the field, it was basically the same old bad baseball. The Cubs' Bill Buckner won a batting title (.324) for a team that hit just .251, and Bruce Sutter led the National League with 28 saves in a 64-98 finish.

The bullpen also had a bunch of future standout closers who weren't anywhere near that level yet in Bill Caudill, Willie Hernandez and Lee Smith.

And moody slugger Dave Kingman tailed off from 48 to 18 homers in an "injury-plagued" season.

Harry Caray and Jimmy Piersall continued to be the main attraction on the South Side as Tony La Russa went 70-90 in his first full year as a manager.

There were some bizarre moments that included a melee in which the Detroit Tigers' Al Cowens hit a grounder to shortstop and, instead of running to first, went out and sucker punched all-star closer Ed Farmer.

It was retribution for a broken jaw he suffered from a Farmer pitch a year earlier, and Cowens had to flee town after Chicago police unsuccessfully tried to arrest him in the clubhouse.

Minnie Minoso was activated and went hitless in 2 at-bats, slick-fielding lefty first baseman Mike Squires caught two games, and 5-foot-3 shortstop Harry Chappas played his final 26 big-league games.

Even Daily Herald beat writers were in the bad mix. Kingman was upset with the media and dumped a bucket of ice on Don Friske. Piersall was upset about questions about his future and tried to strangle Bob Gallas.

Year of surrender (1997)

After 14 games the Cubs were two-thirds of the way toward history -- the 0-21 start of the 1988 Baltimore Orioles.

The final seasons for Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg as he retired for the second time and announcer Harry Caray, who died the following February, didn't get much better at 68-94 and last place in the NL Central.

Sandberg hit .264 with 12 homers in his finale, and Mark Grace hit .319. The pre-Flintstone vitamin-fueled Sammy Sosa had 36 homers and 119 RBI but struck out 174 times and was called out late in the year for his selfishness by manager Jim Riggleman.

Big-money free-agent closer Mel Rojas threw plenty of gas on the miserable start and was shipped to the New York Mets in August. Geremi Gonzalez, who was tragically killed by lightning last month, led the team with 11 wins.

The Sox were able to recover a bit from a miserable 8-18 start in the final year of the buffoonish tenure of manager Terry Bevington.

Free agent Albert Belle added a lot of surliness but not the expected big-money production at .274 with 30 homers and 116 RBI. Pricey pitching pickup Jamie Navarro blamed everyone but himself for his troubles as he was 9-14 with a 5.79 ERA.

And even though the Sox were only 3 games behind the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central on July 31, the infamous "white flag" trade was made with the San Francisco Giants.

Veteran pitchers Wilson Alvarez, Danny Darwin and Roberto Hernandez were shipped out for six kids -- including Keith Foulke and Bobby Howry, the bullpen cornerstones of the 2000 division champs.

Frank Thomas had another monster year with a batting title (.347) and 35 homers and 125 RBI.

But 12-game winners James Baldwin and Doug Drabek had ERAs above 5.00, Robin Ventura missed four months after a horrific broken ankle in spring training, and Bevington was thankfully launched after the Sox limped home at 80-81 and in second place, 6 games behind the Indians.