After White Sox's shaky start, a guide to surviving rest of season
How to survive the White Sox summer.
For fans that choose to participate, the upcoming degree of difficulty is extremely high.
We are here to help. At least try.
Stay patient
After falling flat on their faces right out of the gate and posting one of the worst opening month records (8-21) in the 123-year history of the franchise, the Sox have stood up and achieved a modicum of mediocrity in May. They are 6-7 for the month and have only been outscored 63-57.
Progress!
On a more serious note, relievers Liam Hendriks and Garrett Crochet could be back off the injured list as early as Tuesday, moving the White Sox much closer to their projected roster.
Maybe Eloy Jimenez will stay healthy as well when he comes back from an appendectomy, another tough card dealt to the oft-injured slugger.
For fed-up Sox fans that have experienced multiple years of health issues, remaining patient is an admittedly tough ask.
Change at the top?
Through the years, I've often crossed paths with chairman Jerry Reinsdorf on the way to the postgame clubhouse.
There have been countless brief exchanges with Reinsdorf after some difficult defeats and he always addressed them with some gallows humor or a shrug.
Running into Reinsdorf again following a rough loss in late April, a new kind of frustration level was evident.
Much like a growing majority of the fan base, it was like he knew a seemingly promising season was over before it even started.
At age 87, this is Reinsdorf's 43rd year as chairman. The Sox did win the World Series in 2005, but they've reached the playoffs only six other times during his extended tenure.
Has the time finally come to sell?
Speaking at the Milken Institute in early May, Reinsdorf addressed the big changes in cable TV and the negative financial impact it is having on MLB, with even darker days to come.
"We were getting away with murder with the cable bundle," Reinsdorf said. "People were paying for sports who really didn't want the sports. Streaming is coming along but it doesn't produce the money that the cable bundle produced. And there's basically near panic, because where are we going to replace this money in the short term?"
It seems like the perfect time to sell the White Sox. If not, is it finally time to say so long to Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn and bring some fresh eyes into the front office?
Stay tuned, on both fronts.
Geography lesson
At 14-28, the White Sox have the third-worst record in baseball, and they just lost three of four to the Royals, who have the second-worst record.
The numbers don't lie - they are hideous.
If the Sox were playing in the AL East, AL West, NL East or NL West, they would be in way too deep of an early hole to escape.
In the AL Central, at least there is a faint chance.
The first-place Twins are the only division team with a winning record, and they are far from fearsome despite their Saturday and Sunday wins over the Cubs by a combined score of 27-4.
Beginning with Tuesday night's game against Cleveland at Guaranteed Rate Field, the White Sox play 13 straight against teams from the AL Central.
If ever there was a time to get hot and try to salvage a sorry season, this is probably it.
Rebuild Pt. 2
The Sox started a full-blown rebuild late in 2016 and it ran deep into the 2017 season.
Fans were subjected to some pretty bad baseball from 2017-19 (284 losses) with the promise of better days ahead.
What they got was one playoff win in 2020 and one more win the following postseason under an extremely unpopular manager in Tony La Russa.
It's getting to the point where it's a matter of when - not if - this year's team is going to be gutted.
Maybe a new front office gets a crack at the inevitable teardown, but then again, probably not.
Impress your friends
Why waste time on WebMD trying to figure out everything that's ailing you or your crew?
Just keep following the White Sox. They seem to have a new injury every day, ranging from the common hamstring strains and pulled obliques to the more advanced pectoral tendon tears and damaged hip flexors.
Value city
At $30 for most games, parking at Guaranteed Rate Field isn't cheap.
Neither is the beer and the majority of other concession items, but ticket prices are crazy low and don't figure to rise much through the rest of the season.
If you feel like seeing the Sox play Cleveland Tuesday-Thursday this week, tickets start at $1 on secondary sites.
For Saturday's game against the Royals, they're as low as $8.