As losing White Sox seasons go, this one has been less awful than most

For the first time in more than a week and for the 58th time this season, the Chicago White Sox won a baseball game Friday night.

It’s the third week of September, so hold the applause. But for the White Sox, a team with the second-worst record in baseball, their 4-3 win over the playoff-bound San Diego Padres, in front of a solid crowd for Hispanic Heritage Night, was another positive night in a fairly positive season.

There is no parade for a season that ends in “not the worst ever,” but the Sox, despite being four losses away from another 100-loss season, might have the second-best sports vibes in town right now. (Disregard if the Chicago Bears actually beat the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.)

For instance …

Former first-round pick Colson Montgomery made his debut and showed he could, at the very least, hit very long major-league dingers.

Several of the position player prospects acquired in the franchise’s latest teardown — Edgar Quero, Kyle Teel and Chase Meidroth — have arrived and look promising, as do two Rule 5 pitchers, All-Star Shane Smith and reliever Mike Vasil.

Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf gave fans what they’ve always wanted: an admission that he will sell the team (eventually) to an actual billionaire, Justin Ishbia.

And for the second season in a row, no one got shot by mystery bullets in the bleachers, thus canceling a Vanilla Ice concert.

Most important for a team with a teetering brand, the Sox didn’t embarrass themselves and their fans on a national stage by setting a modern-day record for losing.

Heck, there’s still a chance, faint as it is, that they don’t lose triple digits for the third consecutive season. They probably will, but still. Last season the Sox didn’t win their 58th game until … oh yeah.

Sox manager Will Venable said he would like to avoid that round number, but he’s capable of being honest about the state of the team while still appreciating some of the positive strides.

“I’m not sure how it changes our bottom line one way or the other,” he said Friday. “I think we still look at our record and we’re not happy at all. Whether it’s 99 losses or 100-something losses, we’re not gonna be happy with that at all.”

We can debate the value of a manager all we want, but I think everyone around the organization can agree that the Sox have upgraded at that job this season.

While I think last year exhausted the demand to compare the White Sox to other bad teams in baseball history, losing at least 100 for three straight years is pretty rare.

Going through Baseball-Reference, I’ve found that it’s only happened 12 times for 10 franchises. (It happened twice for the Baltimore Orioles and twice for the Atlanta Braves.) Three of those teams were at the beginning of their expansion existence. Only the Kansas City Royals (2004-06), the Houston Astros (2011-13) and Orioles (excluding 2020, as it happened in 2018-19 and 2021) have done it since the Blue Jays in the late 1970s.

It’s not the kind of company the Sox want to keep, but after last year’s season, anything is a modest improvement. The issue for the Sox is how they will take the next step from “less embarrassing” to “competitive for six months.”

I wouldn’t expect the team to spend much money, so improvement will have to keep coming from within, through trades and some bargain shopping. Fans won’t be as happy with another season where they notch their 58th victory on Sept. 19.

With the Padres in town and former Sox star José Abreu in attendance, it made me think of the not-so-distant past. Four years ago, the Sox were in the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Dylan Cease got the start, and though he didn’t last long, the Sox still beat the Houston Astros for their only playoff win of that series. The ballpark was rocking as fans enjoyed the fruit of a rebuild.

A lot has changed.

On Friday night, Cease started for the Padres and took the loss. He’ll be heading back to the playoffs later this month as San Diego will likely play the Cubs in the wild-card round at Wrigley Field starting Sept. 30.

When will the Sox get back to the postseason? Not anytime soon, I suppose, but if the current trend continues, they’ll be a little better in 2026. And just maybe they won’t even lose 100 games.

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