Why there was nothing lovable about this season’s White Sox

The mail being not what it was, or not being at all, my letter from Jerry Reinsdorf has yet to arrive, although it has been widely reported to exist. Taking it on faith, then, I accept the implied apology to White Sox fans, of which I have been one since Hawk Harrelson and I shared a urinal at quirky old Comiskey Park.

If this seems a little late, blame it on lack of postage or on half-felt sincerity while there will remain no excuse for the 121 losses, now the low water mark for all seekers of shame.

Compared to other failures, the number is less impressive than it seems. For example, the long forgotten Cleveland Spiders lost 134 games in 1899, a disgrace dismissed for being in the wrong century.

Northwestern once lost 34 football games in a row and students celebrated by tearing down the goalposts, chanting “We’re the worst!”

Memory strains to recall the worst Cubs team ever, there being so many, but 2012 does come to mind when 103 losses grew into a World Series title four years later.

Three winless NFL teams are forever etched in the record book, the most recent being the 2017 Cleveland Browns, and the ’69 Bears have their 1-13 season to remind all that things could always be worse.

The Tampa Bay Bucs lost 26 games in a row, prompting their coach John McKay to respond to the question on the execution of their offense, “I’m in favor of it.”

No such lasting wisdom came out of the 121 losses, no plaintive cry like that of Casey Stengel and the ’62 New York Mets, “Can’t anyone here play this game?”

Possibly the most unforgivable feature of the long, lost ordeal was the lack of definition, the lasting quip or incisive take on what it all meant. Great losers need to be lovable to be remembered, like Charlie Brown or the Dude.

There was nothing lovable about the Sox, trudging and trekking to their ultimate infamy, faceless, voiceless, luckless, fussless, all sorts of less.

There was brief pique from doomed manager Pedro Grifol, who dared accuse the Sox of being “flat,” and Grady Sizemore, the seat filler, shrugging, “Anything can happen.”

Concern did come from General Manager Chris Getz, the rascally optimist, who expressed surprise that the Sox could lose 121 games but would have been less surprised with “100, 105, 110” losses. Aim low, sweet chariot.

The real summary, the official mea culpa, (where a reasonable response would be to hide behind your hat when walking in public), was left to Reinsdorf, who wants all fans to know he is sorry and plans to do better.

“By all measures, our on-field performance this season was a failure,” Reinsdorf begins, not exactly breaking news, but he wants us to know that he knows, soliciting sympathy for paying attention.

Sox fans, meaning me, meaning you, deserve better, and nothing we said or did to show our disgust is being held against us. Completely understand, he wrote.

Nothing is easier than saying you are sorry and nothing is harder than meaning it. Regrets lead to promises and Reinsdorf rushes right there, vowing to “do everything we can to fix this for 2025 and the future.”

The first fix is a manager and, like Prince Humperdink, Getz has sent his four fastest ships out to find him. “Timeline wise,” Getz said, “I would certainly expect late October or November.”

Surely, there is a manager somewhere to restore the Sox to intermittent glory, and he might be in the postgame studio. But let’s not wish misery on Ozzie Guillen. He is too valuable where he is.

It is not difficult to find a list of candidates, and each comes with his own resume, but until I am given Getz’ salary, I shall let him do his job. Until he no longer has it.

I allow Reinsdorf his pledge to (1) develop players on the current roster; (2) evaluate the trade and free-agent markets; and (3) evaluate and improve every process to compete for championships.

All of this is assumed, of course, however scanty the evidence.

If the old wisdom is true, advising that the secret of winning is learning how to lose, allow me to be first to predict the White Sox will be undefeated next season.