With the calendar on the verge of turning to September, the Chicago White Sox have already surpassed 100 losses this season. Going into Labor Day weekend, the White Sox have 27 games remaining on their schedule and are 17 losses away from breaking the major league record for most losses in a single season.
The 1962 New York Mets lost 120 games, a mark that lives in baseball infamy, a record with which no MLB team wants to be associated. The 2003 Detroit Tigers came close, very close, to matching the Mets, losing 119 games. Recent teams that also challenged the ’62 Mets were the 2018 Baltimore Orioles (115) and the 2019 Tigers (114).
However, the White Sox look very capable of breaking the Mets’ record. They are 31–104 entering Friday, while the infamous Mets were 34-100 at this point. Chicago has had separate losing streaks of 14 and 21 games this season, and began the season with four different losing streaks, each separated by one win. They were eliminated from playoff contention on Aug. 17, earlier than any team in MLB history.
As the White Sox approach an all-time mark for futility, nine members of the ’62 Mets are still alive to watch their infamous record possibly be broken. The Wall Street Journal’s Jared Diamond talked to a few of the surviving members of the team to get their thoughts on this White Sox season, a terrible campaign they thought might never see.
“It’s going to happen most likely sometime,» Craig Anderson, 86, a pitcher who went 3–17 in 1962. «I just didn’t expect it’d happen in my lifetime.»
Mets legend Ed Kranepool sympathizes with the White Sox, but only so much.
«I feel sorry for them,» said Kranepool, 79. «Better them than me.»
Maybe the pain of enduring such a miserable season was best voiced by pitcher Jay Hook, who went 8–19.
«I wouldn’t wish that on anybody,» said Hook, 87. Hook added that being part of such a team is something that will always be a part of the players’ lives.
The White Sox haven’t broken the Mets’ record yet. And perhaps they ultimately won’t. However, if they do, perhaps they can look forward to being asked about the 2024 season if another MLB team comes anywhere close to the number of losses this team accumulates. Will fans and media still be talking about it and seeking those players out 60-plus years later?
