Do you know what an Allegheny is?
No need to be embarrassed if you don’t instantly know because I had no clue what it was either. At first, I thought it was one of the rare birds painted by famed naturalist John James Audubon, or maybe some sort of 19th-century piece of furniture that pops up on Antiques Roadshow.
I was wrong on both accounts. Allegheny was an industrial city that existed in Pennsylvania until it was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907. It was located across the Allegheny River, was a haven for German immigrants and the H.J. Heinz Company built a factory there as well.
It was also the hometown of Andrew Carnegie — yes that Carnegie who went from steel baron to philanthropist, and one of the men who “built America.”
The city also had its very own professional baseball team which was the Allegheny Base Ball Club of Pittsburgh. The club was part of the American Association in the late 1880s, before joining the National League in 1887. The team was also commonly referred to in newspapers as the Pittsburgh Alleghenys before becoming the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1891.
Fascinating stuff, right? You learned something new, didn’t you? But don’t thank me, dear reader, you and I and everyone else should personally send a thank you note to the Chicago White Sox.
Without their historic ineptitude on the diamond this season, we would never have educated ourselves on one of the more unique team names in Major League Baseball history.
Chicago’s season was one for the history books — the type of history that so many schools these days gloss over or ignore altogether.
The White Sox’s 41 victories were the eighth-fewest wins in a full season in MLB history, and the team’s .253 winning percentage is the seventh-lowest all-time, as well. The team also lost an American League-record 21 straight games and fired skipper Pedro Grifol.
The White Sox now have the distinction of producing the worst season in modern baseball history, surpassing the infamous 1962 New York Mets squad that went 40-120.
Making embarrassing history is still history, right?
The worst seasons in baseball history regarding total wins and winning percentage belong to the Cleveland Spiders in 1899 who went 20-134 with a paltry .130 winning percentage and those aforementioned Alleghenys in 1890 who went 23-113 with a .169 winning percentage.
By the way, the Spiders still hold the record for most road losses in a season with 101, and despite an amazing nickname, the franchise itself folded in 1899.
That’s right, the White Sox were so dreadful that they will forever be mentioned in the same breath as teams that played ball games before the following things happened: the Wright Brothers’ first flight, the discovery of Penicillin, the first talking movie picture, the debut of the Ford Model T, the Great Influenza epidemic and the outbreak of World War I.
More historic futility by the White Sox. Yay!!!
Even though no one thought of a team coming off a 101-loss season and owned by one of pro sports’ worst owners in Jerry Reinsdorf could sink lower. Yet, the team still found a new way to flush their season down the toilet.
That reminds me, did you know indoor plumbing wasn’t common in most of the United States until the early 20th century? It is fitting that the White Sox just had a season that would fit right in during the era of raw sewage in the streets of America.
The White Sox had the most putrid offense in baseball in 2024. How stinky was the production at the plate? The SouthSiders finished last in MLB in runs scored with 507 – which is nearly 100 runs fewer than the next worst team, the Tampa Bay Rays.
The White Sox also ranked dead last in the league in batting average (.221), on-base percentage (.278), slugging percentage (.340), hits (1,187), home runs (133), runs batted in (485), and walks (395).
By the way, Chicago’s pitching didn’t fare much better as the team had the 28th-worst ERA (4.67) and allowed the third-most runs (813).
That level of commitment to being baseball sewer water is impressive.
It started before the season when the team traded ace Dylan Cease to the San Diego Padres for prospects and then shipped Silver Slugger Eloy Jimenez to the Baltimore Orioles in July. All-Star outfielder Luis Robert dealt with injuries and had a subpar season, and the losses just kept piling up and more and more seats sat empty at Guaranteed Rate Field.
What makes the White Sox so unfathomable is that the team won its division three years ago, and its payroll was $145 million, which is right in the middle of the pack in the league. Yet, they are dreadful.
What makes things even more depressing for White Sox fans is that they have to sit and watch three other teams from their own division make the playoffs. The Kansas City Royals, who lost 106 games in 2023, advanced to the ALDS, as have the Detroit Tigers, who lost 114 games in 2019 and were sellers at the trade deadline, as well.
There is also the sting of watching A.J. Hinch lead the Tigers. The former Houston Astros manager was the top choice of former White Sox GM Rick Hahn but he was vetoed by Reinsdorf who pushed to have Tony LaRussa as skipper. Hinch didn’t even get a formal interview. The legendary World Series manager seemed like the right fit as in his first season he led them to the playoffs but then the wheels came off in 2022 as he lost the clubhouse. He resigned after the season due to health issues.
Also, watching the team’s former TV broadcaster Jason Benetti leave this past offseason for the Tigers, probably stings a little too.
So how can the White Sox avoid repeating it in 2025? It is pretty high considering that Reinsdorf is still trying to push for a new billion-dollar ballpark, and has been one of the most incompetent owners in modern history.
So what’s better than making history? How about repeating history? That is sure what the White Sox looked primed to do again.
Raymond Partsch III is the co-host of “RP3 & Meche” which is broadcast weekdays (11-1) on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette and 104.1 Lake Charles — Southwest Louisiana’s Sports Station.