SAN DIEGO — In a year like this, the fans must have their say. And they must be heard.
White Sox fans have had enough.
They were up to here with last season’s 101 losses and with the 2024 team reaching depths never seen before in the history of the game, their sinking feeling is undeniable.
Sox fans are a loyal bunch. The 2005 thrill of their lifetimes, to be celebrated in 2025 by a franchise that doesn’t figure to have much else to celebrate, is cherished but now distant.
Six seasons with winning records and three with only brief postseasons since feels unacceptable.
“As a die-hard, life-long Sox fan I am embarrassed to call them my team,” said northwest Indiana resident Bill Hillegonds, who grew up in the south suburbs during the 1960s and 70s devoted to the Blackhawks and Sox.
“We have been sold a bag of lies. Last fall we were told that the Sox could possibly compete in a weak [AL] Central Division, but recently we were told [by general manager Chris Getz] that a 105-loss season was not surprising.”
Kevin Pittman, a south suburbanite in his 30s said he attended four games this season, an all-time low.
He is fed up.
“I typically attend upwards of twenty games a season,” Pittman said. “I love to go to games with my dad — a lifelong Sox fan of 57 years — my wife, and my daughter. I love to tailgate. I love the ballpark. I love the Chicago White Sox. But enough is enough.”
For Pittman, the season is “sad, maddening and downright comical” all wrapped into one.
“The White Sox fan base is not a patient one,” Pittman said. “These are hard-working, blue collared, middle-class fans who won’t attend games unless the Sox are good or at least exciting. There is zero excitement at 35th & Shields right now.”
If the Sox (36-117) are swept in a three-game series that opens in San Diego Friday, they’ll break the 1962 Mets record of 120 losses. There are nine games left.
Dean Reszel of Mokena has been a fan for 65 years who has attended 10-20 games a year for decades. He said he predicted 107 losses this season. He underestimated how bad they would actually be.
“Never did I think they’d be on their way to a record in futility,” Reszel said.
“Too many mental errors on the field, poor communication on pop-ups and fly balls, too many singles hitters in the lineup,” Reszel said. “We are a bottom-five team in fielding and we were supposed to be better in the field according to Getz heading into this season.
“And I don’t think the players we got in a few of our trades were enough compared to what we traded away. Maybe it was other GMs taking advantage of a young GM, just a thought.
“Jerry Reinsdorf needs to spend money on free agents in some key areas to show the fans he cares about wanting to put an exciting and winning team on the field.”
Chicago area radio personality Greg Easterling was at Guaranteed Rate Field on Aug. 12 when the Sox beat the Yankees 12-2, one of five games he attended. It felt like Sox fans were outnumbered, and it bothered him.
Easterling remembers the 1962 Mets. Never did he think the Sox would ever challenge that record.
“The Sox need to bring in an experienced executive with proven success to overhaul their operation,” Easterling said. “Just like the Cubs hired Theo Epstein to turn things around. We deserve more than first-time managers and GMs to bring the Sox back to a higher level by making the right player choices. The last rebuild failed. We can’t have that happen again.”
Embarrassment rules. Sox pride is dead.
And hope is on life support.
“I guess the biggest frustration I have is with the present ownership I see no future
for better things to come,” Hillegonds said. “My joy of baseball has been stolen, and I have no hope. And that makes me sad.
Hillegonds’ man cave “oozes White Sox.” He has Sox vanity license plates on his car.
“Makes me want to keep it in the garage so I don’t get ridiculed more for being a fan,” he said. “I haven’t been to a game [this season] and don’t plan on going anytime soon. This is a total embarrassment of a MLB team.”
Even the popular Sox cap isn’t what it used to be.
“I still wore my Sox hat this summer because I’m a fan and the logo is cool,” Easterling said. “But running into another fan doing the same was like bonding over a tragedy. Something you never want for the Sox. We deserve better than this.”
SOX AT PADRES
Friday: Garrett Crochet (6-12, 3.78 ERA) vs. Joe Musgrove (6-5, 4.23), 8:40 p.m., NBCSCH, 1000-AM
Saturday: Chris Flexen (2-14, 5.09) vs. Martin Perez (4-5, 4.36), 7:40, p.m., NBCSCH, 1000-AM
Sunday: Sean Burke (1-0, 2.25) vs. Yu Darvish (6-3, 3.21), 3:10 p.m., NBCSCH, 1000-AM