It was a festive night at Guaranteed Rate Field on Tuesday as the Chicago White Sox avoided the history books with a wild, 3-2 comeback win over the Los Angeles Angels.
Many came to see the Sox break the modern-day MLB record with their 121st loss. But many were on their feet and cheering in the top of the ninth when the Sox were one out away from winning. And then when the Sox recorded the final out in the ninth on a comebacker to Justin Anderson, most of them began to boo.
“It’s been a long season,” left fielder Andrew Benintendi said. “I think that people here tonight were maybe trying to see history. But they’re going to have to wait one more day.”
After a slight pause, Benintendi caught himself and added: “Maybe.”
So it’s back again on Wednesday when Davis Martin starts and the Sox attempt to avoid history for a second straight night. They need to win their final five games to avoid holding the record.
The Sox did something Tuesday they hadn’t done all season — win a game they’d been trailing after the sixth inning. I ran into general manager Chris Getz as he left his suite and headed to the celebratory clubhouse.
“I think we’ve got this figured out now,” Getz said with a laugh.
Were Sox fans sending mixed messages? Perhaps. Either way, the “sell the team” chants that broke out several times sent a unified message that win or lose, Sox fans want real change on the South Side.
Mikey Fitzgerald, an 8-year-old White Sox fan from Evergreen Park, brought a handmade sign with a personal message for White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf:
“Thank you for this historic season, Jerry!”
What made Fitzgerald bring the sign?
“So he can sell the team,” he replied.
White Sox fans grow up so quickly these days. One day they’re attending their first Sox game, and the next they’re imploring the owner to sell the team.
At least they’re learning what it’s like to be a Sox fan at a young age.
His father, Dan Fitzgerald, had coached Mikey in the car ride to the ballpark in case anyone asked why he wanted Reinsdorf to sell.
“So that the new owners will spend money to get better players, right?” Dan said.
“Right,” Mikey replied.
Photos: Chicago White Sox 3, Los Angeles Angels 2 on Sept. 24, 2024
Not long after I ran into the Fitzgeralds in the concourse down the third base line, the ballpark erupted in another “sell the team” chant. It was almost as if they were following young Mikey’s lead.
The crowd reaction was confusing, with many wanting the team to lose to say they were there for the record-breaker.
When Los Angeles second baseman Jack López homered in the eighth inning to stretch the Angels lead to 2-0, his father, Juan “Porky” López, a former coach under Dusty Baker with the Cubs, cheered from his seat behind home plate. Then he saw the crowd of 17,606 — and 374 dogs for the “Dog Day” event — join him in cheering for an Angels home run.
When Jack López dropped a pop fly in the eighth to bring in the tying run, Sox fans reacted with bemusement and groans.
As Casey Stengel once said of the Mets: “Can’t anyone here play this game?”
The majority of fans came out on a rainy night to watch two last-place teams play because of the possibility of No. 121. The game was delayed over an hour by the rain, but it didn’t dampen the fans’ spirits. The lines to concessions were longer than usual. Perhaps Sox management didn’t anticipate the interest?
The bleacher concourse was hopping, with dogs playing together and begging for food. Many fans stood and waited for their own likeness on a bobblehead, while others tried to buy a Campfire Milkshake, only to be told they had sold out by the third inning.
When someone hoisted a “Sell the team” banner near the White Sox dugout in the seventh, security swooped down and quickly ordered him to take it down. The crowd erupted in boos, so he waved it again to cheers as he walked up the stairs.
Not everyone was aware at the start of the evening that a historic event was a possibility.
Harry Samprey III, a South Sider, was at the booth in center field getting “first game” certificates for his two young children, Calaya and Skylah. He didn’t know their first Sox game could be the one where the Sox broke the record.
“I knew they were bad, but I didn’t realize tonight was the night,” Samprey said before the game. “So do we cheer for them to win, or to lose?
He thought for a second and made his decision.
“I’m going to support them either way,” he said. “I’m still living off of the 2005 World Series.”
Jim and Carolyn Bergman, a married couple from Bakersfield, Calif., came wearing Dodgers jerseys. On the back of her jersey was the word “MARRIED,” and her number was 19. On the back of his was “SINCE,” and the number was 69.
The Bergmans are on a mission to attend a game in every major-league ballpark, which they began back in 2017. They had a trip planned to the South Side in 2018 but the game was rained out.
“We went to Miami, so we got to see (Shohei) Ohtani get 50-50 (home runs and stolen bases), and then Tampa, and now here for our 30th (ballpark),” Carolyn said.
And after watching history with Ohtani, were they hoping to see more history with a Sox loss?
Jim said he was not aware of the record.
“I read something about it,” Carolyn said. “I don’t care who wins, but we’re not rooting for them to lose.”
A group of young men in Sox shorts leaving the suites agreed that the win was “a bit disappointing,” but said it was an entertaining night. The Sox had dodged a bullet, but at least no one was accidentally shot in the bleachers.
The media that had virtually ignored the Sox clubhouse all year was on hand Tuesday, ready to post their stories about the record-breaking loss, only to see the Sox blow it by watching the Angels blow the lead.
“There have been a lot of losses this year, so it seems like an extra win,” Benintendi said. “Whatever happens happens, and I think everybody in here doesn’t want it to happen. But it’s baseball.”
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