Chicago White Sox: Team could lose World Series opportunity to labor strike again

The Chicago White Sox were one of the best teams in baseball when the season ended in 1994. Could the team lose a World Series opportunity to a labor strike once again?

Things were going great for the Chicago White Sox on August 11, 1994. The Sox had just taken two of three from the Oakland Athletics in the Bay Area to improve to 67-46.

Frank Thomas was having a career year, hitting .353/.487/.729 with 38 home runs en route to his second consecutive AL MVP Award.

The Sox were a game ahead of rival Cleveland Indians for first place. Only the New York Yankees had a better record in the American League.

It looked as if the Sox would almost certainly make the playoffs. If they were unable to clinch the division, they were in a good position to clinch the Wild Card (which was in its first year of existence).

The year before, the White Sox had won 94 games to win the AL Central. Their season would come to an end at the hands of the eventual World Series champion Toronto Blue Jays in the ALCS.

Realistically, the Sox were World Series contenders that following season.

We’ll never know if the Sox truly were a World Series championship team. Players went on strike the following day, ultimately resulting in the cancellation of the season on September 14.

There wasn’t another MLB game played until April 25, 1995. The White Sox struggled that following year, finishing the season at a disappointing 68-76. They were 32 games behind that same Cleveland Indians team that they led by a game when the players’ strike began on August 12.

The timing truly could not have been worse for the White Sox.

Now here’s where things get really upsetting for White Sox fans.

As every Sox fan knows, the organization is in a prime position to contend for a World Series again in just a couple of years.

Really, the 2019 Chicago White Sox are in the same position as the 2014 Chicago Cubs. With a lineup filled to the brim with young talent, the Sox are just two games below .500 after splitting a two-game set with the crosstown rival Cubs.

If the Sox follow the same timeline as the Cubs, they’ll be a legitimate World Series contender as soon as 2021.

For fans who pay close attention to the future of the MLB, 2021 is already marked in red letters on the calendar.

That’s when the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires on December 1.

With a plethora of important topics that MLB players and owners will need to agree on, there’s already talk of a contentious lockout happening after the 2021 season.

That’s potentially devastating news for the Chicago White Sox, who will be in the prime of their championship window if their rebuild continues to go as planned.

That’s right, Sox fans. There is a legitimate possibly that the White Sox could have another labor strike threaten or even destroy the team’s shot at a World Series championship.

Fortunately, the Sox will have a number of years to contend for a championship with such a young ball club. But on the other hand, a prolonged break from every day play could potentially wreak havoc on careers and talent.

Chicago sports fans may also be quick to point out that a strike-shortened season may be exactly what’s needed for Chicago sports.

After the 2012-13 NHL strike shortened the season to just 48 games, the Chicago Blackhawks started the season by setting an NHL record in recording a point in the team’s first 24 games of the season.

The Blackhawks would go on to win the Stanley Cup for the fifth time in franchise history.

So maybe the White Sox will be blessed with a strike-shortened championship like the Blackhawks on the west side of town.

Or perhaps history will repeat itself and the Sox championship dreams will be destroyed by a labor strike similar to 1994.

Ideally, owners and players will come to an agreement long before the season starts and this whole conversation will become irrelevant.