The 2026 Chicago White Sox shocked the baseball world twice. Once in a historic and positive manner, and another in a manner which nearly got your author a wellness check from his neighbors. Let's just say there was yelling. And words we can't publish here.
Thing one that the White Sox did, of course, was make the playoffs after three straight 100-loss seasons. They were the first team in MLB history to do that.
The second shocking thing was that the Sox were up 2-0 and had three chances, including two at home, to punch their ticket to the American League Championship Series. And they didn't get it done.
Becoming the first team since 2017 to blow an 2-0 lead in the Division Series and lose hurts. What really hurts is that losing three games in a row to a team that's about your talent level isn't necessarily a choke. But when you strike out over 50 times in those three games, and walk too many hitters, and when your best reliever has a sixth-inning meltdown in a possible clinching game, well, that's a choke.
There's extra pain involved for us long-suffering Sox fans. I obviously can't speak for all of us South Side partisans, but right now, I have a burning disdain for Cleveland that might, at least right now, supersede my pre-programmed Bears' fan hatred of the Green Bay Packers.
Some of that is based just on this season -- the Guardians came back to win the American League Central in September while the Sox swooned. Cleveland was hot, Chicago was not.
Some of my Cleveland hate goes back to Cleveland mocking then-Sox manager Tony La Russa four years ago, and some goes towards seeing Guardian All-Star and Sox murderer Jose bleepin' Ramirez punching Tim Anderson. I was never a fan of the La Russa hire, and Anderson was in the wrong when he tried to fight Ramirez, but Cleveland's mocking never sat right with me. I also don't have to like Ramirez even if Anderson started something he shouldn't have.
The September losses cost them the bye
I digress. Back to the Sox. They went 1-5 against mediocre Pittsburgh and St. Louis teams and also dropped several games after the All-Star break that they probably should've won. I wrote about some of them. The blown 5-0 lead at home against the Houston Astros. The wild loss in Boston. The inexplicable blown lead to the Cincinnati Reds on Pope Hat night -- the Sox lost the division by one game. Chicago had the tiebreaker over Cleveland.
That's all to say that one of those bad losses came back to bite the Sox in the butt -- perhaps if Chicago gets the first-round bye the Sox aren't MacGyvering a pitching staff in the divisional series.
A lot of talk will be about Ramirez coming alive in the series, and he was a destructive force in the final three games. Cleveland pitchers Parker Messick and Gavin Williams, plus the bullpen, were good. Can't hide from that.
The bats vanished when it mattered
But the Sox offensive approach in the final three games was awful. Players were whiffing in the zone and often appeared to be trying to hit homers when perhaps shortening the swing and stringing singles together would've been the way to score runs. There was also too much chase. All five games were close, with the exception of some late-inning insurance runs for Cleveland in games three and four. The Sox could be moving on if they had the big hit with runners on.
I think of three examples. In game four, the Sox scored the first two runs, but Brenton Doyle lined out to end a chance to pile more on. Later, rookie Braden Montgomery struck out after the Sox re-took the lead. He had a big chance to add to a one-run lead.
Or in game five, when Munetaka Murakami struck out with the bases loaded and the Sox down just two runs. A single there ties the game, most likely. Yes, I'd have loved a grand slam to take a 4-2 lead and shut up a raucous Cleveland crowd, but not at the expense of killing a rally.
I suspect my sadness over the Sox goes beyond having to live with the fact that this team is the rare one to blow a 2-0 lead -- that is hard to live with, and it's happened only 11 times. The past is a problem. The Sox have only made the playoffs once in franchise history -- in 2020 and 2021. The 2006 team, which was perhaps better than the 2005 World Series winner, won 90 games and didn't make the playoffs. The 2021 team was supposed to be the start of something, like the 2026 team is, but that rebuild derailed quickly.
Taking it out of Sox history -- the Detroit Tigers were supposed to be a contender in 2026 after a strong 2025 season, and injuries left Detroit on the outside of October looking in.
It's true that the past isn't prologue. There's no reason the 2027 Sox can't make the postseason. The manager and culture is better than in 2021, and there are more reinforcements in the prospect pipeline. But the past does show that the future isn't guaranteed -- even ignoring possible labor strife that could affect the 2027 season. The Sox aren't guaranteed to repeat the playoff run next year. But just because the franchise has failed to build in the past, it doesn't mean it will fail in the future.
Three fixes before 2027
I'll examine the Sox roster later. For now, there are three things the team has to do to reach the postseason again and make a deeper run next year. They are: Cut down on strikeouts, cut down on walks allowed, and be a better defensive club. The team powered over some problems by slugging the ball and occasionally getting solid pitching. That's not enough to be a World Series contender.
I never thought this team would make, let alone win, the 2026 World Series. I wasn't sure how long they'd last in October. But once they swept Houston and won the first two against Cleveland, I was sure they'd make the ALCS. The ending is still stunning and it will take all winter to process.
This Sox team could be like 1983, 2001, and 2021 -- an exciting team that fails to put together a multi-year run of playoff contention. Or it could be the next Cleveland. It's up to the Sox -- get some things fixed, and the post-mortem next year might come in November instead of October.
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