The Chicago White Sox, who begin a series against the Mets on Friday, are 31-104. That puts them on a pace to finish a disastrous 37-125.
Baseball’s Most Miserable Record May Be About to Fall
How exciting it is to be a White Sox fan—or rather, a sort of fan once removed. I was a season ticket holder for more than 10 years during their 2005 World Series Championship heyday. It was fun watching them build the team from 1999 through their Series win. It was sad to watch them not come close to repeating.
I gave up my season tickets in 2011. My kids were grown, my wife is a terrible baseball companion, and I didn’t see much sense in paying thousands of dollars to keep my seats. It’s quite a haul to go from Glenview in the northern suburbs all the way to 35th Street on the south side of Chicago to watch baseball 26 times a year by myself.
I kept track of the team by watching on TV as much as I could, although MLB makes it difficult to be a fan of your team if you still live in the city where they play. You can only watch them when they’re out of market. I never had a cable subscription, so I wasn’t able to watch many home games unless I went through the trouble of using a VPN to pretend I was watching from the UK or some other foreign country.
Now I live in Georgia. I can watch almost all the games if I feel like it using the MLB app. But sports have worn thin for me—all sports. I hardly even watch the Chicago Bears now. Each sport’s game has changed enough that it’s not as exciting to watch. The things I enjoyed are gone. But at 57, I’m sure I’m not the demographic they’re trying to attract. It’s okay. I’ll always have 2005!