Pedro Grifol’s White Sox ended a 21-game skid, but they lost again, and Chicago fired him
The Chicago White Sox are so bad that with a record of 89-190 in less than two seasons, manager Pedro Grifol would have needed 101 more wins to reach .500.
Alas, he was fired Thursday. Former All-Star outfielder Grady Sizemore was named interim manager.
Even after snapping a 21-game losing streak Tuesday, the White Sox are so bad they could finish with the worst record of any team since 1900. Their winning percentage of .239 (28-89) is alongside the two teams considered the most wretched — the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics, who finished at .235 (36-117), and the 1962 New York Mets, who finished at .250 (40-120) in their expansion season.
Perhaps Grifol shouldn’t fret too much: The managers of the 1916 A’s and 1962 Mets were Connie Mack and Casey Stengel, respectively, both enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
Grifol, though, presided over the skid that equaled the American League record set by the 1988 Baltimore Orioles, whose ineptitude is particularly shocking considering Hall of Famers Cal Ripken Jr. and Eddie Murray played every game that season.
The Dodgers have just started their toughest four-week stretch of the season, and if they can’t emerge relatively unscathed, there might not even be an October for them.
How bad are the White Sox? So bad that relief pitcher Michael Kopech gained nearly 40 games in the standings when he was traded to the Dodgers a week ago.
So bad that Dodgers castoff Miguel Vargas bats leadoff even though he’s hitting .100 in eight games with his new team and sports a career average of .193.
The White Sox averted the MLB record of 23 consecutive losses set by the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies. And, yep, the Phillies also boasted a Hall of Famer in pitcher Robin Roberts, whose 1-10 record was an outlier in a 19-year career that included six consecutive 20-win seasons.
Excuse Grifol for not wondering whether he had a Hall of Famer somewhere on his roster. He became consumed by losing.
“We talk about it every day, everybody knows what it is,” he said Monday. “It’s 21 in a row, it sucks, it’s painful, it hurts, you name it.”
Here’s a look at teams that lost at least 20 in a row in a season:
— 1961 Phillies, 23 in a row: Their streak lasted most of August and the Phillies finished 47-107 in 35-year-old manager Gene Mauch‘s second season. Mauch righted the ship in 1962 and the Phillies posted winning records in each of their next six seasons.
Fans give an appreciative Freddie Freeman a lengthy standing ovation after his return to Dodgers following son’s hospitalization.
— 1988 Orioles, 21 in a row: With Ripken at shortstop and Billy Ripken at second base, manager Cal Ripken Sr. was fired after the Orioles began the season 0-6. The losing didn’t cease, however, with their first victory not coming until April 29. They finished 54-107.
— 2024 White Sox, 21 in a row: Until a 5-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday, the White Sox had last won July 10 against the Minnesota Twins. They lost again Wednesday, though, and Grifol was fired a day later. The White Sox named Sizemore, a current member of the coaching staff, as interim manager. Chicago said its next full-time manager is “expected to be announced after the conclusion of the 2024 season.”
— 1969 Montreal Expos, 20 in a row: Mauch presided over another historic losing streak, this one going from May 13 to June 7 in the Expos’ first MLB season. Future Angels general manager Bill Stoneman was the staff ace, although he took the loss five times during the streak. The Expos finished 52-110.
— 1943 and 1916 Athletics, 20 in a row: Mack staggered through a desultory August 1943 that included 24 losses in the last 25 games of the month. Mack was 80 years old but lasted another seven seasons before retiring, having managed a record 7,755 games and won five World Series. Mack was 53 when he endured a 1916 season in which the Athletics never won more than two games in a row.
— 1906 Boston Americans, 20 in a row: May was miserable for the Americans, who changed their name to the Red Sox after the 1907 season. The losing streak began May 1 and didn’t end until May 25. Five defeats went to 39-year-old Cy Young, who led the AL with 21 losses but rebounded to post 60 wins over the next three years. Player-manager Jimmy Collins — another Hall of Famer — deserted the team July 1 and went from revered to despised in Boston. The Americans finished 49-105-1.
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