Whenever the Chicago White Sox gamers left their clubhouse this season to enter the dugout at Guaranteed Rate Field, they have been greeted by an indication on the door.
“NO PLAYER IS AS GOOD AS THE SUM OF A TEAM.”
That message was by no means extra obvious than in the course of the 2022 season, when the sum of the Sox components didn’t add as much as a profitable yr on the South Side.
We spent many of the final six months questioning when the Sox would come out of hibernation, listening to gamers and supervisor Tony La Russa insist they nonetheless had a shot at making the postseason regardless of the malaise.
Their one scorching streak got here after La Russa left the workforce for well being causes, nevertheless it proved to be short-lived and an 0-6 homestand in opposition to the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers sealed their destiny. So a small crowd of some thousand Sox followers confirmed up Wednesday on a beautiful October afternoon to ship off one of the crucial unlovable groups in current reminiscence.
They booed on cue in the course of the Minnesota Twins’ six-run first inning and gave starter Davis Martin a Bronx cheer when he lastly received the third out. When Vince Velasquez got here on within the second and gave up a two-run single to make it 9-0, a fan tried to begin a “Fire Tony” chant for previous occasions’ sake.
The Sox went on to lose 10-1, ending their season at 81-81, a most apropos report for a workforce that wasted a lot time making an attempt to get to .500.
It might have felt like the largest one-year drop-off ever after a 93-win season in 2021, however the 2007 Sox had an 18-win swing, going from 90-72 in 2006 to 72-90 underneath former supervisor Ozzie Guillén.
If there’s any silver lining from that unhappy historical past lesson, it’s that the Sox rebounded in 2008 to win the American League Central in Game 163, remembered as the unique Blackout Game.
We don’t know the way most of the present Sox will get an opportunity to redeem themselves in 2023 or if appearing supervisor Miguel Cairo will survive the interview course of for the job he was thrown into when La Russa left the workforce on Aug. 30.
“It’s going to be emotional,” Cairo mentioned earlier than Wednesday’s recreation. “But you don’t know if we are coming back or if I am coming back. If it was (the end), these two years I got to meet really good people here. It’s going to be a little hard. It’s baseball, it’s a business and let’s see what’s going to happen in the offseason.”
Cairo thanked the media after his pregame session, exhibiting the category he has exhibited all through what needed to be probably the most troublesome month of his skilled profession. He helped the Sox get again within the race, then watched them undergo an eight-game shedding streak.
It was too small of a pattern dimension to show himself, and Cairo couldn’t repair an unfixable downside. If he’s not again, he no less than can depart together with his head up, figuring out he did every part he may.
Unfortunately, among the Sox gamers can’t say the identical. After the extra-innings loss to the Guardians on Sept. 20 nearly ended their possibilities, a few of them appeared to iPhone it within the ultimate two weeks.
One factor in regards to the final day of a misplaced season is the followers who do present up are normally die-hards who got here to say goodbye. It was disappointing to many who Jose Abreu determined to not play in what might need been his ultimate recreation in a Sox uniform. Abreu issued a press release by the Sox explaining that he requested Cairo for the time without work “to enjoy this game with him and have the manager’s perspective.”
Abreu sat on the other finish of the dugout, so any enjoyment he skilled was far faraway from Cairo.
But some followers nonetheless let him know they need him again. A ponytailed fan within the field seats behind the Sox dugout held up a placard with an alleged quote from Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf on one facet that learn, “Abreu is not going to wear a jersey other than a White Sox jersey.” On the opposite facet he wrote, “If Abreu leaves, so do I.”
“I think it’s just silly if you get rid of this guy,” mentioned the 40-year-old fan, who requested to stay nameless. “It’s a bummer it’s even in the conversation. My heart will be broken.”
This Sox workforce didn’t actually break followers’ hearts as a lot because it crushed their spirit. Many tried to maintain the religion, nevertheless it was obvious by the All-Star break the mojo of 2021 was gone. La Russa, probably the most polarizing Sox supervisor since Terry Bevington, added to the frustration by condoning his gamers’ lack of hustle, telling some to not “push” it to keep away from leg accidents.
“I don’t think we’re perfect, but I think we’re doing well enough,” he mentioned in August.
Many didn’t agree, and that notion was lasting. The baserunning woes and poor teaching choices continued by the ultimate recreation. The Sox trailed 10-0 within the seventh when Carlos Pérez doubled with Romy Gonzalez on first. Third base coach Joe McEwing held Gonzalez as the group erupted in boos.
By the underside of the ninth, followers sang Abreu’s theme track in hopes of a pinch-hitting look as he stood within the tunnel and listened. But it wasn’t taking place. As he mentioned Tuesday, he doesn’t like goodbyes.
The crowd was introduced as 18,918, although lower than half of the ticket holders confirmed up. It did put the Sox over the two million attendance mark for the primary time since 2011, which was small comfort.
Now the main focus shall be on the managerial search, with the new range league heating up in mid-November.
The Sox have work to do to regain the respect of their followers.
There shall be no simple fixes.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com