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What Went Wrong: White Sox Were Doomed From the Start

The Chicago White Sox entered their series against the Houston Astros with little chance of winning, and it showed

By Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 2 years ago 3 min read
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The White Sox won the AL Central by 13 games

Despite many other postseason berths being clinched beforehand, the Chicago White Sox were the first to wrap up their division in 2021. The White Sox led the American League Central outright, never looking back, dominating the whole season. When the regular season ended on October 3, the White Sox's 93-69 record was 13 games ahead of the second place Cleveland Indians. A dominant season like that should be commended. It would be...if it didn't come with the following caveats.

The American League Central was tepid. The Indians, Royals, Tigers, and especially the Twins were all lethargic at best. The White Sox's run differential (+160) was leagues ahead of the second-highest total: -10, belonging to Cleveland. In short, the White Sox were Gladys Knight, and the other four teams were the Pips. This was a team with problems, the main one being their manager, Tony La Russa, who has acted like it's still the 1970s with some of his decisions--we all recall how he messed up poor Yermin Mercedes early in the season.

So the answer to the titular question, "What Went Wrong?," is a simple one: they simply had no chance. I knew the Houston Astros would take this; simply because they're leagues ahead of Chicago's division foes. And it didn't surprise me that the White Sox were so lost in the entire series. This team had absolutely no answers for Houston's hitting, rotation, and bullpen. Not a single one. This team was doomed and screwed from the first pitch of the entire series. That's how terrible it was for the White Sox.

Games One and Two were dominated by Houston. Game Three would have been, but Chicago did come back and take it on their home field. However, all that win and a weather-based postponement did was provide false hope to the team. Game Four was a mess. The White Sox batters couldn't really buy a lot of hits, and Houston made Chicago's pitching look very pedestrian.

Therefore, as a result of the Tampa Bay Rays' incompetent pitching and management, and the White Sox being completely outmatched, we Yankees fans are stuck with the most horrific ALCS possible: the Astros vs the Red Sox. The horrifying noise you hear is the collective sound of Yankees fans' stomachs turning. The team's most hated rival against the team who cheated their way to a championship (with the Yankees as a victim) and got very little punishment for it. One of these two teams will represent the American League in the Fall Classic. This is a rematch of the 2018 ALCS, which the Red Sox won in five games en route to their most recent World Championship.

As for the White Sox, well, they should be back as division champions. Nothing much will change in the American League Central. Well...almost nothing. One thing does need to change for the White Sox: they need to fire La Russa. It mystifies me why they hired him in the first place. Guilt over canning him back in the 1980s? That makes no sense whatsoever. From what I've seen and heard from La Russa this season, the man is completely out of touch with today's game; he cannot see that the game of baseball has changed and refuses to adapt to it. You cannot have someone like that managing your squad. The fact that the White Sox managed to not only win the division, but flat out run away with it with La Russa as manager--an absolute stain on the division as a whole.

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About the Creator

Clyde E. Dawkins

I am an avid fan of sports and wrestling, and I've been a fan of female villains since the age of eight. Also into film and TV, especially Simpsons and Family Guy.

Feel free to follow my social media:

Twitter - Facebook - Tiktok - Instagram

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