The Cubs and White Sox crushed Chicago's worst baseball season ever.
Chicago teams combined for 195 losses this season - - - the most in Chicago
baseball history. The previous record number of losses was 191 in 1948, during a 154-game season.
However, a city with 195 baseball losses ranks only 17th in baseball history. Philadelphia still holds the record at 208.
It is still mindboggling that the White Sox would dump 99 losses after being in contention for most of the 2012 season. And the Cubs also slightly improved to reach the 96 loss mark.
White Sox GM Hahn said there will be changes in 2014. There has to be; the Sox only draw if they win. The White Sox are a small market team playing in a big city, in the shadows of the more popular Cubs.
But the popularity of the Cubs is starting to wane. 2013 was the 5th consecutive season of declining attendance on the North Side.
Now, the realization that the Cubs "Plan" was to lose for several seasons in order to build up the farm system with high draft choices, may be the accelerator on the declining attendance trend. Many fans gave up watching games on television because who really wants to invest three hours knowing that your team only has a one in three chance of winning the game. The whole idea for cheering your team is to see them "win."
And next season may just be as bad. Starlin Castro said after the last game it may take two or three more years before the Cubs are competitive. That puts the time line out to 2016. And the White Sox are terrible on offense and in the field, but have no consensus stars in AAA to fill the gaps at 3B, SS, 2B, 1B or C.
The early off-season will be the axe watch to see which players, managers or coaches get cut to appease ownership or the fan base.
