Many sports talkers are saying that the White Sox season is over. Despite having the best off-season in memory, Chicago's slow start and inconsistency has doomed the season.
The White Sox sit in last place in the AL Central after 52 games (32% of the season).
The Sox record is 24-28 (.462) , 7.5 games behind the surprising first place Twins.
The Sox are 6.5 GB the Royals, 2.5 GB the Tigers and 1.5 GB the Indians.
The doom slayers may think the season is over, but clearly it is not.
In 1914, the Boston Braves were on July 6th 15 games out of first place but they came back to win the pennant. The most dramatic comeback in
history was the 1951 New York Giants who trailed the Brooklyn Dodgers by
13.5 games on August 11th. The Giants made up all of that ground in
just 45 games.
The Yankees greatest comeback to date was the 14 games they made up in
1978. They trailed by 14 on July 20th of that year, went into Fenway
Park and destroyed the Red Sox, sweeping a 4 game series known now as "The
Boston Massacre." That turnaround came to a conclusion with the one game playoff, which was the Bucky Dent dagger home run.
The 1995 Seattle Mariners also had a good comeback. They trailed the
Angels by 13 games on August 3rd. They came back to win the division,
but that one is more widely attributed to a California collapse. They
simply stopped winning down the stretch.
The AL Central seems to be the most competitive division in baseball. That could work to the White Sox advantage, as each division team beats up on the others - - - giving the Sox a chance to make up ground with a long win streak or two. Chris Sale is a stopper. Jeff Samardzija has been terrible (giving up 16 runs in the first inning in his starts). He should have a better second half. And the Sox hitting should pick up to at least the averages on the backs of their baseball cards.
