Jay Hook can sympathize with what the Chicago White Sox and their fans are enduring this season.
Baseball news coming out of Chicago’s South Side this season can be summed up accurately in one word—ugly.
Historically speaking, this season’s White Sox are on course to rewrite history. After losing in Baltimore 13–3 to the surging Baltimore Orioles on Monday, the White Sox now have a win-loss record of 31–108. The defeat is also Chicago’s 11th in a row.
Earlier this season, the club went through a 21-game losing streak. Once that dubious distinction was erased, the White Sox dismissed manager Pedro Grifol. Since then, Grady Sizemore has served as the club’s “substitute” skipper, presumably until the final game of this season.
To say that Chicago’s American League club is underperforming is an understatement. The past two seasons have been a collection of failures by players on the field, as well as moves made by the front office. As recently as the 2022 season, White Sox fans had hope for better days on the horizon. The club finished the 2022 season at 81–81.
Now, with this season’s collection of players threatening to pass the Mets’ record of 120 losses, with 23 games left on the schedule, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight for Chicago’s spiraling downfall. Sizemore’s crew needs to come away with at least 10 victories to not finish with MLB’s worst win-loss record in its history.
White Sox fans may have forgotten how bad things were for their heroes of the 1970 season, when their club turned in an ugly record of 56–106. Now, it’s happening all over again.
Call it bad luck, not getting the breaks, or victims of bad hops on hard infields.
Hook, 87, lives in Maple City, Michigan, a five-hour drive north of the “Windy City.” He can commiserate with the baseball doldrums being experienced at Guaranteed Rate Field on the South Side.
“I hated it,” said Hook of all the losses in 1962 earlier this week to The Epoch Times. “I knew we were the worst team in baseball that season. It was the first season of the Mets franchise. But we survived the losing by how Casey [Mets manager Casey Stengel] handled the reporters.
“After our games, Casey would have the writers come into his office and tell them stories. He'd offer them a Coke or a beer, and Casey would give them plenty of news for their columns. Good relations with the press are important,” he added.
During the 1962 MLB expansion, one thing the Mets had going for them, despite all the losing, according to Hook, was their energetic fans. After New York saw two of its three MLB clubs (Dodgers and Giants) bolt to California after the 1957 season, the American League Yankees were the only club in town for four seasons until the Mets came along.
Having spent his previous five seasons with the Cincinnati Reds before joining the 1962 Mets, Hook’s veteran status was expected to help steady the club’s pitching staff. Registering the Mets’ first victory on April 23 of the inaugural season, he went on to collect an 8–19 record. Given that the Mets finished last among the 10 National League clubs in 1962, with some 60.5 games behind the pennant-winning San Francisco Giants, Hook is unable to label any loss during that historic season as more devastating than another.
“All of them were tough to take. When you lose, you lose. How many runs you score doesn’t matter if the other team has more than you. I can tell you that none of the guys on our team ever really gave up,” he said.
Hook remembers several of his teammates with the utmost respect more than 60 years later. He singles out three players, all deceased, who set positive examples of how to be professional following losses.
Gil Hodges, who is in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, excelled on very successful Brooklyn Dodger clubs and managed the Mets to a World Series championship in 1969.
Roger Craig enjoyed many seasons of success as an MLB pitching coach and manager, including being part of four World Series titles as a pitcher and coach.
Another Hall of Famer, Richie Ashburn, was part of the Mets club that lost 140 games during the 1962 season. Hook raves about the positivity that Ashburn brought to the Mets’ clubhouse throughout the record-breaking season.
White Sox management is sending signals that changes are on the way for next season’s action. A 10 percent decrease across the board in season ticket prices is promised. This should improve next season’s home attendance. Currently, the White Sox are 27th among MLB’s 30 franchises in attendance. The club is averaging 18,060 fans through 68 home games. Next season will mark 125 years of White Sox baseball.
Chicago is 48.5 games behind American League Central-leading Cleveland Guardians.
Among all the bad news surrounding the White Sox season, Hook offers a token of cheer to the club closing in on his 1962 history.
“A loss is not a defeat unless you quit trying,” he said. “I know the guys on our Mets team never gave up, and I doubt any of the White Sox players are quitting.”
