The Chicago White Sox are not a good baseball team. They were supposed to be. They have talent on paper. They play in a weak division. But over and over again throughout 2022, they have found new, creative ways to disappoint, underwhelm, and straight-up lose. Some of that has been blamed on the geriatric managing of Tony La Russa and rightfully so, but Thursday night the onus belonged to the players, Adam Engel specifically, who simply had to catch this foul pop-up to end the game and walk away with a W. You can probably guess what happened next …
And what happened after that …
Anddddd what happened after that …
No matter which way you slice it, this is one of the most brutal chokes of the season. In fairness to Engel, he has a long way to go to get there, but you can see him take his eye off the ball at the last second. Even he thought the evening’s work was done. But no big deal, right? The Orioles were still down to the final out with no runners on base. All you gotta do is keep the ball in the yard and the White Sox couldn’t even do that. We don’t use this word lightly, but it was pathetic.
It’s not like the Sox have nothing to play for either. A win last night would have leapfrogged them above Minnesota into second place in the AL Central, three games behind the division-leading Guardians with a month to go. It would have also seen them pick up a game on Baltimore, the first team out in the AL playoff picture as things currently stand. Instead they dropped a pop up. We have absolutely no horse in this race. We’re not from Chicago. We didn’t bet the Sox on Thursday. Yet it still makes our blood boil.
So take our advice, Chicago. Cut the cord now. This team is talented enough to stay in the playoff picture but not disciplined enough to actually do it. They are the most infuriating type of sports team that exists in our universe, so get out while you still can. After all, Bears season is coming and you’re going to need every last drop of that angst.
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