September 27, 2024: White Sox set new post-1900 season loss record of 121, as Tigers clinch playoff berth

When a team gets off to a disastrous start, it is natural for a fanbase to think about a lost summer and a worst-case scenario: the 40-120 finish of the expansion 1962 New York Mets, or the 20-134 mark of the doomed 1899 Cleveland Spiders. As the days and months go by, things may turn around. Bad bounces might start to go your way, and a few late-game comebacks might eliminate the threat of a 120-loss season.

In 2024, the 124th season of the Chicago White Sox, that threat lingered and lingered. They finished April with a 6-24 record, followed by 9-19 records in May and June, which included a 14-game losing streak. July and August were even worse: 3-22 and 4-22, including a 21-game losing streak. They set a new AL/NL record for most losses at the All-Star break at 71.1 Another 12-game losing streak lasted until September 3, putting them on pace to lose 126 games–whichseemed to assure that the Mets’ post-1900 record would be broken.

The White Sox’ 120th loss came on September 22 in game 156 in San Diego. With six games remaining, a new record seemed inevitable. A three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels in Chicago brought hope that perhaps the White Sox could maintain a tie with the ’62 Mets. But records are meant to be broken, even ones of dubious distinction. On a warm Friday night in September, 44,435 fans saw a new record set.

Both teams’ “magic number” was one. The Detroit Tigers, winners of 14 of their last 17 games and 30 of their last 41, needed one more win to clinch a playoff berth. They sent Brenan Hanifee, who had pitched in relief in all but two of his 20 previous appearances of 2024, to the mound as an opener. The White Sox tasked Garrett Crochet to try and avoid ultimate embarrassment. Saddled with a 6-12 record despite an ERA below league average, the 25-year-old lefty was Chicago’s only All-Star.2

In the top of the first with one out, Chicago rookie Zach DeLoach hit what appeared to be a triple down the right field line, but the umpires ruled it a ground-rule double due to fan interference.3 Andrew Benintendi grounded out to rookie shortstop Trey Sweeney, moving DeLoach to third.4 Andrew Vaughn hit a popup to Sweeney to end the inning and strand DeLoach. He was the only runner to reach scoring position for the White Sox.

The bottom of the first also had a double with one out, hit by Matt Vierling down the left-field line. Vierling was also stranded. Crochet struck out Riley Greene and Justyn-Henry Malloy to end the first.

Hanifee started the second getting Gavin Sheets to fly to left on the first pitch. Groundouts by Lenyn Sosa to third and Bryan Ramos to first made for a quick eight-pitch inning.

Crochet struck out Wenceel Pérez to start the bottom of the second. Spencer Torkelson singled to center field, but that’s as far as he went. Sweeney grounded to shortstop Nicky Lopez, who stepped on the bag and made the throw to first baseman Sheets for the double play.

The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fifth. Crochet’s day was done after 62 pitches, 27 of which came in the fourth, when the Tigers had the bases loaded but were unable to convert. Crochet was replaced by Jared Shuster, who got off to a rough start. A walk to Jake Rogers, a single to center field by Parker Meadows, and another free pass given to Andy Ibáñez had the bases loaded again with Tigers, but this time with nobody out.

The White Sox suffered more self-inflicted damage: on a one-ball count to Vierling, catcher Korey Lee missed the ball, which headed to the backstop. Rogers scored easily on the passed ball, and everyone else moved up a base. Two pitches later, Vierling hit a sacrifice fly to deep left, driving in Meadows. Shuster struck out Greene and Malloy to end the inning

The White Sox got on the board in the top of the sixth. With two outs and nobody on, DeLoach deposited a solo home run to deep right field on the first pitch from lefty Brant Hurter, who had replaced Hanifee in the top of the third.

It was DeLoach’s first career home run and second hit of the night.5 Benintendi also swung at the first pitch but flied out to Greene in left. Hurter’s day was done after four innings pitched.

The Tigers added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh against rookie southpaw Fraser Ellard. Ibáñez doubled to center field and continued to third on Dominic Fletcher’s error. After an intentional walk to Vierling, Greene hit a first-pitch double off the center-field wall, scoring Ibáñez and advancing Vierling to third. On the second pitch to Malloy, Ellard bounced the pitch and it ricocheted off Lee’s face mask and into the White Sox dugout. Vierling came home on the wild pitch to make the score 4-1.

Tyler Holton started the top of the ninth by walking Miguel Vargas on four straight pitches. DeLoach grounded into a force out to Sweeney to new second baseman Colt Keith, who had hit for Ibáñez in the bottom of the eighth. Benintendi also grounded into a force out to Sweeney, this time unassisted.

One out away, the Tigers turned to their closer, Jason Foley. On a 0-and-1 count, Vaughn hit a fly ball to right-center field. It seemed that Meadows and Pérez might collide as they both drifted towards it. Pérez made the catch as they bumped into each other and tumbled to the ground. The Tigers were going to the playoffs for the first time in 10 years with the MLB-best 31-11 record in 42 games since August 11, and the White Sox set the new post-1900 single-season loss record.6

“Winning three in a row, maybe we could do something special and ride it out and win six in a row and you start to believe in that and think it’s maybe not going to happen. And all of a sudden on the last out you’re on the wrong side of history. It hurt a little more than I expected it to,” said Sheets.7

The White Sox went on to win the next two games over the Tigers to end their season at 41-121. Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf released a letter to fans after the season finale calling the team’s performance “completely unacceptable” and labeling the season as “a failure” and “embarrassing” before accepting responsibility for it.8 Attendance was the lowest it had been in 25 years. Only 1,380,733 came to the ballpark, with an average-per-game attendance of 17,931, 27th in all of baseball. The upper deck sat closed.9

The Tigers beat the Houston Astros in their AL Wild Card matchup, two games to none, but they fell to the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Division Series in five games.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Ray Danner and copy-edited by Mike Eisenbath.

Photo credit: Andrew Vaughn, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the authors consulted Baseball Reference and Retrosheet for pertinent information, including the box score and play-by-play.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/DET/DET202409270.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2024/B09270DET2024.htm

Notes

1 LaMond Pope, “Tigers 4, White Sox 1 Late Friday: Sox Set Modern MLB Record for Most Losses,” Chicago Tribune, September 29, 2024: 3. This first half record lasted only one season. The Colorado Rockies lost 74 games by the break in 2025, on their way to 119 defeats.

2 This was his last start for the White Sox. Crochet was traded to the Boston Red Sox for catcher Kyle Teel, outfielder Braden Montgomery, infielder Chase Meidroth, and right-hander Wikelman González on December 13. He went 18-5 with a 2.59 ERA in 2025 and finished second in the AL Cy Young Award voting to Detroit’s Tarik Skubal.

3 LaMond Pope, “121 for the Books: White Sox Set the Modern MLB Record for Most Losses in a Season,” Chicago Tribune, September 29, 2024: 2.

4 Sweeney was filling in for veteran Javier Báez, who had not played since August 22 because of a hip injury that required surgery.

5 As of September 2026, it was DeLoach’s only major-league home run. His 22 games for the 2024 White Sox represented his entire big-league career.

6 Evan Petzold, “Simply Wild! Tigers Whomp Woeful White Sox to Lock Up First Playoff Spot Since 2014,” Detroit Free Press, September 28, 2024:1B

7 James Fegan, “White Sox Seal Shameful Place in History With 121st Loss,” Sox Machine, September 27, 2024. Accessed September 7, 2026, https://soxmachine.com/2024/09/white-sox-seal-shameful-place-in-history-with-121st-loss.

8 Paul Sullivan, “Goodbye and Good Riddance to a Forgettable Season,” Chicago Tribune, September 30, 2024: 1.

9 Sullivan.