DISH Deluxe 6 — The worst year in White Sox history — 2023-10-25

Sox Populi - A Chicago White Sox podcast

As brusquely noted at the top of the podcast, it only took about 500 of these to find Brett Ballantini finally falling in as the junior in a multi-guest program, as site historian Mark Liptak and duty geezer Leigh Allan hop on to cast their votes on The Worst Year in White Sox History. All three came up with different answers, among at least a dozen solid contenders:

• Right off the bat, it’s Gut Check time: How are Mark and Leigh feeling, as fans of what’s become an awful team and pretty reprehensible organization
• Leigh takes us through his late 1990s search for a new team, post-Albert Belle signing
• A query about feeling unable to defend the White Sox mediocrity and amorality vis-a-vis our Crosstown rivals descends into a bit of Cubs-bashing, which is never a bad thing
• A focus on 1970, given that Leigh’s article was the impetus for this podcast and discussion: I am hardly born, Mark is a teenage fan, and Leigh not yet a Chicago resident — but we all have thoughts on the depths, and the turnaround, of a 106-loss team
• In the second half, we trot out our Worst Years, all within our lifetimes. Leigh’s seeming “joke” pick would never have been made at the time — but in retrospect, 1981 resonates as a terrible turn for the team
• Mark sticks with 1970, given the three seasons of pathetic baseball and off-field drama that had the White Sox possibly leaving Chicago
• With a dramatic bow to what had to be the worst year to be a White Sox fan or any fan (1929), Brett chooses, yes, 2023 — the year that gutted him, perhaps permanently, as a South Side rooter
• We wind up with a gut check of a different sort, premature predictions of 2024’s loss total

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