Like ‘61 Phillies, White Sox Are Carving Out A Place In History

The Chicago White Sox clubhouse must be a lonely place these days, especially after games. Imagine the feelings of 23-year-old infielder Brooks Baldwin, who fulfilled a dream when he reached the major leagues almost three weeks ago and has yet to celebrate a victory.

There can be little comfort for a team that has lost 21 games in a row but the White Sox should at least know that one team suffered more than they have — to this point, anyway. That would be the 1961 Phillies, who set the record with 23 consecutive losses.

There are many parallels between the teams. Among them:

— Ownership groups willing to take a long-term view after abbreviated success. Bob Carpenter’s Phillies won a National League pennant in 1950 but then finished last four years in a row (1958-61) before becoming competitive again. Jerry Reinsdorf’s Sox have gone to the postseason only three times since winning the World Series in 2005, never winning more than one game in a series.

Neither ownership group distinguished itself adding veterans in their prime. Reinsdorf did pursue free agents aggressively a few years ago but entered this season with a payroll ranked 20th in the majors. While ’61 was the year the Giants paid Willie Mays a record $85,000, the Phillies ranked near the bottom in team payrolls, with players averaging about $20,000.

— Front offices, with the blessing of ownership, were willing to trade away veteran players. The Phillies had sent future Hall of Famer (and popular broadcaster) Richie Ashburn to the Cubs after the 1959 season and continued trading away talent during ’61, sending workhorse reliever Turk Farrell and shortstop Joe Koppe to the Dodgers and center fielder Bobby Del Greco to the Kansas City Athletics. The White Sox dealt six veterans in two days before the July 30 deadline, including No. 2 starter Erick Fedde and closer Michael Kopech.

— The guys who were counted on most failed to make an impact. Hall of Famer Robin Roberts, a 286-game winner over 19 seasons, was 1-10 with a 5.85 ERA in ’61. He said there was nothing wrong with his arm but was sold to the Yankees after the season for $20,000. Center fielder Luis Robert Jr., third baseman Yoan Moncada and first baseman Andrew Vaughn have combined for 0.8 rWAR for the White Sox, who have no position player above Robert’s 0.6 WAR.

— Young lineups full of players trying to prove themselves. The ’61 Phillies had six primary position players who were in the age-25 or younger seasons, including 23-year-old shortstop Charley Smith and 24-year-old center fielder Tony Gonzalez. The White Sox signed a group of low-cost free agents to ease the load on youngsters but currently are leaning on Baldwin, 24-year-old Lenyn Sosa, utility man Miguel Vargas (acquired at the trade deadline) and outfielder Dominic Fletcher. Ace Garrett Crochet is in his first season as a starter, and rookie starting pitchers Jonathan Cannon, Drew Thorpe, Nick Nastrini and Ky Bush all have made their big-league debuts this season.

— The catchers had as little experience as many of the pitchers. Clay Dalrymple would play 12 seasons as a highly regarded receiver, but had caught only 48 big-league games before being the Phillies’ regular in ’61. The White Sox opened the season with Martin Maldonado as their regular catcher but released the 37-year-old last month, making the strong-armed (and inexperienced) Korey Lee the regular.

— The managers were getting their feet wet too. Gene Mauch, a fiery infielder, was a 35-year-old in his second season as a manager in ’61. Pedro Grifol is likewise in his second season. He carries a career record of 88-189 into Tuesday night’s game in Oakland.

— They collapsed in the dog days. The ’61 Phillies’ historic losing streak ran from Saturday, July 29, through the first game of a doubleheader on Sunday, Aug. 20. The White Sox, who had previously broken the franchise record with a 14-game losing streak May 22-June 6, last picked up a victory on July 10, in the first game of a doubleheader against the Twins.

Baldwin had just reached Triple-A after hitting .322 in Double-A. His team in Birmingham was 45-33 when he left; the Sox have gone 0-17 since he arrived, with him getting only one day off to gather his wits.

Welcome to the big leagues, kid.