White Sox fans will face another unexpected year even after surprising Opening Day win
It’s better to be in first place than not, but strap it down — there’s another weird ride straight ahead
Well, that was a pleasantly unexpected start to the 2025 MLB season.
Despite many doubters, young hurler Sean Burke led the charge in Chicago’s 8-1 stomping of the Angels in front of 31,403 at Rate Field on a cool, cloudy Opening Day. Although Sox fans truly want to see their team win, despite all the pessimism and self-deprecating humor this was the least expected outcome. How is it that a team just went from setting the modern-day MLB losing record to suddenly looking — dare I say — competitive …?
Don’t gaslight yourselves, dear Sox fans, it’s perfectly rational why there was, and still is, plenty of pessimism surrounding this year: The last five years have covered both sides of the extreme.
Let’s take a quick jaunt down memory lane and look back at how tumultuous the Sox have been lately.
In 2020, the Sox broke their postseason drought after placing third in the AL Central and claiming a Wild Card spot. The rebuild finally seemed to be done. The best season for the Sox in recent memory, 2021, saw the Sox participating in and winning (in electric fashion, thanks to Tim Anderson’s walk-off home run) the first Field of Dreams game, and winning the AL Central. They were thriving.
But it only took two years for the tides to completely turn.
After nearly being swept by the Astros in the ALDS, the Sox slowly began unraveling. Their 2022 game play looked slow, and the front office made very few moves to compel the team to return to the postseason. When they ended the season with an 81-81 record, and it seemed clear that these Sox weren’t going back to the postseason soon.
Defeated and disappointed, the Sox spent the next two seasons in denial. They started losing, and losing often. Former players began to speak out, and the toxic clubhouse culture became more than just a rumor. Soon, the franchise’s reputation was tarnished.
Within five years, the Sox went from the upside of a rebuild to the laughingstock of of the league.
So, no, fellow Sox fans, you aren’t crazy. Like the world we live in today, the last five years have been one of the oddest periods in this franchise’s history and the league. And while there’s plenty of enthusiasm coming from general manager Chris Getz and the broadcast team, it’s understandable and reasonable that the preseason fears and anxieties won’t evaporate with a single Opening Day win.
It’s unlikely that all hope will be recovered and the Sox will magically win 75 games this year, but take comfort in the fact that 2025 is expected to be just as weird and unpredictable as the last few years have been. Even if it’s only temporary, try to enjoy the fact that the team is better than .500 for the first time since March 30, 2023.