At 23-21,The White Sox are poised to have a significantly better second half record than 1st half record this season - maybe even one that's at .500 or above it.

Since the 2003 season ended, the White Sox had a better 2nd half record than 1st half only once- in 2011, when they were 35-35 in the 2nd half against a 44-48 start.

I don't know what it is, but this team has always been a bad second half team in recent memory. Every good year has always been a ridiculously hot start (2000, 2008 come to mind) and then hang on for dear life in the second half. Even the 05 team had a mild scare down the stretch and wasn't that many games above .500 in the 2nd half.

Here's hoping to a reversal of the 2nd half trend for years to come.... I know my heart could use a break when we get competitive again.

Edited September 5, 20187 yr by Greg Hibbard

This is exactly what you wanted to see out of this team.  No matter what the results were, you wanted to see progress and growth from as many of the key guys as possible, plus see how players not at the center of the rebuild have shown themselves.

I remember in the early 00s we were considered a second-half team. Or at least Hawk said it all the time and it never felt like we were.

Aug/Sept have definitely been most depressing months as sox fans. Watching twins chip away or pull away, the scary collapse in 05, the failure to put it away in 12. The failure to take off in 09/10 when it seemed like we were poised to. The getting swept in 08.

Can't wait for that to change with the depth we'll have soon.

3 minutes ago, bmags said:

I remember in the early 00s we were considered a second-half team. Or at least Hawk said it all the time and it never felt like we were.

Aug/Sept have definitely been most depressing months as sox fans. Watching twins chip away or pull away, the scary collapse in 05, the failure to put it away in 12. The failure to take off in 09/10 when it seemed like we were poised to. The getting swept in 08. 

Can't wait for that to change with the depth we'll have soon. 

We were better in the 2nd half in 01-03, but all three of those years were extremely disappointing starts, particularly 2001 with the disasterous David Wells signing and Frank's triceps tear.

That's right, '03 we caught up to Royals in august then lost out in sept.

Man I wish that team could have made playoffs.

My only wish is to see some good baseball and the watching has gotten more enjoyable. Imagine what Ricky could do with a competitive team ;??

That '03 team was so weird. We were so so good offensively, but that era was when we couldn't buy a fifth starter to save our lives. I remember the posters "ALL LINED UP" with Valentin in the middle and Frank just looking kinda weird and off to the side. Somehow Jose Valentin was kind of the heart of that 2000-2004 era. I really thought we were gonna pull it out until that last home game vs. Minnesota, and then after that result I knew we would get up there in Minneapolis and get swept. We did. They owned us in the "air conditioning" era. I hated those Twins teams so much.

1 hour ago, Greg Hibbard said:

That '03 team was so weird. We were so so good offensively, but that era was when we couldn't buy a fifth starter to save our lives. I remember the posters "ALL LINED UP" with Valentin in the middle and Frank just looking kinda weird and off to the side. Somehow Jose Valentin was kind of the heart of that 2000-2004 era. I really thought we were gonna pull it out until that last home game vs. Minnesota, and then after that result I knew we would get up there in Minneapolis and get swept. We did. They owned us in the "air conditioning" era. I hated those Twins teams so much.

So I’m looking at Minnesota stats on BR for 2003 and their pitching was horrible.  We couldn’t buy a 5th starter but how did we lose to this:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/2003.shtml

 

Frickin Joe Mays? 

Edited September 5, 20187 yr by Jerksticks

2 minutes ago, Jerksticks said:

So I’m looking at Minnesota stats on BR for 2003 and their pitching was horrible.  We couldn’t buy a 5th starter but how did we lose to this:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/2003.shtml

I mean, I know different era but OH MY GOD. I would have told you brad radke had a sub 2 ERA and was a cy young contender every year based on how he played us.

We lost to them because of their dumb garbage bag hefty dome, air conditioning, and dudes trained to bounce hard grounders off of AstroTurf for singles 

Their lack of being an actual baseball team led to disasterous octobers 

im getting so angry remembering it all

19 hours ago, Jerksticks said:

So I’m looking at Minnesota stats on BR for 2003 and their pitching was horrible.  We couldn’t buy a 5th starter but how did we lose to this:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/2003.shtml

 

Frickin Joe Mays? 

They somehow went 12-9 in games Joe Mays started despite his 6.30 ERA.  Then he was replaced by Johan freakin Santana.  Meanwhile the Sox replaced Dan Wright with Neal Cotts and Mike Porzio.  That's your 4 game difference.

7 minutes ago, LittleHurt05 said:

They somehow went 12-9 in games Joe Mays started despite his 6.30 ERA.  Then he was replaced by Johan freakin Santana.  Meanwhile the Sox replaced Dan Wright with Neal Cotts and Mike Porzio.  That's your 4 game difference.

Cy Mays.  That dude was always one run better than the team he pitched against no matter how bad he was.

On 9/5/2018 at 1:35 PM, bmags said:

I remember in the early 00s we were considered a second-half team. Or at least Hawk said it all the time and it never felt like we were.

Aug/Sept have definitely been most depressing months as sox fans. Watching twins chip away or pull away, the scary collapse in 05, the failure to put it away in 12. The failure to take off in 09/10 when it seemed like we were poised to. The getting swept in 08.

Can't wait for that to change with the depth we'll have soon.

I remember that. I bumped into a dude on my east coast college campus wearing a Twins shirt right after that disaster. I bitterly admitted that I was a White Sox fan and that I hated the Twins. Guy wasn't even nice about it- did a Nelson Muntz laugh right in my face and walked off. Too bad I didn't see him again after Game 163.

Although we ended up redeeming ourselves, I did get to share miseries with several of my friends who were Mets fans, because that team was similarly aborting a competitive season. Unfortunately for my friends, the Mets didn't recover.

On 9/5/2018 at 5:18 PM, Greg Hibbard said:

We lost to them because of their dumb garbage bag hefty dome, air conditioning, and dudes trained to bounce hard grounders off of AstroTurf for singles 

Their lack of being an actual baseball team led to disasterous octobers 

im getting so angry remembering it all

They still haven't broken their record streak of consecutive playoff losses (tied with 1986-1998 Red Sox). 13 straight, and winless since Game 1 of the 2004 ALDS. They better win in their first opportunity next time or they'll carry that burden alone.

I so hope they lose, whenever it is.

On ‎9‎/‎5‎/‎2018 at 2:35 PM, bmags said:

I remember in the early 00s we were considered a second-half team. Or at least Hawk said it all the time and it never felt like we were.

Aug/Sept have definitely been most depressing months as sox fans. Watching twins chip away or pull away, the scary collapse in 05, the failure to put it away in 12. The failure to take off in 09/10 when it seemed like we were poised to. The getting swept in 08.

Can't wait for that to change with the depth we'll have soon.

It wasn't really a White Sox collapse.  Between late July and late September, Cleveland had a record of 40-13, while the Sox were treading water at 28-26.  The Indians took 12 1/2 games off our 16 game lead and THAT'S what made it scary.  But thankfully everything turned out well. 

5 hours ago, bubba phillips said:

It wasn't really a White Sox collapse.  Between late July and late September, Cleveland had a record of 40-13, while the Sox were treading water at 28-26.  The Indians took 12 1/2 games off our 16 game lead and THAT'S what made it scary.  But thankfully everything turned out well. 

Uh it was pretty scary