For fans of the Chicago White Sox, the summer of 2024 is a season to forget. But the futility of the ChiSox could present an opportunity for baseball bettors.
As of July 30, the White Sox have a 27-87 record, the worst in Major League Baseball. Their .237 winning percentage barely qualifies as a winning percentage, right? Projected to the full 162-game season, the Sox are on pace to lose 124 games. That would be an MLB record for losses in a season in the modern era (since 1901).
No Illinois sports betting apps offer futures betting on the White Sox over/under 120.5 losses. However, MLB bettors can find over/under odds on White Sox wins.
Odds for White Sox wins set at 46.5
The Sox score just about three runs per game, the lowest offensive output in the league. They also surrender over five runs per game, last in baseball.
Their run differential of -247 has the team on pace to record a deficit of 320 runs. That would make them one of the few teams in MLB history to have a run differential of negative 300 runs or more.
Last season, the Oakland A’s run differential was -339, the third-worst since 1901. The 1932 Red Sox hold the futility mark at -345 runs. The ChiSox’s abysmal deficit of runs so far in 2024 just shows how poor the team is in all facets of the game.
FanDuel Sportsbook lists the over/under at 46.5 wins (-130 for under) for the White Sox. The exact same odds are available from BetMGM Sportsbook Illinois (+100 on over 46.5 wins). Both BetMGM and DraftKings Illinois list odds for a team to set the all-time single-season win record (117 games), but not losses.
Sportsbooks are likely wary of setting odds like “most losses” for fear of promoting failure and the specter of seemingly rewarding losing.
Mets hold MLB futility mark with 120 losses in 1962
The all-time record for losses by an MLB team in a season (since the establishment of the current two-league system in 1901) is 120 by the New York Mets in 1962. The Mets were an expansion team that season, which makes it all the more embarrassing that the White Sox could match or exceed that record of failure.
The ’62 Mets had a 29-80 record through 109 games, or two more wins than this year’s White Sox. The Mets lost 15 out of 16 after that, spiraling their way to 120 defeats.
Casey Stengel, the colorful manager of the Mets, famously quipped:
“Come see the Mets! We find new ways to lose every day. But we are a much-improved ball club. Now we lose in extra innings.”
In 2003, the Detroit Tigers barely escaped the loss record, when they posted 119 L’s. That’s a record for losses by an American League team.
Detroit had a 109-game record of 29-80. They stunk it up in August with a 6-23 record, sending the team on a pace to set a new loss record. But they won five of six games at the end of the season to narrowly avoid the record.
Should the White Sox continue on their downward spiral, they will play the Tigers on the last weekend of the season.
Odds are at +100,000 for White Sox to win World Series
Just three years ago, the White Sox won the division and appeared in the postseason. But Chicago has had three managers in the last three years while the roster has been diminished.
With nothing to play for, the 2024 White Sox may need a late-season win streak to avoid a record 121st defeat. The trade deadline looms, and the team is rumored to be shopping ace pitcher Garrett Crochet.
Currently, odds for the White Sox to win the World Series are +100,000 from BetRivers Sportsbook. Chicago sits 32 games out of a postseason spot. Those odds could be historic.
The ChiSox odds mean a $100 bet on them to win the Fall Classic would pay $100,000 if that somehow happened.
