CHICAGO – A year ago, they were just starting to take control of a division they would win about 2 1/2 months later.
After a 13-3 win over the Twins on June 30th, the White Sox entered July up by four games in the American League Central division. They would then get two victories to push the lead to six games, and from there they would pull away for their first division championship since the 2008 season.
Oh, how things have changed a year later.
With a loss in their final game of June to the Angels on Wednesday, the White Sox enter July of 2022 trailing Minnesota by 5 1/2 games in the standings. It’s a major surprise considering the club was expected to have another runaway division championship along with a franchise-first third-straight appearance in the American League Playoffs.
Those are certainly on the table as the White Sox begin a three-game interleague series with the Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco. At 35-39, they’d have to go 58-30 to match their record from last season when they went 93-69 and coasted to an AL Central title.
The White Sox may not need to get to that record to make it back to the postseason since the leaders of the division, the Twins, currently have the fewest amount of wins among the division leaders (43). But should the club make the postseason, it would be the farthest back they’ve come in the standings to make the playoffs.
In 1906, the White Sox were behind by four games in the division entering the month of July but would rally to finish 98-58-3, thanks in part to a 21-4 August that included a 19-game winning streak, to capture their first American League pennant. They would go on to pull off a stunning upset of the 116-win Cubs in the first and so far only all-Chicago World Series for the franchise’s first championship.
Here is where other White Sox playoff teams have stood going into the month of July.
1906 – Behind 4 Games
1917 – Up 1 1/2 Games
1919 – Behind 2 1/2 Games
1959 – Behind 2 Games
1983 – Behind 2 Games
1993 – Up 1 1/2 Games
2000 – Up 9 1/2 Games
2005 – Up 10 1/2 Games
2008 – Tied For First Place
2021 – Up Four Games