CHICAGO -- There’s no cheering in the pressbox.
One notable exception exists when the University of Michigan football team completes a 50-yard Hail Mary with one second on the clock to win a game while you are finishing a Saturday night story at Rate Field. That oddly specific example falls under the category of another tale for another time.
While there’s no outward emotion permitted, there certainly is room for appreciation. And appreciation was one of the things I felt while covering the 2026 White Sox.
Let’s start with appreciation for covering a winning squad. I’ve described the ’26 White Sox as a great story, quite possibly the best in baseball, while also being as good a team as their 84 regular season victories would suggest. This young crew learned how to win together as the season progressed and probably played their best baseball during the first four games of the postseason.
As most White Sox fans know, those ranging from ardent to casual, there wasn’t much winning on the South Side over the past four seasons leading up to ‘26. The ’22 campaign was the definition of "mired in mediocrity"; the team never got more than five over .500 and never fell more than five under. They were never truly in the postseason picture but never really out of it coming off two straight playoff appearances.
Their ’23 team was designed to be a contender but wasn’t, starting a string of three straight seasons with 100-plus losses. That run included the 121 defeats in ’24, with that team going through a 4-41 stretch overall and a 1-29 run at home, which is almost mathematically impossible.
Those of us who cover baseball are blessed and lucky to do so. There also are times when you are searching for story angles during a run of futility such as this one.
Even without the on-field victories, things were changing under general manager Chris Getz and the hiring of Will Venable as manager really helped turn the corner. A clear team identity was set by Venable in ’25, team-first, playing for and with each other, and the players followed his lead as many have spoken about previously.
