Chicago White Sox fans are upset. They have good reason to be. Their ballclub, which entered the season with World Series aspirations, has wildly underachieved. They are in third place in a mediocre American League Central Division and have hovered around .500 the entire season.
Tony La Russa is well aware of this. He has been at the center of criticism for the past two seasons. Chants for his job have broken out multiple times this season. La Russa’s squad was also booed off the field on Friday night following a 7-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The loss marked the White Sox’s seventh loss in their last nine games, dropping them to 63-63 on the season. After the game, he had a message to the fan base.
“They came to see us win a ballgame, and we got beat. Most of the game it was lopsided, right? They have every right to be upset at the team, management, whatever. They’ve got every right to do it., La Russa said after Friday’s game.
“It’s amazing fan support here, and they’ve got plenty of experience. But there ain’t no free lunch. It’s a two-way relationship. They support you, and you’ve got to give back. So we’ve got to do more about giving back.”
It’s hard to argue with La Russa’s candid assessment. The White Sox have been horrendous at home this season. Entering Saturday’s game, the White Sox owned a 30-32 record at Guaranteed Rate Field. Despite the subpar play, the White Sox are averaging just over 24 thousand fans a game this season. This is up from their average of 20,466 last season, which was good enough for 14th in baseball.
Yet Chicago still had a chance to win the division. However, they need to get hot in the season’s final month if they want any chance of sneaking into the playoffs.
