Mirror, Mirror

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, which baseball team has the worst losing streak of all? Pretty soon, and it’s the White Sox. Last night, the Sad Sox bagged their 21st straight loss, with a 5-1 sleepwalk in Oakland. Let me repeat that—Oakland, as in the Coliseum, as in 4971 fans on hand, or so they said. But, hey, four hits is nothing to sneeze at. Before the game, manager Mickey Mouse praised his coaches, who “have done a really good job navigating through this stuff.” It would’ve been nice if Mouse had mentioned people by name. Did he mean the coaches who have worked with batters for a team dead last in the major leagues in batting average, runs scored and on-base percentage, or those coaches working with pitchers who comprise a staff with the second-worst ERA in all of baseball? Only the Rockies are worse, and they have a built-in excuse of playing their home games in thin air. As we speak, the Sox have tied the 1988 Orioles for longest losing streak in the AL; two more losses, and they tie the MLB record held by the ’61 Phillies, a team that went 47-107-1 on the season. Here’s the thing, though. The next season, the Phillies won 81 games. Of course, they had a real manager both years in Gene Mauch. And who do we have?