After three straight 100-loss seasons, Chicago swept the Astros in the Wild Card Series, beating the same team it swept in the 2005 World Series, and the South Side celebrated like a city that had forgotten what celebrating felt like
The Long Winter Ends
HOUSTON. The Chicago White Sox swept the Houston Astros 2-0 in the American League Wild Card Series, winning Game 2 7-3 in Houston on September 30, according to MLB.com’s report on the White Sox winning the Wild Card Series. It was the franchise’s first playoff series win since 2005, when the White Sox swept the Astros in the World Series. MLB.com noted that the team shook off three consecutive seasons of more than 100 losses to reach the postseason. Chicago scored four runs in the first inning off Astros ace Hunter Brown, Chase Meidroth hit a three-run homer off Bryan Abreu in the sixth, and Sean Burke struck out eight over four innings.
For White Sox fans, who have endured a stretch of baseball so painful that some of them stopped telling people which team they supported, the sweep was more than a victory. It was a resurrection, with a souvenir program.
From Rock Bottom
Three straight 100-loss seasons is the kind of run that tests the loyalty of even the most devoted fans. During those years, attending a game on the South Side became an act of faith, endurance and, on cold April nights, survival. A season ticket holder from Bridgeport described the experience. We were the people who kept coming, he said. We knew the ushers by name. We knew the hot dog vendors by name. Some nights, we knew every other fan in our section by name, because there were only nine of us. We were a family. A sad family. But a family.
Now, after the sweep, he said, he has a problem. Suddenly, everybody wants to be a White Sox fan, he said. People I have never seen are wearing jerseys. My cousin, who told me in 2024 that I was wasting my life, called me to ask for tickets. I told him tickets are for people who suffered. He has not suffered. He has to earn it.
Revenge Of 2005
Beating the Astros again carried a pleasing symmetry. In 2005, the White Sox swept Houston to win their first World Series since 1917. Twenty-one years later, the same opponent provided the stage for the franchise’s return to postseason relevance. A baseball historian in Chicago said the Astros must be tired of the White Sox. Twice the White Sox have needed a big moment, he said, and twice the Astros have shown up to provide it. It is very generous of Houston. I hope Chicago sends them a fruit basket.
Scared Of Nothing
Manager Will Venable credited contributions from everywhere, and general manager Chris Getz said the players were scared of nothing. It is an attitude that fits a young team with nothing to lose. A sports psychologist in Chicago said youth can be an advantage in October. Veterans know how much a playoff game matters, she said. They feel the weight. Young players do not know enough to be scared. They just see a pitcher and swing. Sometimes that is exactly what you need.
Chicago, A Two-Team Town Again
The White Sox postseason run also changed the balance of power in Chicago’s baseball conversation. For years, the North Side has dominated the city’s attention, with Wrigley Field’s ivy, rooftop bars and tourist crowds. This October, the Cubs were swept out of the Wild Card round by the Padres, while the White Sox advanced. A South Side bartender said he had waited years to enjoy this. The Cubs fans had their moment in 2016, he said. They talked about it for a decade. Now it is our turn to be unbearable. We will be very unbearable. We have been practising.
The New Generation
The White Sox run introduced a new generation of fans to playoff baseball on the South Side. Children who had only known losing seasons suddenly found themselves watching their team win in October. A mother from Beverly said her son had never seen the White Sox win anything important. He is ten, she said. For his whole life, the White Sox were the team that loses. Now he thinks they are the best team in the world. I have not told him about the 100-loss seasons. I want him to have this. Childhood should have at least one miracle in it.
What Happened Next
The White Sox went on to face the Cleveland Guardians in the Division Series, winning the first two games before Cleveland won three straight to take the series 3-2. The run ended earlier than fans hoped, but the season had already delivered more than anyone predicted in spring training. Pitcher Mike Vasil said the team will be back, and on the South Side, for the first time in years, people believe it.
The Last Word
At a tavern near Rate Field after the Wild Card sweep, an elderly man in a 2005 championship cap sat quietly at the bar while younger fans around him sang and cheered. A young woman asked him what it had been like in 2005. He smiled, took off his cap and looked at it for a long moment. It felt like this, he said. Then he put the cap back on, ordered a round for the whole bar and told the bartender to put it on the tab he had been saving for twenty-one years.