Sox bigger collapse than the '69 Cubs?

by chrome on Sep 19, 2006 3:20 PM CDT Comment 10 comments

Answer? Yes!

The Cubs could lose 100 games for the first time since 1966, but it's the White Sox who may be a team for the ages.

If the standings hold, the 2006 White Sox will be bigger chokers than the legendary 1969 Cubs.

Here's how it breaks down:

Since starting the season 57-31, The White Sox have gone 27-34 so far in the second half.

The '69 Cubs went 61-37 during the first half before finishing 31-33 in the second half.

Not only did the '69 Cubs have a higher second-half winning percentage, but there's also another huge distinction: If the wild card were in existence in 1969, the second-place Cubs would have made the playoffs.

The Sox may miss out on the playoffs even with two extra playoff spots awarded in the American League.

And they've done this while playing the season virtually injury-free, with enormous home-crowd support and while their chief competitors, the Minnesota Twins, had its starting rotation decimated by injuries.

You can argue that the Sox never had anywhere near the 10-game lead the Cubs had on the Mets, but the fact is the White Sox led the Twins by 10 games at the All-Star break. This choke was just more methodical and less dramatic.

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huh?

i don't get this. the whole thing with the '69 cubs is that their lead over one team evaporated in basically one month (basically 8/10-9/10). that's why it's a choke. choking isn't sucking for an entire second half of a season.

by larry on Sep 19, 2006 3:28 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

just to add on

(because i'm bored at work), i remember reading that the cubs had a 98% chance of making the playoffs before their choke job (based on those historical computer models of the kind that BP uses). the sox had nowhere near such a number at the halfway point of the season, or at any other point this year.

by larry on Sep 19, 2006 4:24 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I wasn't around for the '69 Cubs,

nor do I spend alot of time studying Cubs history. But every one in Chicago knows the '69 Cubs are the pinnacle of baseball collapses, and when you see the '06 Sox had a worse second half, after posting the first half record with the wild card lead we had, I think it puts it into perspective just how disappointed we should be in this team.

by chrome on Sep 19, 2006 4:23 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Bullshit

The Sox have not collapsed. They've played consistently below expectations.

The 69 Cubs collapsed. They were more than 30 games above 500 for much of the year, a mark the '06 Sox never were able to crack, and held a 9 game lead on the Mets on August 16th. A month and a half later, after playing 13 games under .500 for the rest of the season, the Cubs sat 8 games back and in 3rd place.

AIM: SouthSideCheat

by The Cheat on Sep 19, 2006 5:05 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

The '69 Cubs have nothing on the '64 Phillies

From Wiki:

And of course, the famous collapse of 1964, or "Phold," is legendary. Up by 6 1/2 games with 12 games left to play, the Phillies dropped 10 games in a row, to fall behind. Then they started to win again, and if the St. Louis Cardinals had lost on the final day, the Phillies would have been included in a tie (along with the Cincinnati Reds), forcing an unprecedented 3-team playoff for first place. It was not to be. The Cardinals won that last game, and the Phillies lost their chance at the National League crown.

The '64 Yanks-Cards World Series was a classic that spawned a book by David Halberstam.

by Bull Pain on Sep 19, 2006 5:19 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Nobody likes the tinfoil hats

but this is pure garbage by the Tribune. Not really suprising though.

by the wimperoo on Sep 19, 2006 5:24 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Haha

"So cheer up Cub fans, the season isn't entirely lost. Two more weeks and you'll be able to laugh at Sox fans all winter long. Maybe even longer."

This guy is clueless. Two words for any Cub fan: World Championship.

Just.Win.

by hawksview on Sep 19, 2006 6:56 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Ehh... no

This is a bogus comparison. The '69 Cubs collapsed from a division lead in September, and the White Sox haven't led the division since May. Look at the Tigers to be comparable to the '69 Cubs if they get caught by the Twins, playoffs or not.

To anyone paying attention, this has been happening since the Red Sox series before the break. It's less of a choke and more of a slow, painful, burn of underacheiving baseball in all facets of play. The writing's been on the wall for some time, but we all expected them to snap out of it.

Even the '04 Cubs choked more than this, holding the wild card lead by 2 games with a week to go, and bouncing right out. They similarly were expected to win the division in preseason (SI predicted WS champs!) and then dropped to 3rd place in the division as the wild card went to Houston.

Let's hope something similar befalls the Twins or Tigers!

"Can I borrow your towel? I think my car just hit a water buffalo." - Fletch

by mdmnd9294 on Sep 20, 2006 10:11 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Bow to Victor Diaz and Craig Brazell

The famous game where Hawkins and crew blew a big lead to a AAA Mets team was with about 14 games to go, IIRC. I do remember that BP had the Cubs at slightly over 90% to make the playoffs before that game. The Cubs then folded a few games to an awful Reds team while the Astros won everything in sight. It was pretty awesome.

by Bull Pain on Sep 20, 2006 11:06 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

It was Sept 25,2004...

Game 154. After this loss, the Cubs went on to lose 6 of their final 8 games. This includes 3 out of 4 to the Reds who were bad, and 2 out of 3 to the Braves who had clinched. Both those series were at Wrigley.

Ouch baby.

"Can I borrow your towel? I think my car just hit a water buffalo." - Fletch

by mdmnd9294 on Sep 20, 2006 11:54 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs