Chicago White Sox: 3 best games of the 2021 season
The Chicago White Sox is officially done with the 2021 regular season. It was a great year that led to them going 93-69 which was good for a Central Division title.
It is the second year in a row that they will be in the playoffs which makes it the first time in franchise history that has ever happened.
They are looking for a lot of things to go right in order for that to happen. These are the three best games of the 2021 season that got them to this point:
Winning the AL Central Division
The Central Division title is something that the Chicago White Sox will be proud of.
Going into the 2021 season, there were expectations. We knew the White Sox were going to be a good team. We did not know, however, that the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians would be bad baseball teams for most of the season. Winning the division was always possible but nobody knew it would be this dominant.
On September 23rd, the White Sox clinched the division by winning the first game of a doubleheader over the Cleveland Indians. It was a game where the White Sox played outstanding in a 7-2 victory. They rested everyone during the second game but celebrated hard after that one ended. It was a lot of fun to see everyone contribute to success on such a big day.
This division title was tougher to win than most despite the lack of good teams in the Central. They were missing key players like Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez, and Yasmani Grandal for most of the season which makes their season even more impressive.
They probably would have been the best team in the American League if they were healthy all year long. Between guys stepping up and outstanding pitching, winning the division became a reality and it was so much fun to watch.
Carlos Rodon’s no-hitter
Carlos Rodon’s great season had one extra special Chicago White Sox moment.
On April 14th, 2021, Carlos Rodon was getting ready to take the ball for his second start of the season. He won the job as the fifth starter in spring training and his first start of the season was going well. He just wanted to keep it up in his second start which came against the Cleveland Indians.
At the time, the 5-6 White Sox weren’t off to the best 11 game start in a year where they had World Series aspirations. Of course, early April doesn’t make or break a team but beating the 6-4 Indians to move to .500 was important to them. All of those factors made Rodon’s start here very important for it being an early-season game.
He decided to go out there and throw a no-hitter. It was so close to being a perfect game but Roberto Perez of the Cleveland Indians decided he wanted to let the ball hit his back foot which turned it into a no-hitter instead. For someone who dealt with so many struggles (injuries and poor performance) both on and off the ice, this was a great way to get his year started.
From that moment on, the White Sox season was changed. He went on to have a Cy Young level season and has been anything but a number five starter. This was one of the most fun and most important games of the 2021 season.
Field of Dreams Game
The Field of Dreams game was everything the Chicago White Sox needed and more.
The Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees, based on the circumstances, played the greatest regular-season game of all time at the Field of Dreams in Iowa. The two most prominent teams in the movie Field of Dreams brought it to life in the middle of a cornfield. It started with the players coming out of the corn to take the field as Kevin Costner, the star of the movie, gives a speech.
From that moment on, it became a real-life dream. The White Sox dominated most of the game but they allowed the Yankees to crawl back into it late in the game. In fact, the Yankees took an 8-7 lead in the top of the ninth inning by scoring four runs. However, the White Sox had their chance in the bottom of the ninth and it was as magical as you’d expect.
Seby Zavala drew a walk in one of the most important at-bats of the entire season. Following that, Tim Anderson came to bat. He turned the movie scene into an actual movie by hitting a walk-off home run to give the White Sox the win. It was a magical moment that the White Sox really needed in the dog days of the season.
When we say it was the best game in regular-season history, it may be a bit of recency bias but it feels like it definitely is up there. It was a very special game at a very special place following a very tough year for a lot of people. Baseball was the real winner that day.
Hopefully, you enjoyed these moments as much as we did. It was a great season for the White Sox that isn’t over yet. We can only hope that the postseason produces more magical moments and the White Sox make a deep run.
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