4 games changed the course of White Sox history and cost them Bobby Witt Jr.

It was fitting that Bobby Witt Jr. came up with the walk-off hit as the Chicago White Sox imploded on Tuesday night. It was comical on the part of the White Sox, but it was a repeat of what we have seen from Witt all season long.

It had been a while since the White Sox lost a game in such comedic fashion, but that is what happened when Chase Meidroth let a pop-up bounce off his head.

Cam Booser failed to get three high-leverage outs and the White Sox bullpen still has just one (1) cumulative season on the season.

To be fair to Booser, he did get a ground ball that could have been the game-ending double play. Shortstop Jacob Amaya, whose presence on the roster is still puzzling, botched the grounder and made a critical error that kept the Royals alive.

The next batter was Bobby Witt Jr., who came up and smoked a walkoff hit to center.

Losing like that is frustrating, especially since Witt Jr absolutely owns the White Sox. He haunted the Sox on Wednesday night with a two-run homer that was the difference in the Royals handing the Sox another defeat.

In 46 career games against Chicago, Witt Jr. is hitting .306 with six home runs and 15 stolen bases.

It is a frustrating sight for White Sox fans, because back in 2019, the Sox were one pick away from bringing Bobby Witt Jr. to the South Side. If two of the four close victories the White Sox had over the Royals in 2018 were flipped, Witt Jr. would likely be on the White Sox instead of Andrew Vaughn.

The White Sox almost got Bobby Witt Jr. over Andrew Vaughn

The White Sox had just started a rebuild and were tanking in 2018 while the Royals were feeling the imapct of losing the 2015 World Series core. The Sox ended up finishing four games better thans KC in the standings, but looking back, it would have been better for "Ricky's Boys" to quit some of the time.

Narrowly beating the Royals four times is what ultimately gave Kansas City the second pick in the 2019 MLB Draft while the White Sox picked the third overall.

Adley Rutschmann and Bobby Witt Jr. were viewed as the consensus top prizes in that draft class. So should the Royals have picked up two of those victories against the Sox, they would have won the season series, and the White Sox would own the golden ticket to getting Witt.

March 31st, 2018 - Sox come back in the 8th

In the second game of the season, the White Sox scored three runs in the eighth innning to come back from being down 3-1 and beat the Royals, 4-3. Unlike this year's team, the 2018 Sox had a closer capable of locking down the 9th inning. Joakim Soria picked up the save that day.

Yoan Moncada hit a solo shot, but it was catcher Wellington Castillo who hit a 2-RBI double to give the Sox a victory that we now wish could have been reversed.

April 27th, 2018 - Matt Davidson homers in extra innings

In 4-4 ballgame, Matt Davidson (who hit 20 home runs in 2018) crushed a two-run home run off Tim Hill to put the White Sox in front for good.

So not only was Hill terrible for the White Sox last season, but he also served up a home run ball that turned out to have a lasting impact.

August 2nd, 2018 - Daniel Palka's clutch three-run homer

This game was trending toward a loss after Whit Merrifield hit a three-run blast to put the Royals ahead 3-2 in the top of the eighth.

In the bottom half of the frame, Jose Abreu answered with a solo blast to tie the game and a few batters later, Daniel Palka crushed a three-run shot. It turned out to be a game-winner.

Palka had a Cinderella run in 2018, mashing 27 home runs for the White Sox with 17 of them coming in the second half. It was fun in the moment for White Sox fans, but given Palka's quick fall from grace and the aftermath of this particular homer, this one would have been better off staying in the park.

September 12th, 2018 - Tim Anderson plays hero

In Chicago's final game against Kansas City in 2018, Tim Anderson launched a two-run blast in the top of the 12th to give the White Sox a 4-2 victory.

Anderson looked like a franchise shortstop at the time. He had an incredible run with the White Sox, but by the time Witt was being called up to the big leagues (2022), Anderson was already on his way out and his stats were cratering.

Five games kept White Sox from Witt

Two of those four games against Kansas City needed to flip in order for the White Sox to end up with Bobby Witt Jr. But even if they hadn't, Chicago was still just five more losses away from changing the course of franchise history.

So if the Sox do lose a historic amount of games again this season, I'll be fine with it. It would position them well in the 2026 MLB Draft and looking back at the first rebuild, I'm not sure the Sox lost enough early on.

With the Colorado Rockies ineligible to be in this year's lottery, that is one less terrible team to worry about getting in the way of the White Sox getting a stud in the 2026 draft.

2026 is the draft class to be picking at the top. Heck, even having the third overall pick in that draft would not be as negatively franchise-altering as it was in 2019. There is no drop off like ther was in 2019 after Adley Rutschman and Witt Jr.

The White Sox, so far, are getting snake eyes on rolling the dice on Andrew Vaughn, who has provided nothing but terrible to replacement-level production in his big league career.