The Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins have had a lot of battles over the years. A lot of the time, it is the White Sox taking losses to the Twins. This year, the White Sox were one of the worst teams in the league and the Twins won the AL Central division with relative ease.
Now, Minnesota is in the playoffs. This is their ninth time winning the division as currently constructed which only trails the Cleveland Guardians for the lead. The problem for them, however, has been winning in the playoffs once they get there.
In fact, they hadn't won a single playoff game in 19 years coming into this postseason. It was in the 2004 ALDS when they last won a single game. They did go on to lose that series to the New York Yankees.
The last time they won a series was in 2002 when they won in the ALDS but then lost in the ALCS. On Wednesday, they beat the Toronto Blue Jays for their first series win since then and are now in celebration mode.
The Chicago White Sox look horrible after the Minnesota Twins series win.
The Twins doing this made the White Sox look very bad. Every team in the American League has now won a playoff series more recently than them. They now have the longest drought.
The last playoff series that the White Sox won was in 2005 when they won the World Series. Since then, they won a game 163 (2008) but not a true playoff series.
They only trail the Cincinnate Reds (1995) for the longest drought of any team in the league. It is a shame and everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves.
This really shouldn't be all that surprising, however, as their first series win in 2005 (over the Boston Red Sox) was their first in nearly a century. This organization has no problem with going a very long time without winning in the playoffs.
They really don't look like a franchise that is close to ending that drought either. They did a few years ago but they really messed it all up. Now, it would be shocking if they made the playoffs at all over the next handful of years. It is a shame but it is what it is.
The Twins will now move on and face the Houston Astros in the second round. They will have to play very good baseball to get past the defending champions but anything can happen. Hopefully, all of this wakes up the front office of the Chicago White Sox but don't count on it.