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Game 2 of the 2006 NLCS. Keep the momentum, cruise to the pennant in no more than 6, win the World Series with minimal fuss.

Zack Meisel is The Athletic's Guardians writer, and one of their best in general. He directed his focus on the Sox fans who've refused to unspool. CHICAGO — Seventy times a year, Barry Antoniazzi tosses on his black No. 27 jersey with “Bagodonuts” stitched onto the back, dons a firefighter helmet covered in Chicago White Sox pins and walks a block and a half to his baseball sanctuary. Antoniazzi grew tired of paying for parking at Guaranteed Rate Field, so 11 years ago, he moved to W. 35th Street and S. Parnell Avenue where, in a normal year, he can hear celebratory postgame fireworks from his residence. This is, of course, no normal year, and the skies over the ballpark are quiet nearly every night. The White Sox haven't won a home game in more than a month, and stand on the doorstep of undesirable history as they limp toward the 1962 New York Mets' record of 120 losses. And yet, Antoniazzi's faith in the franchise hasn't wavered, even though his house of worship has become a house of horrors that has hosted one defeat after another. On Tuesday, Antoniazzi, a paramedic for the Chicago Fire Department, watched his beloved, beleaguered club drop its 26th game in 27 attempts at home. Just as no two snowflakes are exactly alike, the White Sox have repeatedly found new and increasingly painful ways to lose in a season that has felt like one long, extraordinary blizzard on the South Side. On Monday, Cleveland Guardians rookie spot starter Joey Cantillo retired the first 20 hitters he faced. On Tuesday, a line drive to the thigh knocked out Guardians starter Ben Lively after two innings, but the team's bullpen covered the last seven frames to seal a shutout. On Wednesday, Lane Thomas delivered a pair of two-run infield singles to fuel a Cleveland sweep. Antoniazzi traveled to San Francisco last month to complete his mission of watching the White Sox in all 30 ballparks. He's drawn to Guaranteed Rate Field for the chance at seeing something new — he's never witnessed a no-hitter in person, for instance — and to support a team he insists can only go up from here. “We're not going to be this bad forever,” he said. “We're going to get better. So when we do get good, I can say, ‘I stuck with them through thick and thin.' That's what keeps me coming back.” Antoniazzi is not alone in his loyalty; some of the few thousand fans in attendance each night are true diehards, willing to stick with their team even as it careens towards the worst season in baseball history. But what inspires others to pass through the turnstiles? Why do they choose to devote several hours to watching a predictable ending unfold on the diamond instead of, say, cruising along the Chicago River on an architectural boat tour, or riding the Centennial Wheel at Navy Pier, or watching pennant races play out on the TVs at Timothy O'Toole's Pub, or shopping on Michigan Avenue, or even just lounging on the living room sofa? The White Sox sold 11,429 tickets for Monday's game, though the true attendance count appeared to be less than half of that. There was a slight uptick Tuesday, maybe because of a $5 beer promotion or because fans wanted to snatch up some of the last Campfire Milkshakes of the season. Or there's another reason, one that has grown in importance as this impressively bad season has worn on: witnessing the train wreck, one loss at a time. “We're here to see them make history,” as one fan put it. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5757456/2024/09/12/fans-chicago-white-sox-worst-mlb-team/https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5757456/2024/09/12/fans-chicago-white-sox-worst-mlb-team/

I wouldn't post it unless you can confirm that what was done that night was a big hit against the hometown team. But since it's probably not baseball, I'd steer clear of publication.

But since we're in Canada, they have to make our bunk.

Lindor boat-raced his teammates in August. Boat race Everyday meaning: n. – A race between boats “That was an exciting boat race on the harbor today.” Baseball meaning: v. – To rout another team by pulling away early, as if one team is in a speedboat and the other in a rowboat “They got 10 runs in the first two innings and just boat-raced us.” When worlds collide: “We were the same height till middle school,” the short man said of his friend, who grew up to be 6-foot-10, “then he just boat-raced me!” https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5734020/2024/09/03/mlb-baseball-slang-guide-dictionary?lhttps://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5734020/2024/09/03/mlb-baseball-slang-guide-dictionary?l

Jesse Winker's may be the best 1979 Topps card I've ever experienced.

George Vecsey: Still a boy, with a major-league frame, Kranepool had a New Yawk way of working at being lackadaisical, knowing everything, that all New Yorkers affect. I was just 23 years old, having the time of my life covering the Mets (and Yankees) in that 1962 season. I distinctly remember Kranepool taking his time getting from the Mets' AAA team in Syracuse in late September. Even if his lateness was a matter of hours, he managed to tick off Casey Stengel, the grizzled old manager. I remember Casey growling something like “He ain't my kingdom,” but the manager played the kid in three games before the season mercifully ended. https://www.georgevecsey.com/home/ed-kranepool-home-town-legendhttps://www.georgevecsey.com/home/ed-kranepool-home-town-legend

1,251. Eddy Alvarez

Ed Kranepool not being available to offer perspective on the life and career of a beloved Met who has just passed might be the most jarring aspect of this. Shared a Krane opus I wrote a few years ago https://www.faithandfearinflushing.com/2024/09/09/for-eddie/here if anyone wishes to relive his 18 seasons and then some.

You really have to hate your fans to wear what the Jays are wearing.

DJ Stewart has been recalled to replace Jeff McNeil.

DJ Stewart has been recalled to replace Jeff McNeil.

Billy McKinney DFA'd by Pirates.

Rich Hill DFA'd by Red Sox.

Braves lose as Blackburn heals.

Paul Blackburn exists.

got chills? you will.

Sandy, it should be remembered, fielded a question about January 6 the next day during a media Zoom call discussing the acquisition of Francisco Lindor: As somebody like myself who spent a few years defending democracy, I guess in some way, not just yesterday but the last few years have been extraordinarily disappointing. But we have institutions that protect us from individuals in most cases, and it seems that those institutions have not only survived but guaranteed our survival as a democracy. So that's my view.

Lindor SS Nimmo LF Vientos 3B Alonso 1B Winker DH Taylor RF McNeil 2B Alvarez C Bader CF - Megill RHP (3-5, 4.82)

Sandy Alderson tells T___p to go designate himself for assignment.

Wayne coached Phil Humber at Rice.

1964 Met and longtime college baseball coach Wayne Graham died yesterday at 88.

There always seem to be two Mets in any given lineup battling a 3-for-30 slump, yet here we are where we are.