The White Sox are ahead of schedule, but history shows why fans should embrace every moment of a rare opportunity to experience postseason baseball.
Very few people honestly believed that the Chicago White Sox would be here.
An 84-78 record may not have been good enough to take home the AL Central crown, but it did mark a 24-win improvement from 2025 and landed the South Siders back in the postseason for the first time since 2021.
A young team, primarily made up of rookies and second-year players and led by second-year manager Will Venable, became the story of baseball in 2026. The White Sox also became the first team in baseball history to make the playoffs after consecutive seasons with 100 or more losses (2023-25).
It goes without saying that the White Sox are firmly ahead of schedule. Had you polled White Sox fans prior to Opening Day, many of them would have said that 70 wins could be considered a success.
I'll throw my hand up and acknowledge my preseason record prediction, which was made with tempered expectations in an attempt to spare my own feelings, was set at 68-94.
Now here they are, 13 wins away from a World Series title.
Regardless of what happens over the next few weeks, White Sox fans will look back on the 2026 season fondly and have plenty of optimism for the future. But make no mistake about it, this isn't "house money" Chicago is playing with.
In fact, there's no such thing when it comes to a franchise with a history like the White Sox. And as we embark on the postseason, White Sox fans need to embrace that reality.
There's No Such Thing As House Money
In over 125 years of existence, this is just the 12th season in franchise history that the White Sox have made the postseason. The organization has never made the playoffs in back-to-back 162-game seasons.
Opportunities to watch the White Sox in the postseason are fleeting. For some organizations, playoff appearances are par for the course. They're perennial traditions. And being eliminated in the postseason may not sting nearly as badly when you can optimistically and realistically expect to be back the next year.
But that's just not the reality for White Sox fans. And until it is, each one of these postseason opportunities is sacred. No matter how promising the future looks, history tells us that it may be quite a while before the next one.
Did we not expect the 2005 White Sox to make it back the next year? Did we not enter the 2020s with an expectation of sustained success after enduring a long and trying rebuild?
It would be easy to look at the youth of this White Sox team, project growth and believe wholeheartedly that the White Sox will have many more opportunities like the one they have in front of them now. And maybe they will. I'd like to believe that myself.
But growth is never linear. Baseball is funny in that way, and there's no telling what the outlook of the American League and AL Central will be even a year from now.
All this is to say, White Sox fans, I encourage you to treat this postseason with the urgency it deserves.
Tune in to watch the games if at all possible during the work day. Buy the tickets. Support the team and take in the atmosphere of meaningful baseball. Celebrate each win and mourn each loss like you may not get an opportunity to be here again.
Worry about next season, next season. There will be many months of winter filled with opportunities to think about and project the future.
For now, it's time to win or die trying. And there's no such thing as house money.
