If the White Sox bear any resemblance to a contender in 2024, the schedule should allow them to indulge some October dreaming, at least early on.
Major League Baseball announced its 2024 schedule, and the White Sox have a much softer introduction this time around. This past April featured only one team that's currently under .500 (Pittsburgh), but this coming April looks like a standard variety pack, with good teams (Atlanta, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay), bad teams (Detroit, two helpings of Kansas City), and teams they'll have to beat (Cleveland, Minnesota). If they fail to win a series once again, you can probably start planning what else to do with your summer.
Mid-May is where the schedule firms up. They'll face the Yankees, Blue Jays, Orioles, Blue Jays, Brewers, Cubs, Red Sox, Mariners, Diamondbacks and Astros in succession, and then the 81-game mark arrives.
As for the other things I immediately look at when assessing a fresh slate, here's how the 13-game season series against other AL Central teams unfurl:
- Royals: Six games home, seven games away, last meeting July 31
- Tigers: Seven games home, six games away, last meeting Sept. 29
- Twins: Six games home, seven games away, last meeting Aug. 4
- Guardians: Seven games home, six games away, last meeting Sept. 11
And if you're planning to cross a National League park off your list, here are the eight interleague trips:
- Philadelphia: April 19-21
- St. Louis: May 3-5
- Milwaukee: May 31-June 2
- Cubs: June 4-5
- Arizona: June 14-16
- Miami: July 5-7
- San Francisco: Aug. 19-21
- San Diego: Sept. 20-22
It was a lot easier to build up anticipation for these late-season dates when the White Sox were generally expected to be playing meaningful baseball deep in October. Looks like we're back to the drawing board.
Based on the insane turnout two years ago, you can already circle June 1 in Milwaukee as a date for a Sox Machine/From the 108 Road Trip. We have about 10 months to sort out the details.
