2020 Chicago White Sox | ||
---|---|---|
American League Wild Card Winners | ||
League | American League | |
Division | Central | |
Ballpark | Guaranteed Rate Field | |
City | Chicago | |
Record | 35–25 (.583) | |
Divisional place | 3rd | |
Owners | Jerry Reinsdorf | |
General managers | Rick Hahn | |
Managers | Rick Renteria | |
Television | NBC Sports Chicago NBC Sports Chicago+ (Jason Benetti, Steve Stone, Tom Paciorek, Tony Graffanino) | |
Radio | WGN-AM Chicago White Sox Radio Network (Andy Masur, Darrin Jackson) WRTO-AM (Spanish) (Hector Molina, Billy Russo) | |
Stats | ESPN.com Baseball Reference | |
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The 2020 season was the Chicago White Sox' 121st season in Chicago and 120th in the American League. The Sox played their home games at Guaranteed Rate Field.
On March 12, 2020, MLB announced that because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the start of the regular season would be delayed by at least two weeks in addition to the remainder of spring training being cancelled.[1] Four days later, it was announced that the start of the season would be pushed back indefinitely due to the recommendation made by the CDC to restrict events of more than 50 people for eight weeks.[2] On June 23, commissioner Rob Manfred unilaterally implemented a 60-game season. Players reported to training camps on July 1 in order to resume spring training and prepare for a July 24 Opening Day.[3]
Due to the pandemic and the shortened season, Major League Baseball instituted certain rule changes which included the use of a universal designated hitter, a runner on second base to start extra innings, and a revised schedule.[4] On July 30, the league and the union agreed that all remaining doubleheaders on the season would be seven innings.[5]
On April 1, 2020, longtime White Sox radio broadcaster Ed Farmer died at the age of 70.[6]
On September 17, with a win against the Minnesota Twins, the White Sox clinched their first playoff spot since 2008. This was their first winning season since 2012. They lost in three games to the Oakland Athletics in the 2020 American League Wild Card Series.