The Chicago White Sox are on the verge of making MLB history -- losing a modern-day record of 121 games -- and former Detroit Tigers infielder Brandon Inge is all too familiar with playing for a historically bad team -- telling TMZ Sports it's up to the players to make sure they don't have their name etched into infamy.
We sat down with the former MLB All-star -- and a member of the 43-119 Tigers in 2003 -- and asked him about what it's like playing for a team where wins are as rare as a triple play.
"It was different," Inge said. "To put it in perspective, you're playing a sport that is something you dreamed about doing your whole life, and you're doing it on the biggest stage. So yes, that's kind of awesome, but at the same time, no one likes going out and losing that many games, losing at all for that matter."
While the Tigers were able to avoid the title for most losses in a single season -- as they won five of their last six games that year to avoid the modern-day 120-loss title held by the '62 New York Mets -- he knew there was going to be no help from management, and the team had two options.
"One you can fight every day and crumble and probably get that worst record. Or two, you can go screw it; we're gonna bond together, and we're gonna do this thing. We're gonna fight to the end."
Having gone through it himself ... what would Inge tell a current member of the 2024 White Sox? He said the ones who stick around will be better off because of this experience as they learn tough lessons.
"When you're in the middle of it, just block out the distractions and go," he said. "Just focus on what you need to do. And we learned that there are a lot of distractions in baseball, or in professional sports for that matter. You got media, you got fans, everyone's got an opinion."
The Sox are currently 39-120 ... and will have to win all three of their final games against, ironically, the Detroit Tigers this weekend to stay out of the record books.