The Stink of Losing
Ooooh that smell
Can’t you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you
Last season the Brewers strained to reach the year above .500, each late September game was marked with the Brewers TV announcers tracking the games being played in hope that the record of consecutive losing seasons would end.
Alas, they fell short and landed just at .500, they still were not a winning team, they stunk. The hope of extinguishing the stink of years of losing is easier said then done, and from what I gather it can provide a TV production crew with an easy storyline to pursue in the waning days of another mediocre season.
Yeah, I said mediocre. As in what the Reds, Pirates and Brewers have been churning out the past few seasons, mediocre seasons marked with exceptional performances here and there, but mostly a big box of stink with a bow on it.
But what is the real stink of losing?
The game has many heroes and many dynasties and as we examined earlier this season every object in the game often has a doppelganger, a shadow to the part that soaks up the sunshine. This of course means that some teams have had little cause to celebrate over the years, nor have they hoisted trophies and danced in the rain of ticker tape on sunny afternoons or waved their arms from topless sedans with their pretty wives. They didn’t cash checks that enhanced their meager or generous salaries and they never got to speak about the wonders of playing for the biggest prize of all.
They are the teams that sat on the outside at the seasons end, they were the teams that produced legends of ineptitude that virtually poured out of their dugouts and became the quarry of the dynasties we were weaned on as we learned about the game.
They were the stinkers, and chances are good that your team was once one of them too. Let’s take a look at them. In this breakdown we’ll assign each level of stink with a star rating, as in one star, two star, etc. Except we are going to skip the One Star Rating. Conside rthat as minor, like Stuckeys is to dining.
One of the rules of the study is that you have to have 5 seasons of sub .500 seasons to get past the one star ratings, a .500 record will not break the string, but it can not start a string either. Another rule is expansion teams are allowed a 10 year grace period, thus no Mets or Senators Version 2.0 until 1973 and 1972 .
To kick it off we’ll run through what I term the “Two Star Stink” that would be any run of losing seasons that goes from 5-7 years. It’s the most common run of bad teams or bad luck, and it’s the bottom floor entrance into the realm of the 2-5 Star stink, and the infamy that tags along with it, so lets go there starting with the deadball era
** Two Star Stink
St. Louis Browns ---------------------------------- YEAR PLACE W L PCT GB 1909 7th 61 89 .407 36 1910 8th 47 107 .305 57 1911 8th 45 107 .296 56.5 1912 7th 53 101 .344 53 1913 8th 57 96 .373 39 1914 5th 71 82 .464 28.5 1915 6th 63 91 .409 39.5 1916 5th 79 75 .513 12
Here’s the Browns players with the best OPS vs the league in that span, 500 PA’s minimum, note the ones you’ve heard about.
OPS DIFF PLAYER LEAGUE Frank LaPorte .080 .792 .711 Tilly Walker .074 .742 .668 Del Pratt .067 .746 .679 Burt Shotton .030 .716 .686 Ivan Howard .030 .697 .667 Gus Williams .023 .702 .679 George Stone .019 .656 .637 Art Griggs .007 .643 .637 Danny Hoffman -.005 .641 .645 Jimmy Austin -.033 .655 .688
Need I go on?
Branch Rickey once saved this bunch too, they turned their back on him.
Oops!
Cincinnati Reds ---------------------------------- YEAR PLACE W L PCT GB 1910 5th 75 79 .487 29 1911 6th 70 83 .458 29 1912 4th 75 78 .490 29 1913 7th 64 89 .418 37.5 1914 8th 60 94 .390 34.5 1915 7th 71 83 .461 20 1916 T7th 60 93 .392 33.5 1917 4th 78 76 .506 20
The Reds were a shoestring outfit in the teens; they lost their manager after the 1911 season, and went through a succession of managers (O’Day, Tinker. Herzog) before they acquired Mathewson to run the team in July of 1916. During this time they did manage to open up a new ballpark and the employ the first Cuban ballplayer in MLB history. However they were not able to get above .500 for 7 straight years.
Brooklyn Dodgers ---------------------------------- YEAR PLACE W L PCT GB 1933 6th 65 88 .425 26.5 1934 6th 71 81 .467 23.5 1935 5th 70 83 .458 29.5 1936 7th 67 87 .435 25 1937 6th 62 91 .405 33.5 1938 7th 69 80 .463 18.5 1939 3rd 84 69 .549 12.5 1940 2nd 88 65 .575 12
Brooklyn? Is Brooklyn still in the league?
1933-1939 ERA DIFF PLAYER LEAGUE Giants 0.40 3.46 3.86 Cubs 0.35 3.52 3.86 Pirates 0.16 3.71 3.86 Braves 0.12 3.74 3.86 Cardinals 0.08 3.78 3.86 Reds -.01 3.87 3.86 Dodgers -.17 4.03 3.86 Phillies -.95 4.81 3.86
The above is the NL’s ERA vs the league for the span of the Dodgers stink.
Below are the Dodgers position players who accrued the most at bats during the span.
AT BATS AB RC/G Joe Stripp 2033 -.63 Lonny Frey 1664 0.30 Cookie Lavagetto 1577 0.70 Buddy Hassett 1526 -.07 Sam Leslie 1430 1.29 Babe Phelps 1380 1.58 Tony Cuccinello 1373 -.20 Jim Bucher 1307 -1.31 Buzz Boyle 1285 0.43 Jimmy Jordan 1273 -2.09
Stink is often the result of the lack of quality on both sides of the ball.
Senators --------------------------------- YEAR PLACE W L PCT GB 1937 6th 73 80 .477 28.5 1938 5th 75 76 .497 23.5 1939 6th 65 87 .428 41.5 1940 7th 64 90 .416 26 1941 T6th 70 84 .455 31 1942 7th 62 89 .411 39.5 1943 2nd 84 69 .549 13.5 1946 4th 76 78 .494 28 1947 7th 64 90 .416 33 1948 7th 56 97 .366 40 1949 8th 50 104 .325 47 1950 5th 67 87 .435 31 1951 7th 62 92 .403 36 1952 5th 78 76 .506 17
The demise of the Senators franchise was a direct result of long time ownership that was rooted in a part of the game that was vanishing not having the foresight or the means to create a vast minor league system to exploit. The Senators instead farmed Cuba at a time that it had only been looked at by a few teams. This however didn’t save them from turning together two streaks of six seasons of stink from 1937-1952. This sort of run was partially a result of wartime baseball and old time baseball and it certainly led to the departure west later on.
Boston Braves ---------------------------------- YEAR PLACE W L PCT GB 1939 7th 63 88 .417 32.5 1940 7th 65 87 .428 34.5 1941 7th 62 92 .403 38 1942 7th 59 89 .399 44 1943 6th 68 85 .444 36.5 1944 6th 65 89 .422 40 1945 6th 67 85 .441 30 1946 4th 81 72 .529 15.5
The first 4 1/2 years of this debacle were managed by Casey Stengel, who later went on to become a genius in the 50’s. On his young rookie Bama Rowell, Casey said… “He has everything to learn.” To compound his misery Casey was struck by a car before the opening of the 1943 season and broke his leg.
Cubs --------------------------------- YEAR PLACE W L PCT GB 1940 5th 75 79 .487 25.5 1941 6th 70 84 .455 30 1942 6th 68 86 .442 38 1943 5th 74 79 .484 30.5 1944 4th 75 79 .487 30 1945 1st 98 56 .636 +3
Barely sneaking in to this group is the Cubs from 1940-1944, in that span they finished near the league average in pitching and hitting; only 2 of their stinkers had winning percentages below .484.
Chicago White Sox ---------------------------------- YEAR PLACE W L PCT GB TITLE 1944 7th 71 83 .461 18 1945 6th 71 78 .477 15 1946 5th 74 80 .481 30 1947 6th 70 84 .455 27 1948 8th 51 101 .336 44.5 1949 6th 63 91 .409 34 1950 6th 60 94 .390 38 1951 4th 81 73 .526 17
OPS DIFF PLAYER LEAGUE AB Minnie Minoso .176 .917 .741 516 Eddie Robinson .117 .875 .759 992 Wally Moses .062 .760 .698 1272 Johnny Dickshot .057 .750 .692 648 Luke Appling .050 .788 .738 2260 Tony Cuccinello .042 .734 .692 532 Gus Zernial .040 .815 .775 760 Guy Curtright .019 .715 .696 577 Taffy Wright .008 .739 .731 1278 Thurman Tucker -.003 .708 .712 1138
Jimmy Dickshot?
I ain’t going there.
Cleveland Indians ---------------------------------- YEAR PLACE W L PCT GB 1960 4th 76 78 .494 21 1961 5th 78 83 .484 30.5 1962 6th 80 82 .494 16 1963 T5th 79 83 .488 25.5 1964 T6th 79 83 .488 20 1965 5th 87 75 .537 15
Trade The Rock, hire Gabe Paul and watch your window open and shut quickly. They like the aforementioned Cubs weren’t “horrible” but they didn’t win more then they lost.
Do you remember these Indians?
1960-1966 AT BATS AB RC/G Tito Francona 2527 0.47 Woodie Held 2131 0.65 John Romano 1891 1.01 Max Alvis 1638 0.23 Vic Davalillo 1452 0.12 Bubba Phillips 1412 -1.41 Willie Kirkland 1371 -.42 Leon Wagner 1158 1.39 Vic Power 1143 -.90 Fred Whitfield 1107 0.67
Philadelphia Phillies -------------------------------- YEAR PLACE W L PCT GB TITLE 1968 T7th 76 86 .469 21 1969 5th 63 99 .389 37 1970 5th 73 88 .453 15.5 1971 6th 67 95 .414 30 1972 6th 59 97 .378 37.5 1973 6th 71 91 .438 11.5 1974 3rd 80 82 .494 8 1975 2nd 86 76 .531 6.5
The Phillies always seem to find their way onto the list, this particular run was the transition from the Richie Allen Phillies to the Mike Schmidt Phillies, bridging the gap was Deron Johnson, not much of a bridge.
California Angels ---------------------------------- YEAR PLACE W L PCT GB 1972 5th 75 80 .484 18 1973 4th 79 83 .488 15 1974 6th 68 94 .420 22 1975 6th 72 89 .447 25.5 1976 T4th 76 86 .469 14 1977 5th 74 88 .457 28 1978 T2nd 87 75 .537 5
With the Ten-year grace period behind them the Los Angels/California/Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim dove into the fray. To kick it off they traded Jim Fregosi for Nolan Ryan. The franchise could not produce hitters, this is evidenced by the list below.
AT BATS AB RC/G Dave Chalk 2004 -.80 Lee Stanton 1794 -.31 Jerry Remy 1646 -.89 Bob Oliver 1412 -.25 Mickey Rivers 1370 0.46 Bruce Bochte 1137 0.08 Sandy Alomar Sr. 1134 -1.24 Bobby Bonds 970 1.07 Frank Robinson 961 2.09 Vada Pinson 950 -.25
The bottom 3 represents chasing glory days and the top represents bad choices for offense from the organization, it took the free agent market to pull them out of the abyss.
Indians -------------------------------- YEAR PLACE W L PCT GB 1969 6th 62 99 .385 46.5 1970 5th 76 86 .469 32 1971 6th 60 102 .370 43 1972 5th 72 84 .462 14 1973 6th 71 91 .438 26 1974 4th 77 85 .475 14 1975 4th 79 80 .497 15.5 1976 4th 81 78 .509 15.5
These are the Indians of my youth, Fosse, Manning, Duffy, Chambliss and Nettles. However the Team ERA was 3.91 and the leagues during that time was 3.51. The above is a major reason why there are still Reds fans in the northern part of Ohio.
Houston Astros ---------------------------------- YEAR PLACE W L PCT GB 1974 4th 81 81 .500 21 1975 6th 64 97 .398 43.5 1976 3rd 80 82 .494 22 1977 3rd 81 81 .500 17 1978 5th 74 88 .457 21 1979 2nd 89 73 .549 1.5
More youth fodder here, the mere mention of Enos Cabell used to elicit giggles from me an my friends. I mean seriously…. Wilbur Howard? Roger Metzger? BTW Take a long look at this table, it’s the only one with the Astros name in it. They have become a pretty consistent team as far as avoiding the stink.
NY Mets -------------------------------- YEAR PLACE W L PCT GB TITLE 1977 6th 64 98 .395 37 1978 6th 66 96 .407 24 1979 6th 63 99 .389 35 1980 5th 67 95 .414 24 1981 5th 17 34 .333 15 1981 4th 24 28 .462 5.5 1982 6th 65 97 .401 27 1983 6th 68 94 .420 22 1984 2nd 90 72 .556 6.5
The Mets in the late 70’s were the Mets of my grandmother, who kept her channel on WWOR and rooted unabashly for Lee Mazilli and booed Joel Youngblood. Four straight season of 90 losses or more, that’s some serious stink.
Atlanta Braves ---------------------------------- YEAR PLACE W L PCT GB 1975 5th 67 94 .416 40.5 1976 6th 70 92 .432 32 1977 6th 61 101 .377 37 1978 6th 69 93 .426 26 1979 6th 66 94 .413 23.5 1980 4th 81 80 .503 11
Do you remember when Ted was manager? Or Andy Messersmith was number 17 because that was what channel TBS could be found on in the days of UHF? If you remember this then you remember this bad run of Braves teams, it was the era of The Love Boat and What’s Happening and instead of Sex and The City and Family Guy on TBS you had Braves baseball and Don Knotts grasping for his one bullet. Good times, good times.
Cleveland Indians ---------------------------------- YEAR PLACE W L PCT GB 1981 5th 26 27 .491 5 1982 T6th 78 84 .481 17 1983 7th 70 92 .432 28 1984 6th 75 87 .463 29 1985 7th 60 102 .370 39.5 1986 5th 84 78 .519 11.5
Mini Stink All Indians All the Time!!!
AT BATS AB RC/G Andre Thornton 2371 1.03 Mike Hargrove 2018 0.45 Julio Franco 1854 -.59 Toby Harrah 1489 1.68 Pat Tabler 1307 0.09 Brett Butler 1193 0.91 George Vukovich 1183 -.46 Rick Manning 1116 -.32 Brook Jacoby 1045 -.28 Ron Hassey 1003 -.56
This was the team that Julio Franco came up with.
Oakland A's ---------------------------------- YEAR PLACE W L PCT GB 1982 5th 68 94 .420 25 1983 4th 74 88 .457 25 1984 4th 77 85 .475 7 1985 T4th 77 85 .475 14 1986 T3rd 76 86 .469 16 1987 3rd 81 81 .500 4 1988 1st 104 58 .642 +13
Billy Ball imploded about the same time I arrived in the Bay Area, the Giants were managed by Frank Robinson and across the Bay Jackie Moore managed the A’s, and then Steve Boros… you know, the guy with the computer. Then LaRussa came to town, but early in the eighties it was Davis, Rickey and Murph…oh and some older guys too.
33 and older on A’s from 1982-1987
AT BATS AB RC/G Dave Kingman 1702 -.23 Bruce Bochte 1300 0.02 Davey Lopes 1174 0.08 Dusty Baker 585 -.03 Joe Morgan 365 0.17 Reggie Jackson 336 -.81 Jeff Newman 251 -2.38 Fred Stanley 228 -2.13 Cliff Johnson 214 -.25 Joe Rudi 193 -.98 Steve Henderson 140 -1.40 Jim Essian 136 -.30 Ron Cey 104 -.24 Jim Spencer 101 -3.01 Jeff Burroughs 71 -.35
Twins ---------------------------------- YEAR PLACE W L PCT GB 1982 5th 68 94 .420 25 1983 4th 74 88 .457 25 1984 4th 77 85 .475 7 1985 T4th 77 85 .475 14 1986 T3rd 76 86 .469 16 1987 3rd 81 81 .500 4 1988 1st 104 58 .642 +13
What can you say about the Twins? They are a wonder, they and the old Senators (their forbearers) have compiled a mess of streaky losing seasons over the ages, often they dance around .500 up un the Minnesota area. The size of their market will always be an issue and with this issue can come the rebuilding stage and piggy backing on that is often the stink of losing. The Twins seem to shake it off quite well.
Atlanta Braves ---------------------------------- YEAR PLACE W L PCT GB TITLE 1984 T2nd 80 82 .494 12 1985 5th 66 96 .407 29 1986 6th 72 89 .447 23.5 1987 5th 69 92 .429 20.5 1988 6th 54 106 .338 39.5 1989 6th 63 97 .394 28 1990 6th 65 97 .401 26 1991 1st 94 68 .580 +1 NL CHAMPIONS
Well the Braves are perhaps (with the Phillies) one of the most maligned teams when it comes to the stink. They tend to have been through it all and this particular one possessed 5 seasons with 90 or more losses. Of course that fact is now dwarfed by the shadow of the fading Braves dynasty that lumbers in the southland today.
Indians -------------------------------- YEAR PLACE W L PCT GB TITLE 1987 7th 61 101 .377 37 1988 6th 78 84 .481 11 1989 6th 73 89 .451 16 1990 4th 77 85 .475 11 1991 7th 57 105 .352 34 1992 T4th 76 86 .469 20 1993 6th 76 86 .469 19 1994 2nd 66 47 .584 1
More Indians, a short breather in 1985 was followed a 7 year run of mediocrity. Including two 100-loss seasons. From 1985-1991 the Indians lost 100 games 3 times, once more then they had in the team history prior to 1985.
Phillies ---------------------------------- YEAR PLACE W L PCT GB TITLE 1994 4th 54 61 .470 20.5 1995 T2nd 69 75 .479 21 1996 5th 67 95 .414 29 1997 5th 68 94 .420 33 1998 3rd 75 87 .463 31 1999 3rd 77 85 .475 26 2000 5th 65 97 .401 30 2001 2nd 86 76 .531 2
Get to know the Phillies; they tend to pop up on the list from time to time. This run of stink is nothing in Phillie history. However it’s funny to note that in MLB biggest hitting year (1930 -.790 OPS) the Phillies were 3rd in runs with 944 and in the second biggest year (2000 -.782 OPS) the Phillies were dead last with 708. In 1930 they lost 102 games and in 2000 they lost 97. No luck for Phillie fans in those big hitting years, just grief.
Oakland A's ---------------------------------- YEAR PLACE W L PCT GB 1993 7th 68 94 .420 26 1994 2nd 51 63 .447 1 1995 4th 67 77 .465 11.5 1996 3rd 78 84 .481 12 1997 4th 65 97 .401 25 1998 4th 74 88 .457 14 1999 2nd 87 75 .537 8
Out with the old, in with the new, Beane and company came about around the time Tony and Big Mac decided they wanted out. The post strike atmosphere was tough in Oakland, Geronimo Berroa was probably the 2nd best player on the team during that span. In 1997 Steve Karsay was 3-12 and Mike Mohler was 1-10… and then there was Ariel Prieto
Expos ---------------------------------- YEAR PLACE W L PCT GB TITLE 1997 4th 78 84 .481 23 1998 4th 65 97 .401 41 1999 4th 68 94 .420 35 2000 4th 67 95 .414 28 2001 5th 68 94 .420 20 2002 2nd 83 79 .512 19
The baseball strike killed one team, and it was the Montreal Expos, 4 season of 90 losses and backroom deals brought them to where they are today, in a bad stadium losing 90 games… whoopee.
Padres ---------------------------------- YEAR PLACE W L PCT GB TITLE 1999 4th 74 88 .457 26 2000 5th 76 86 .469 21 2001 4th 79 83 .488 13 2002 5th 66 96 .407 32 2003 5th 64 98 .395 36.5 2004 3rd 87 75 .537 6
470 runs below the league in this time frame, Ryan Klesko and Phil Nevin were the only two Padres with more then 50 Home Runs in those five seasons combined.
Reds ---------------------------------- YEAR PLACE W L PCT GB TITLE 2001 5th 66 96 .407 27 2002 3rd 78 84 .481 19 2003 5th 69 93 .426 19 2004 4th 76 86 .469 29 2005 5th 73 89 .451 27
Heading for number six? Looks that way, holding the Reds hand on the trip is some of he franchises worst pitching in a history of sub par pitching. It’s a factor that has been ignored, broken and abused in Cincinnati since they built Goat Run in the late 40’s. Offense is the team’s bread and butter, but poor pitching has been making the butter rancid.
Next the Three Star Stinkers - 8-10 Losing Seasons in a row.