From Worst to....Worst
As we all know by now, Ivan Rodriguez, the team MVP of the 2003 World Series Champion Florida Marlins, signed
a four-year, $40 million contract on Monday with the Detroit Tigers. Pudge gave up the chance to make around $16 million for two years in Florida to play with a team that lost 119 games last season, a total of 225 games over the last two years, and a three-year total of 321 losses, three short of the 87-year-old Major League record held by the Philadelphia Athletics.
In the face of unprecedented lose, Pudge, of course, had all the right things to say about the signing and his new team. As
MLB.com reported, Rodriguez said, "Believe it or not, when I was a kid, this was one of my favorite teams. I watched Detroit a lot on TV and gave all those memories of a winning team all those years. I'm very happy to be part of this organization." It's a mystery to me how Pudge, who grew up in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, almost 2500 miles away from Detroit was able to watch the Tigers on TV. Also, in examining Detroit's
team history, I see four years during Pudge's life where they could be considered competitive. So I don't know what winning Tigers teams Rodriguez watched on TV, but that's not my point today.
Instead, I'm more concerned with the ramifications of another one of Pudge's quotes. In the same MLB.com article, he said, "This team to me is not a losing team. Any team can have a bad year. This team did and it's already behind them." But did the Tigers really simply have a bad year last year as their new All Star catcher so succinctly put it? Let's take a closer look.
The Tigers finished last season with a 43-119 record, setting a new American League record for most losses in a single season. This dubious achievement left them with a .265 winning percentage. They finished 47 games behind
the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins and 58 games worse than
the best team in the majors last year. As a team, they hit just .240 with a .300 OBP and a .375 slugging percentage. They scored only 591 runs--less than 4 runs per game.
While the Texas Rangers' pitching staff was actually a little worse than that of the Tigers', Mike Maroth and company weren't exactly setting any records. Well, actually, Maroth himself did when, on September 5, he became the first pitcher since 1980 to
lose 20 games in a single season. He would finish with 21 losses. Overall, the team finished with a 5.30 ERA. They managed three complete games and held their opponents scoreless only five times the entire season. The staff struck out a Major League-low 764 hitters while racking up a team WHIP of a stunning 1.51.
Pudge, I hate to break it to you, but this team did more than just have an unlucky bad year. The 2003 Tigers were one of the worst teams in the history of the game. Only two teams have lost more games then they did, and their level of ineptitude hadn't been reached since 1962. Despite Pudge's desires for this team not to be alosing team, it's tough to argue otherwise. Bad breaks don't account for the horrible nature of the Tigers last year.
So the Tigers were bad. In another interview, Pudge even acknowledge this. "I know they had a bad season last year, but I think this is going to be a completely different season," he said. But is it really? Will the Tigers led by Ivan Rodriguez go from worst ever to first in the league next season? For a hint on the future of the Tigers, let's take a look at all of the teams in Major History that have lost more than 110 games.
I'm going to make this nice and easy. The following table will break down the teams that have been notoriously bad. It will have the team's record in the year they lost more than 110 games, the team's record the following season, the place in which the team finished that next season, and the number of games by which the team improved. Let's do it in order of teams that lost the most games, with the 2003 Detroit Tigers on the bottom for the sake of my explanation. Also, as a note, the 1899 Cleveland Spiders hold the record for most losses in a season. They were 20-134 and disbanded after their monstrous effort. I guess 134 losses takes a toll on you somehow.
| | Record | Next Season | Standings | Games Improved |
|---|
| 1962 New York Mets | 40-120 | 55-111 | Last Place | +12 |
|---|
| 1916 Athletics | 36-117 | 55-98 | Last Place | +20 |
|---|
| 1935 Braves | 38-115 | 71-83 | 6th (out of 8) | +32.5 |
|---|
Here's YET another post to test this pesky permanent link thing. I hope it really works this time!
Here's another post to test something.
I had forgotten about this blog. But since I'm here, make sure to check out
my baseball blog. I'm working on this with Dave and two other friends. We update everyday and talk about baseball.
Ahoy
Welcome to my blog. I knew I wouldn't be able to avoid this trend forever. Mainly, I'm going to post stuff about my radio here. Probably, it will just end up being set lists and comments. But you know what. I bet some more interesting stuff about my life will end up here too. So that means you should stay tuned.
