First, we will toss out the pre-1900 incidences (which total eight). Five of them occurred in the National Association, two in the Union Association, and one in the American Association, so we can safely say that all the teams who stumbled into such a feat prior to the modern era were literally all out of their league. (Insert rim shot here--and, by the way, we have a new sponsor this year, what they use to call in the quaint old days the "alternate sponsor": joining FrightQuotesRUs.com is its kissin' cousin, RimShotsRUs.com. Visit at your own risk...)
When we get to the modern age (defined as 1901 to now) we see that prior to 2016, there were 11 teams who started out 0-9. The first team to do it: the 1918 Brooklyn Dodgers. The last team to do prior to this year: the 2003 Detroit Tigers, who were apparently just following orders, as they had managed to start the 2002 season in the exact same way. The only difference was that the 2003 team lost 119 games, while the 2002 squad lost only 106.
There is one other instance of two teams starting out 0-9 in the same year: it happened in 1988, when the Orioles (54-107 at season's end) and the Braves (54-106) did it. The O's losing streak actually extended to 21 games before they finally got off the schneid.
Other teams on the list: the 1919 Boston Braves (57-82), the 1920 Detroit Tigers (61-93); the 1962 New York Mets (40-120), the 1968 Chicago White Sox (67-95); the 1983 Houston Astros (85-77, the only team to wind up the year over .500 after an 0-9 start); and last but not least, the 1997 Chicago Cubs (68-94).
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| Fredi has a penchant for getting tossed, but it might not be the umps who'll be doing to tossing later in 2016... |
That is all. Stay glued to your TV set!
