Many debate which team is the best in baseball history. But what about the worst? Here’s my take.
I conducted a computer simulation double-elimination tournament featuring the eight worst teams of the twentieth century. The “winner” is the team that loses two straight games, then loses in a “playoff” against the other team with two straight losses. I used Old Time Baseball, a computer game that includes every team from 1871 to 1981, and uses the model developed for Tony LaRussa Baseball. Then, I added teams from 1982 through 1999.
On the first day of action, the 1962 New York Mets and the 1919 Philadelphia Athletics both lost.
Casey Stengel (photo courtesy Baseball History Comes Alive)
Washington Senators (1904) 9, New York Mets (1962). The Mets got off to a great start in the battle for the worst team with a typically horrid performance at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. Their pitching staff had four members with 17-plus losses, including Al Jackson (8-20), who got the start. It came down to who wanted this game less, and the Mets obliged, turning a one-run lead into a three-run deficit after Jackson gave up a grand-slam homer to Bill Coughlin in the bottom of the second. New York tied it up at 4-4 by the top of the third, only to give back three more in the bottom of the frame on an inside-the-park home run by Frank Huelsman. The Mets pulled within 8-6, aided by an error in the top of the sixth, but promptly coughed up the final run on a Huelsman RBI single in the bottom of the inning. “The Mets have shown me more ways to lose than I even knew existed,” said 70-year-old Mets manager Casey Stengel after the game.
Pittsburgh Pirates (1952) 1, Philadelphia Athletics (1919) 0: In an abysmal battle of attrition, the Pirates made their one run, batted in on a Pete Castigliano single in the bottom of the fifth, and held up for the victory. The Pirates had 13 rookies on the squad and never managed a three-game winning streak the entire season. Whether it was a pitching duel or anemic hitting, one must still credit Pittsburgh starter Murry Dickson with a complete-game two-hit shutout in which he struck out nine and walked two. A’s “ace” Rollie Naylor, who compiled a 5-18 record on the season, fared almost as well, yielding just one run in eight innings and scattering eight hits, three of them by Castigliano. In second day action, the Mets and A’s both lost again, qualifying them to square off in the worst team final.
Courtesy RIP Baseball
1935 Boston Braves (1935) 10, New York Mets (1962) Mets 6: Roger Craig was a lot more successful managing the pitching staff of the San Francisco Giants in later years than he was pitching as a Met. He went 10-24 in 1962 for the Amazins. He didn’t fare any better against the Braves, who jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on RBI singles by Wally Berger and Pinkey Whitney. Boston made it 4-0 in the top of the third on a two-run inside-the-park home run in the cavernous Polo Grounds by Buck Jordan. Mercifully, Craig was out of the game by the seventh, when Jordan creamed a three-run homer to right field for a 7-0 Braves lead. The Mets clawed back with three runs in the bottom of the frame, one on a bases-loaded walk to Frank Thomas and two more on a single by Choo-Choo Coleman. But Les Mallon hit another inside-the-park home run for the Braves, good for three runs, in the top of the eighth. The Mets scored three in the bottom of the ninth, two on a homer by Felix Mantilla, but it was too little too late. Fred Frankhouse got the win for the Braves with 6 2/3 innings of work, yielding three runs on eight hits. With the loss, the Mets enter the double loser’s bracket for a one-game playoff to determine the worst team of the 20th century. “Don’t cut my throat,” said Mets manager Casey Stengel after the game. “I may want to do that later myself.”
Washington Senators (1909) 3, Philadelphia Athletics (1919) 2: The Athletics carved their way into the one-game playoff against the 1962 Mets with an uninspiring loss to the Phils. Bill Burns got the win for Washington with eight innings of work, yielding seven hits and two runs, just one of them earned. Doc Riesling came on in the ninth for the save. Walt Kinney, who went 9-15 on the year but had a decent 3.64 ERA, pitched well, limiting the Senators to two runs on four hits while striking out seven in 6 2/3 innings of work. Walter Anderson, in relief of Kinney, gave up the deciding run in the bottom of the eighth on a single by George Browne and a triple by Jim Delahanty.
1919 Athletics (1919) 3, New York Mets (1962) 0: “There are three things you can do in a baseball game,” said Mets manager Casey Stengel before the game. “You can win, or you can lose, or it can rain.” Unfortunately for the Mets, it didn’t rain. The Mets failed to score against starter Jing Johnson, who threw eight innings of two-hit ball, and Walter Anderson, who worked a hitless ninth for the save. The Amazins wasted their biggest chance in the top of the sixth. With the bases loaded and one out, Marvelous Marv Throneberry and Choo-Choo Coleman, two iconic Mets, struck out in succession. Jay Hook got the start and pitched a credible five innings, yielding three runs on eight hits. The A’s took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on an RBI double by George Burns. They scored the next inning on a Fred Thomas RBI double and added their final run in the sixth on a run-scoring single by Burns.
Worst worst team: 1962 Mets: Asked about his team’s performance after the game, Stengel noted of the worst team of the 20th century, “Good pitching will always stop good hitting and vice-versa.”
___________
This article first appeared in three segments in The Vacaville Reporter on April 28, May 1, and May 4, 2020.
