2003 ToledoTalk.com posts about the Detroit Tigers

(This post was originally created in May 2013.)

The 2003 Detroit Tigers were the worst team in Major League Baseball history. The Tigers went 43-119.

The 1962 expansion NY Mets lost 120 games, which is the record. But that Mets team gets a pass because it was their first year in the league.

Thus far in the 2013 season, the Houston Astros are the worst team in MLB with a record of 8-24, which is a .250 winning percentage. The Astros are 12.5 games out of first place.

The Astros were a National League team for a long time, but now they are in the American League.

Some think this year's Astros team may top the '62 Mets in losses. I think the Toledo Mud Hens payroll is higher than the lowly Astros.

Anyway, this year's Astros reminded me of the 2003 Tigers.

April 17, 2003 - The hapless Detroit Tigers

Before yesterday's baseball action, the Tigers were 10 games out of first place after only playing 12 games. It's only mid-April, so that's impressive in a disgusting way. Both KC and Detroit lost yesterday. Why not swap the entire Mudhens team with the Tigers? Who would notice? The Hens couldn't do any worse. I bet the Hens could win at least one Major League Baseball game in 13 tries like the Tigers. As usual, I blame MLB's expansion over the past 10-15 years for having so many bad players. There are too many double A and triple A minor league players in the majors. Detroit could be the farm team for Toledo.

July 6, 2003 - Detroit Tigers going for a record

Back in mid-April, I mentioned the Tigers were already 10 games out of first place after only playing 12 games. It was definitely a sign of what to expect from this year's team. The Tigers are on pace to set one or more records of futility. They are trying to blow it, however, by winning two or three games in a row last week. Don't do that. If you are going to be bad, don't be a little bad, be big-time bad and break records.

"At 21-64, they are on pace to surpass the post-1900 major league record of 120 losses in a season, set by the 1962 New York Mets, who went 40-120."

"At their present pace, the Tigers would finish 40-122 and take Casey Stengel’s bunch off the hook as the worst team of the modern baseball era."

September 1, 2003 - Detroit Tigers achieve incredible feat

The 2003 Tigers became the first team in 41 years to lose 100 games before September. The big milestone is left, losing more than 120 games in a season, which they are on pace to accomplish. It will be close, but I predict the Tigers will be disappointed and miss the record by two or three games. It's amazing how the Tigers' season was foretold in April. Nothing changed in July.

September 15, 2003 - More accomplishments for the Detroit Tigers

Yesterday, Detroit earned loss number 110, which set a new franchise record. The Tigers also became the first team in 34 years to lose 110 games. The big record is still left: 120 losses, which would be the most ever. It will be close.

Comments:

Add one more loss. The Tigers are the first team since 1939 to lose 111 games.
posted by jr at 09:28 A.M. EST on Tue Sep 16, 2003 #

The New York Mets of the National League holds the Major League record for the most losses in a season with 120 set in 1962, which was the Mets' first year of existence.

The "since 1939 to lose 111 games" reference has to be for the American League.

Anyway, this is baseball, and it shouldn't be this confusing. No matter what, the 2003 Tigers will go down in baseball history as one of the all-time wretched teams.

Here's the list of teams with the most losses.

1962 Mets (120)
1916 Athletics (117)
1935 Braves (115)
1904 Senators (113)
1952 Pirates & 1965 Mets (112)

Through Sep 18, Detroit has 114 losses.
posted by jr at 09:20 A.M. EST on Fri Sep 19, 2003 #

September 30, 2003 - Detroit Tigers celebrate horrible season

It figures. The Tigers have a chance to make history, and they screw it up by winning five of their last six games. That means they don't match the record number of losses of 120 set by the '62 Mets. Instead, Detroit celebrated like they won a World Series on Sunday by only losing 119 games. That's embarrassing. The 2003 Tigers are the worst team in history, because they have been around for over 100 years. The '62 Mets were an expansion team. Detroit season ticket holders should demand a refund. The Tigers have committed consumer fraud. The '03 Tigers were a form of legalized robbery. I bet ticket prices for '04 go up.

Amazing. The Tigers can win 20 more games next year, a goal a lot of teams would like to accomplish, and Detroit would still lose 99. If there was ever a clear example for MLB contraction, it would be the Detroit Tigers, who are a bunch of AAA and AA players with a couple of Major Leaguers thrown in.

There were Tiger fans cheering for the team on Sunday. I'm not sure if these people are diehard fans, or if they are just living examples of that saying, "There's a sucker born every minute."

More comments about the 2003 Tigers.

"In enough ways they are worse than the Mets, who were retreads and never-has-beens. This team was put together by management as a collection of prospects. Oh, my. So many of these players are out of their element in the major leagues. That's clear."

The 2003 Tiger lowlights.

"Detroit’s worst month was its first, where a season-opening loss on March 31 was followed by a 3-20 April to combine for a .125 "winning" percentage."

"The number of games the Tigers trailed the Twins in the American League Central Division race (47) is greater than the number of wins the Tigers amassed (43)."

"The Tigers had 17 losing streaks of three games or more this season."

"Detroit was swept in 21 series."

The 119 losses were the most in Tigers franchise history, and it's the most number of losses in American League history. Congrats.

#sports - #baseball - #detroit - #mlb - #blog_jr