Worst Team Ever?

dynomite

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Almost as bad as learning Star Wars' alternate ending of... Chewie as Luke's father!? ;)

Anyway, don't mean for this to turn into an opportunity to pour it on about the 2020 squad, who face enough challenges. This isn't a value judgment. I hope this isn't another opportunity to rehash the Mookie trade, and I think we all understand that if not for an injury to Sale and ERod dealing with the terrifying consequences of a global pandemic, this team would look different. I'm also aware we're only 19 games into the season, and in a normal year making ANY definitive conclusions about a ballclub that many games in -- i.e. in late April -- would be foolish.

Still, given that we don't have a ton of positives to add about the current on-field product, I thought it might be nice to get some historical perspective here.

The question: just how bad are the 2020 Red Sox?

Good thing it’s a short season. It will keep the Sox from losing 100 games.
I mean, right now the Sox have the worst record in the AL and the second worst record in the MLB, and are getting absolutely blasted every single night out there...
Pretty clear they are the worst or 2nd/3rd worst team in the AL. Impressive decline since 2018.
My answer: definitely not the worst EVER. But since the 1930s? Maybe.

Tale of the Tape:

2020 Team: Started 6-13 (.316), full season pace of 51-111 (!). (85 runs scored, 112 runs against, Pythag of .376, full season pace of 60-102)


Obviously, again, it's a small sample size. Things could look a little different if Martinez, Devers, and others start hitting and any of the rotating cast of hot dog vendors we are trying out at pitcher turn out to be something. Then again, in this bizarre pandemic season, we're 19 games in and only about 18 days from the trade deadline, at which point we'll likely part ways with Workman and other productive players.

So for now we don't know where this team will end up. But what are the recent (and not so recent) comparisons?

2012 Team: 69-93 (.426) (734 runs scored, 806 allowed, Pythag of .457)

Ah, the Bobby V era. Wish we could we say we hardly knew ye, but that one year felt like three or four. For these purposes though, the truth would be more accurately stated: 2012 Post-Punto Trade (9-26, .257). We all had a terrible taste from the way 2011 ended (I was at Camden that night -- not great times), but prior to the Punto Trade on August 25th the team was 60-66 and while deeply unpleasant to root for, certainly not "worst" by any stretch of the imagination.

Certainly in the running with the the 2020 team, however.

1992 Team: 73-89 (.451) (599 runs, 669 allowed, pythag of .450).

Putting them here because by record they were the worst team of the 70s, 80s or 90s and many posters probably remember this team. That said, I don't think there's a good argument to be made they were worse than really any of these other teams, which oddly speaks to how solid the Sox were for three decades despite some heartbreaking playoff losses in that stretch.

But this offense. Woof. No one hit more than 15 (!) HR, stole more than 7 bases, or even batted above .276. Literally. Not just regulars or starters. No one. Some guy named Mike Brumley had 1 AB. If he'd gotten a hit he would have batted 1.000! Well, he didn't. Our primary Designated Hitter, the dude we decided to hit for the pitcher presumably so he could focus on hitting while the pitcher focused on, y'know, pitching... was an over the hill 36-year-old Jack Clark, who hit .210 with 5 HR and an 83 OPS+ in 257 ABs and seemed to generally maintain a hate-hate relationship with teammates and fans alike (my brother claims the Fenway crowd cheered when he was removed for a pinch runner one night and he threw his helmet onto the field in response, as all classy athletes would).

Remarkably the California Angels had an even worse offense, but goodness gracious this team was not dangerous at the dish.

1965 Team: 62-100 (.383) (669 runs, 791 allowed, pythag of .424)

Finally, we get to a legitimate answer (at least in modern times). Still, even though I'm far too young to have been alive for this campaign, it's tough to see why this team was SO bad from BRef. Yaz had a very good year (.395 OBP, 156 OPS+), Tony C hit 32 HR, and 5 of 9 regulars had an OPS+ over 118. As you would expect, they were tied for 3rd in the AL in runs scored/game.

So the problem apparently was the pitching, where they were last in the AL in runs allowed/game. That's the story about these pre-'67 teams I never saw, right? All bat, no glove? Except... given this was three years before the mound was lowered and league-wide pitching stats were so different, every one of the starters looks like they would have been an ace with the 2020 Red Sox. To wit: our #3 starter Dave Morehead went 10-18 with a 4.06 ERA with 163 Ks in 192 IP. Sign me up! Oh, except in '65 that was only good for a 92 ERA+. Mound height and physics is a real thing, I guess. Also wild to see infamous closer Monster Dick Radatz pitched 124 innnigs, won 9 games, lost 11, and saved 22.

Again, different eras and all this happened 20 years before I was born, but from stats alone this team feels far closer to their pythag (69 wins) than their actual performance, and their 14-28 record in 1-run games feels fluky -- consider that the 1965 Kansas City Athletics went 59-103 but managed to finish 22-23 in single run contests.

For timing's sake, I'm skipping over a few bad but not terrible teams like 1943 to get to:

1932 Team: 43-111 (.279) (566 runs scored, 915 allowed, pythag of .293)

And I think we have a winner! Almost certainly the #1 draft pick in this conversation for a reason. I mean, just LOOK at runs scored and runs allowed. They were last in the AL in runs scored/game... by MORE than half a run (4.4 to 3.7). Tied for last in the AL in runs allowed/game. And let's take a moment to marvel that they were somehow able to finish 64 (!!!) games behind the Yankees (with Ruth hitting .341 with 41 HR, ugh). Again: 64 games back in a 154 game season!!

A good column was written this summer about the '32 squad on another site, so I'll link to it and include some choice quotes here:

They were last in the American League (AL) in batting average (.251), runs (566), doubles (253), OBP (.314), Slugging (.351), OPS (.664), and last by being hit by a pitch (12) since it is doubtful anyone on offense needed the occasional dusting.

Pitching was another sad tale as the Sox were an AL last in ERA (5.02), Complete Games (42), Walks (612), FIP (4.66), WHIP (1.605), and Strikeouts (365). And defense they sparkled with a seventh-place .963 Fielding Percentage – slightly ahead of the dreadful Pale Hose (.957).

Fenway Park had all the attraction of a landfill as the park was rapidly deteriorating with still unrepaired damage from a 1926 fire. The Red Sox – impacted by Blue Laws – still played the occasional Sunday contest at an equally depressing Braves Field. The Braves were far more an attractive baseball option with a .500 record (77-77) and an attendance slightly over 500,000.
Good times. Here's the link: https://bosoxinjection.com/2020/07/01/red-sox-1932-bad-franchise-history/

There's some additional bad squads from other years: the '27, '26, and '25 Sox also lost 100+ games (frankly, it's a good thing relegation isn't a thing stateside -- from 1925 to 1932 the Sox lost 96+ games all but one year... when they lost 90) and the 1906 Sox were also terrible, but I think the 1932 Sox were worse by just about every measure.

So there you have it! Comparatively speaking, all of you who suffered through the 1932 Sox should hopefully agree the 2020 version is far better, and much more akin to the 2012 and 1965 versions.

So what did I miss? Thoughts?

Edit: I also just want to add: looking through the Franchise Encyclopedia here is a reminder of how fortunate we have been as fans in my opinion. The Red Sox have almost always been either excellent, good, or average in my lifetime (mid-'80s on). That's impressive.
 
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Rovin Romine

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2014 should probably be in the conversation. Finished 71-91, but were 48-60 (.444) before the trade, and 23-31 (.426) after the trade.

Although they won two more games than the 2012 squad, their overall pythag was .445, actually slightly worse than 2012's overall pythag.

The year of initials: AJP at catcher. . .featuring a sad offensive campaign by JBJ, and Baby Xander, and the final rattle of WMB. Especially hard to watch as (almost?) all of the 2013 crew underperformed.

Certainly one of the more disappointing teams overall, as well as one of the worst.

On the plus side it did give us the BROCKHOLT! gamethread meme. For which I think Johnny gets the credit: https://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?threads/4-19-get-it-together-folks.2996/page-7#post-648366

On the negative, the bellyaching about how Ellsbury had not been resigned and how were doomed to fail for the generations to come because Ellsbury, Ellsbury, Ellsbury.
 
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dynomite

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2014 should probably be in the conversation. Finished 71-91, but were 48-60 (.444) before the trade, and 23-31 (.426) after the trade.

Although they won two more games than the 2012 squad, their overall pythag was .445, actually slightly worse than 2012's overall pythag.

The year of initials: AJP at catcher. . .featuring a sad offensive campaign by JBJ, and Baby Xander, and the final rattle of WMB. Especially hard to watch as (almost?) all of the 2013 crew underperformed.

Certainly one of the more disappointing teams overall, as well as one of the worst.
GREAT points here. To be honest I did overlook them. I think in part because of the afterglow of 2013 and the general likeability of that roster: (Papi, Napoli, Pedroia, Papi, Victorino, Koji, Lester, Peavy, and then of course that 21-year-old 2B prospect who came up in late June that season and flashed enormous upside, speed, and a glove. Wonder what happened to him...

I also think there's some recency bias having watched the '12 and '14 squads, in that they started off playing unremarkable baseball and only after massive fire sales at the Trade Deadline closed out the string by losing basically every game. For both there's the Pre-Trade and Post-Trade versions of the team. Heck, on July 21, 2014, the Red Sox had won 8 of 9 and were 47-52, within plausible striking distance of the 2nd Wild Card.

Edit: In thinking more about it, maybe people will say 2020’s team is the “Post-Trade” version as well!
 
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Fratboy

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For me, the disturbing trend isn't short term, but long term. Beginning with the arrival of Pedro in 1998, they were remarkably consistent, not suffering any losing seasons until 2012. After Theo and Tito left, they've been maddeningly inconsistent. 2013 was lightning in a bottle, and 2014 and 2015 were the natural results of the farm team maturing to give us the 3 divisional titles from 2016-2018 and the glorious all-time great season in 2018 we'd been waiting a lifetime for. It feels like in 2020 we're at the beginning of another cycle in the wilderness, but with no view as to when the team would be competitive again.

But truthfully, I have paid very little attention to the team this year, so I might be talking completely out of my ass.
 

Rovin Romine

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GREAT points here. To be honest I did overlook them. I think in part because of the afterglow of 2013 and the general likeability of that roster: (Papi, Napoli, Pedroia, Papi, Victorino, Koji, Lester, Peavy, and then of course that 21-year-old 2B prospect who came up in late June that season and flashed enormous upside, speed, and a glove. Wonder what happened to him...

I also think there's some recency bias having watched the '12 and '14 squads, in that they started off playing unremarkable baseball and only after massive fire sales at the Trade Deadline closed out the string by losing basically every game. For both there's the Pre-Trade and Post-Trade versions of the team. Heck, on July 21, 2014, the Red Sox had won 8 of 9 and were 47-52, within plausible striking distance of the 2nd Wild Card.

Edit: In thinking more about it, maybe people will say 2020’s team is the “Post-Trade” version as well!
Here's a thought - suppose 2013 wasn't a WS win, but rather an LDS loss. Does the 2014 team become worse? I sort of think yes and no. It was a huge drop off from the 2013 champions, but it also basked in the glow of the WS, giving it a bit of a cushion.

Any way you slice it, they were incredibly disappointing/frustrating though, in terms of performance: they started with a hangover, would fight their way up to .500 and then go on swings (they had one 9L stretch, promptly followed by a 7W stretch, followed by a 5L stretch). Then they fumbled into non-competetiveness just after the trade deadline.
 

rlsb

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The truly bad baseball in 2012 commenced on August 1st, not August 25th. Not one of those teams on your list outside of 2012 was 53-51 after 104 games. The 7-16 (.304) that preceded the 9-26 was just as awful. 16-42 is the WORST finish in Red Sox history, including every team on your list outside of the 2012 team.
 

OurF'ingCity

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For me, the disturbing trend isn't short term, but long term. Beginning with the arrival of Pedro in 1998, they were remarkably consistent, not suffering any losing seasons until 2012. After Theo and Tito left, they've been maddeningly inconsistent. 2013 was lightning in a bottle, and 2014 and 2015 were the natural results of the farm team maturing to give us the 3 divisional titles from 2016-2018 and the glorious all-time great season in 2018 we'd been waiting a lifetime for. It feels like in 2020 we're at the beginning of another cycle in the wilderness, but with no view as to when the team would be competitive again.

But truthfully, I have paid very little attention to the team this year, so I might be talking completely out of my ass.
Sometimes I think about what this board would be like now (myself included) if they had, say, lost a close series to the Astros in the ALCS in 2018 but everything else stayed the same (re-signing Sale/Evo, trading Mookie). It would be a very, very dark place.
 

BaseballJones

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Sometimes I think about what this board would be like now (myself included) if they had, say, lost a close series to the Astros in the ALCS in 2018 but everything else stayed the same (re-signing Sale/Evo, trading Mookie). It would be a very, very dark place.
Only to the spoiled people among us. I was born in 1969 and I thought I'd never see a Red Sox' championship. Then 2004 came and I was like...I never need another one. Then they won in 2007 and I was like, this is unreal. Then they won in 2013 and I was like...in baseball heaven, never needing another one. 2018 was the best team of them all so of course it was totally special, but I didn't need it to be totally fulfilled as a baseball fan. I don't like when they lose any more than anyone else does. But even without 2018, I got to experience three (!!!!!) World Series titles, which is three more than I ever expected in my lifetime.
 

DeadlySplitter

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It's 19 games and a lot of our talent is underperforming or on the IL. It might go all the way for 60 games but I expect something like 24-36, regular bad (if the season concludes of course).
 

pk1627

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I don't think things get much worse than a 7-20 September of 2011. Sure this team has every ability to go 1-7 (or worse) in the next 8. But I lived through that month and this one is a walk in the park comparatively.

Also can anything really get worse than the team after 1918 (wonder hat happened there??) with 15 straight losing seasons including 11/13 in dead last?
 

markregan

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Aug 14, 2020
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Speaking of the 1932 team ... according to Baseball Reference, it's the only Red Sox team to have had a team ERA above 5 (5.02).

After yesterday's 17-8 shellacking, our team ERA this year is ...

5.60!

So, maybe this isn't the worst team ever, but there's a good chance it could be the worst pitching team ever.
 

nighthob

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It's 19 games and a lot of our talent is underperforming or on the IL. It might go all the way for 60 games but I expect something like 24-36, regular bad (if the season concludes of course).
The pitching is so biblically awful that I'm expecting things to get worse (because Sale and E-Rod ain't walking through that door). Especially since I think there will be a market for Barnes and Workman if it looks like the season will complete. Next year's going to be shaky as it will be Sale's rehab year, and god only knows what E-Rod will look like after his covid19 problems. '22 is probably their real bounceback year. I'm fully expecting Manfred to arrange the draft in a way that delivers the most damage to Boston's pick, though (I'm half kidding bout that).
 

dynomite

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It feels like in 2020 we're at the beginning of another cycle in the wilderness, but with no view as to when the team would be competitive again.
I do think there’s a lot of truth to this that makes the 2020 version even harder to stomach. It’s not like the system is bursting with talented rookies, in stark contrast to 2014 especially.

And again, both 2012 & 2014’s teams played competitive baseball into July. A 69 or 71 win team feels a lot different if they played .500 ball until August and finished poorly rather than playing .400 baseball throughout.

But as others have said, after 4 World Series they can have a few seasons like this and I have nothing to say about it.

It's 19 games and a lot of our talent is underperforming or on the IL. It might go all the way for 60 games but I expect something like 24-36, regular bad (if the season concludes of course).
Agree with @nighthob above on this — the problem is within 3 weeks the team will try their best to sell Workman, Pillar, etc. at the deadline, and there aren’t many cupcakes on the schedule (two series against the Braves in September, and even Miami doesn’t look terrible).

Given the short season, though, the margins are razor thin between ending up with a 21 win season or a 24 win season obviously.
 

Pablo's TB Lover

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The pitching is so biblically awful that I'm expecting things to get worse (because Sale and E-Rod ain't walking through that door). Especially since I think there will be a market for Barnes and Workman if it looks like the season will complete. Next year's going to be shaky as it will be Sale's rehab year, and god only knows what E-Rod will look like after his covid19 problems. '22 is probably their real bounceback year. I'm fully expecting Manfred to arrange the draft in a way that delivers the most damage to Boston's pick, though (I'm half kidding bout that).
Long gone are the days of "How are we going to fit Papelbon AND Lester into the rotation?" No veterans like Schill/Beckett and no young guns coming into the majors like the former. I'm hopeful things will come together to round the staff into at least mediocre shape as 2021 moves along (Sale rounding back into decent shape even if not himself, ERod in a contract year and plenty of rest from the heart issue but yikes still). But if either doesn't pan out, then man we are lost for awhile. They'd need to patch things until their next sure shot young prospect. Next decent free agent class is after next season, when you'd either be signing superstar pitchers in their late 30s short year/big money deals or going all in on a big contract for a true toss-up in Noah Syndergaard.
 

Monbonthbump

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I have been watching for 70 years and am convinced that this is the worst pitching staff I have seen (although if the top two are removed from past teams, this may not be true). I have never heard of most of these guys and do not expect to memorize many of their names for the future. No statistics to back this up, just the wisdom of the eyeball. Is there any chance of signing Fauci for our bullpen for the remainder of this season?
 

Phil Elliott

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I have been watching for 70 years and am convinced that this is the worst pitching staff I have seen (although if the top two are removed from past teams, this may not be true). I have never heard of most of these guys and do not expect to memorize many of their names for the future. No statistics to back this up, just the wisdom of the eyeball. Is there any chance of signing Fauci for our bullpen for the remainder of this season?
I went to my first game in 1957 as a little kid, so I've been around for awhile, too. I agree with you 100%. Nothing in my experience/memory has ever remotely approached the ineptitude of this staff. I heard Cattles on WEEI today suggesting that the return of Sale and Erod next season will change the quality of the staff dramatically (his word choice, not mine.). Unfortunately, I think it'll take more than that. It's doable, in my opinion, but it's going to require some sincere effort, honest evaluation and a touch of luck.
 

Sam Ray Not

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This is the 54th Red Sox season in my lifetime (technically 53rd; I was born a month after the '67 series ended, but like to include that since I was probably viable, lol).

In the 53 seasons I've "lived" through, the Sox have put up:

44 out of 53 seasons over .500
48 out of 53 seasons over .475
51 out of 53 seasons over .450

2012 was heretofore by far the worst season in my lifetime ... and they were .426.

Hello .286. Fvcking 2020, man...
 

BaseballJones

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These stats are absolutely amazing. Eye-opening. And hilarious. More numbers:

.286 winning percentage, 2nd worst in MLB (Pit, at 4-14, .222, is worse)
6.10 team era, worst in MLB (next worst is Sea at 5.75)
1.65 team whip, worst in MLB (next worst is Pit at 1.49)
77 team era+, worst in MLB (next worst is Phi at 83)
159 LOB, worst in MLB - which means that as many runs as they've allowed...it easily could be MORE
-40 run differential in just 21 games (-1.9 per game)
Only 4 pitchers on the entire staff (min 5 ip) with an era of less than 4.25 (Perez at 3.38, Valdez at 0.68, Hembree at 2.08, and Osich at 3.00)
In their 16 losses, they've only lost by 1 or 2 runs just 3 times. They've lost by 4 or more 8 times.
Since their 13-2 win on opening day, they've gone 5-16 with 80 runs scored and 131 runs allowed (RD of -51)

The only real bright spots I've seen are:

- Verdugo looks like a legitimately good player. No Mookie, but a good player.
- Valdez looks like he can be a pretty good bullpen arm.
- Perez seems like good value as a back end starter.
- Chavis is doing pretty well in year 2.

That's pretty much about it. We know X is a really good player, but even he has tailed off into "meh" territory. Devers has been a disaster. Benintendi even worse. JDM has done nothing. Vazquez had a couple of moments but overall has been yuck. JBJ can't hit at all. We already know what Moreland is so this isn't a "bright spot" for me; he often gets off to a positive start before breaking down. The bullpen has been beyond abysmal, and even Barnes and Workman have been bad. Eovaldi, since his opening day start, has gone: 0-2 with a 7.17 era and a 1.55 whip. Opponents have a .998 ops against him.

It's hard to find things this year that have even been encouraging as we move forward. Maybe it means JDM won't opt out and will stay and have a monster 2021. Maybe they can now sign Devers to a really reasonable long-term deal since Raffy has been so bad, and that means getting all-star production moving forward for cheap. Maybe they can get something useful for Workman, Moreland, JBJ, and Pillar. Who the hell knows.
 

OurF'ingCity

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.286 winning percentage, 2nd worst in MLB (Pit, at 4-14, .222, is worse)
This, to me, is the single most incredible thing about this season. Thinking about how historically, nauseatingly bad this Red Sox team is and then realizing there is a team that is playing WORSE than them this year is absolutely mind-blowing.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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This, to me, is the single most incredible thing about this season. Thinking about how historically, nauseatingly bad this Red Sox team is and then realizing there is a team that is playing WORSE than them this year is absolutely mind-blowing.
Small sample size. There are lots of teams who have had godawful stretches like this. It feels worse because it's the start of the year, and also because we know this team sucks badly.
 

jon abbey

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I think it's at least worth noting how front-loaded Boston's schedule has been with games against NY and TB. They are 0-6 against NY, 1-5 against TB, and 5-5 against other teams. Their 38 remaining games are 8 against NY/TB (including tonight) and 30 against other teams, including the next 21 after tonight.
 

DeadlySplitter

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on the other hand, it was a L8 streak sandwiched around the deadline last year against TB/NYY that basically ended their season.

They shouldn't be this atrocious against the good teams.