Archive for the 'Baseball' Category

I have lots of friends who are saying things like “I hate Baseball, I need to find another sport.”

I know they don’t really mean it. They’ll be cheering in the stands come April. I’m also disappointed with a 3-game post-season. However…I’m not sure if all of them realize how truly spoiled the St. Louis Baseball Fan is.

So I’ve updated the statistics I researched a couple years ago. I call these The Hoover Awards, because it’s the number of times a baseball team has sucked so badly, they finished dead last in their league in the final Regular Season Standings.

[I haven’t seen this statistic anywhere else, which is why I originally researched it back in 2006.]

I’ve only researched back to 1973. And the only reason for that year, is that is the year I have to research back to so that there is “One team left standing” in the American League. There are two teams left standing in the National League, but only because the Colorado Rockies have only been playing since 1993, and haven’t succumbed yet to the baseball vacuum cleaner.

A couple notes:
1) I don’t list the Montreal Expos, as they no longer exist. The two “Hoover Awards” for the Washington Nationals are post-1995.
2) I list the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League, as that is where they are currently, but I count their suckage in both leagues. They have finished last in both leagues (1984 and 2002) so that isn’t an issue.

American League 1973-2009

Tampa Bay Devil Rays 6
Seattle Mariners 5
Detroit Tigers 5
Toronto Blue Jays 4
Minnesota Twins 4
Cleveland Indians 3
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 2
Baltimore Orioles 2
Oakland Athletics 2
Chicago White Sox 1
Kansas City Royals 1
New York Yankees 1
Texas Rangers 1
Boston Red Sox 0

National League 1973-2009

Pittsburgh Pirates 6
Chicago Cubs 5
San Diego Padres 5
Atlanta Braves 4
New York Mets 4
Philadelphia Phillies 3
Florida Marlins 2
Washington Nationals 2
Houston Astros 2
Milwaukee Brewers 2
Cincinnati Reds 1
Los Angeles Dodgers 1
San Francisco Giants 1
Arizona Diamondbacks 1
Colorado Rockies 0
St. Louis Cardinals 0

The last time the Boston Red Sox finished dead last in the American League - 1933
The last time the St. Louis Cardinals finished dead last in the National League - 1918

It’s been 91 years since the Cardinals were the worst team in the National League.
No other team in baseball can make a similar claim.