It took 62 years for a team to surpass the modern record of 120 losses.
The new mark of 121 might fall a little quicker.
When Colorado routed San Diego 9-3 on Sunday — a “that’s baseball” moment if there ever was one — the Rockies improved their record to 7-33. That’s still just one game better than the worst 40-game start in modern history, set by the 1988 Baltimore Orioles.
Those Orioles famously started the season 0-21, and this year’s Rockies just experienced those two numbers in reverse — in the 21-0 loss they took against the Padres on Saturday. Even after rebounding with a win Sunday, the Rockies fired manager Bud Black.
When the Chicago White Sox went 41-121 last year, they were outscored by 306 runs over the whole season. Colorado has played less than a fourth of it and is already at minus-128.
Last year’s White Sox were 12-28 after 40 games, but they had losing streaks of 14, 21 and 12 still to come. Even then, they only broke the record for losses (set by the 1962 Mets) and not the one for the lowest winning percentage.
So it takes a lot to approach that many losses, but right now baseball is in an era when terrible teams are common. Since the 162-game schedule was introduced in 1961, there have been 14 teams that finished with at least 110 defeats. Half of them played in the past dozen years: the 2013 Astros (51-111), the 2018 and 2021 Orioles (47-115 and 52-110), the 2019 Tigers (47-114), the 2021 Diamondbacks (52-110), the 2023 Athletics (50-112) and the 2024 White Sox.
So in that sense, this year’s Rockies fit right in.
Trivia time
Of the other seven teams since 1961 that lost at least 110 games, five were expansion teams that hadn’t yet been around long: the 1962, 1963 and 1965 Mets (40-120, 51-111 and 50-112), the 1969 Expos (52-110) and the 1969 Padres (52-110).
Who were the only two teams to lose at least 110 games between 1970 and 2012?
Another ouster
Three days before Black was fired, Pittsburgh replaced manager Derek Shelton with Don Kelly. The Pirates are 14-27. They even have a losing record (3-5) in the eight games Paul Skenes has pitched.
Now that Black and Shelton are out, it’s hard to think of another manager on an immediate hot seat unless Baltimore decides to move on from Brandon Hyde. The Orioles have been a colossal disappointment at 15-24, although they’ve at least made the postseason the last two years under Hyde, whereas the Pirates and Rockies were faced with failure over multiple seasons.
Otherwise, most of the teams under .500 were either expected to be there (Angels, White Sox, Nationals, Marlins), have new managers (White Sox, Reds, Marlins) or have skippers who have long since proven themselves as some of the game’s most respected managers (Rangers, Rays, Reds).
The Brewers (20-21) have slipped after winning the division last year, but manager Pat Murphy is in only his second season. Atlanta stumbled at the start this year but has now won 14 of its last 22.
Line of the week
Jasson Dominguez of the New York Yankees hit three home runs and drove in seven runs Friday against the Athletics. The 22-year-old Dominguez became the youngest player in franchise history with a three-homer game, beating Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio’s record by 109 days.
Comeback of the week
Down 5-1 with two outs in the eighth, Philadelphia began its rally with a three-run homer by Bryson Stott. Then in the ninth, the Phillies tied it against Tampa Bay reliever Pete Fairbanks.
Philadelphia went on to win 7-6 in 10 innings Thursday night. The Phillies’ win probability was down to 1.9% in the eighth inning according to Baseball Savant.
Trivia answer
The 2003 Tigers (43-119) and 2004 Diamondbacks (51-111).