Silver Linings Of A Terrible Ball Club

When looking at some of the worst teams in professional baseball history, you should go back a ways to find a certain team which had an amazing knack for the art of losing a game.  You'll find a team if you dig deep enough that will make you see the Cubs woes as not so bad.  Go all the way back to 1889 and look at the Louisville Colonels of the American Association.

Why were they so bad?  Lets start by noting that they went 27-111.  They were the first professional baseball team to lose 100 games in a season.  Lets also throw in the fact that the Cleveland Cavaliers just tied their all-time record for the four major sports of 26 consecutive losses("achieved" on June 22, 1889).  They finished 66 1/2 games behind the the 93 win Brooklyn Bridegrooms, which is definitely the worst I have seen personally from all my years looking at standings charts.  One more thing to note is that they had to have four different managers just to get through the 1889 season.

When dissecting their losing streak, you notice that it may not have entirely been their fault.  Their streak began with a loss on May 22nd, 1889 and ended with a 26th straight loss on June 22nd, 1889.  During this streak, it should be pointed out that they played only 5 home games while going on a very long road trip of 21 games.  Now, you should win on the road, no question.  But when a bad team has to go on a 21 game road trip, that can wear down any team no matter how much talent they have.  During this stretch, they scored 118 runs while allowing 245.

Interesting note is how infuriated this losing streak made owner Mordecai Davidson.  On June 13th, after a 19th straight loss, he threatened to fine every player $25 if they lost their next game.  The problem was, he already owed the players money to begin with.  Protesting Mordecai Davidson's threat of fines, only 6 Louisville Colonels showed up for their game against the Baltimore Orioles on June 15th.  Davidson was forced to pick up 3 Baltimore amateurs to play the outfield.  Charles Fisher, John Traffley and Mike Gaule each made the only appearance of their careers as Louisville lost their 20th in a row.

After consulting Baltimore manager Billy Barnie, the striking players of the Louisville Colonels returned to the field for a doubleheader.  The Colonels blew a 9th inning 6-3 lead in Game 1 to lose and manage only 1 hit while committing 7 errors to drop the second game.  After losing a double header on June 22nd to extend their streak to a record 26 losses in a row, Louisville finally got a win by defeating the St. Louis Browns 7-3 on June 23rd.

The next day, Louisville owner-manager Mordecai Davidson resigned as manager and hired an Eclipse Park employee as the new manager, although right fielder Jimmy "Chicken" Wolf would actually run the team.  On July 2nd, owner Mordecai Davidson, unable to pay the players' salaries, turned the team over to the American Association.  The AA would announce new ownership for the team within 3 days.

There were some good things(if you can believe it) about this team.  They had a few good players.  Pete Browning had what I would call a pretty good career.  He always hit for a very high average; he hit .341 with a .403 OBP for his career.  However, in 1889, Gladiator had one of his worst seasons hitting just .243 with a .327 OBP and a career low .691 OPS.  He did have one notable game in 1889, hitting for the cycle during a loss on June 7th.  In one particular game on August 1st, Browning collected 2 hits in a 14-1 loss in which his team committed 10 errors in the field.

Two of their players did play in at least 120 games and hit at least .290 while posting a .700+ OPS:  Chicken Wolf and Farmer Weaver.  That's right, Chicken Wolf.  That has to be one of the greatest names in MLB history.  A little about Chicken Wolf:  He was born William Van Winkle Wolf, so he would have had a great name no matter what he was called in baseball.  His career line was .290/18/592 with a .715 OPS and 1437 hits.  His best season came one year later in 1890, when he lead the league hitting .363 with 197 hits, 260 total bases and a .900 OPS.  He was also the second of four managers during the 1889 season.

Another great name(the picture above) belongs to the first of four managers of the 1889 Louisville Colonels, Dude Esterbrook.  He was born Thomas John Esterbrook.  He hit .318 in his 38 at bats with the Colonels that season.  As the story on him goes, he was fired after 10 games because of his confrontational nature and poor record.  Later in his life, he was deemed mentally unstable.  As he was being transported by train to a mental institution, he decided to jump from the train, falling to his death at the age of 43.

Their "best" pitcher was a 20 year old kid named Red Ehret, who managed 10 wins to 29 losses, a 4.80 ERA and 1.52 WHIP in 364 IP.  He literally was the winner of 37% of his team's total wins.  He would have his best season in 1890, when he went 25-14 with a 2.53 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 354 IP.  Only two players on the 1889 team had a positive WAR(Wins Above Replacement):  Red Ehret(0.7) and Michael McDermott(0.5).

What makes the story of the 1889 Louisville Colonels so baffling, is when you take a look at the 1890 season they had.  They went 88-44, finishing in first place by 10 games over the Columbus Solons.  15 of the 21 players on the 1890 roster were new players.  As I stated before, Chicken Wolf and Red Ehret had the best seasons of their career in 1890.  Their pitching was much better with all new names(besides Red), and they had another pitcher named Scott Stratton who went 34-14 with a 2.36 ERA.  Their team ERA in 1889 was 4.81, while their team ERA in 1890 was 2.57.

They didn't just pitch better in 1890; they hit better and had better plate appearances.  In 1889, their team batting average was .252 with a .303 OBP.  In 1890, they were much better hitting .279 with a .344 OBP.  In 1889 they scored 632 runs, while in 1890 they scored 819 runs.  Runs win games.  It is probably the single most important statistic when gauging team statistics.

This 61 game turnaround in one season is probably the best turnaround for any team in professional baseball history, although I am not entirely sure.  One final interesting fact about 1889:  Every game scheduled in both leagues on September 11th was postponed due to rain, the only time this has happened in professional baseball history.

So when looking at the 1889 Colonels, there's a lot of interesting things going on.  They were the first truly bad team in professional baseball history.  The 2010-2011 Cleveland Cavaliers have a chance in their next game vs. the Clippers to set the all-time record for the four major sports for consecutive losses at 27, taking this record from the 1889 Louisville Colonels.  The Colonels will still, no matter what, have the record of futility for professional baseball; but their story is interesting and shouldn't be written off from history.


Information for this article was taken from baseball-reference.com, ask.com, and Wikipedia.