The San Diego Padres fielded the very worst major-league ballclub in the course of the five-year interval from 1966 via 1970, as we mentioned final Monday.
The squad in query was the 1969 model of the Padres, the inaugural version of that growth group. San Diego posted a group rating (TS) of 10.456 factors that season. It was a really horrible efficiency, provided that TS is measured on a 100-point scale. (Click on right here to learn the way group scores are calculated.)
The Padres remained terrible into the subsequent decade, permitting them to say one other doubtful championship in my ongoing rankings of the worst groups of baseball’s Fashionable Period, a 62-year span from 1961 via 2022. I’m continuing by five-year intervals, bringing us at this time to the rankings for 1971-1975.
And, sure, there on the prime of the checklist — or is it the underside? — is San Diego as soon as once more. The 1973 Padres misplaced 102 video games and registered a TS of 10.185 factors, marking them because the worst big-league membership of the half-decade.
Two units of Texas Rangers — the 1972 and 1973 groups — are the runners-up in at this time’s standings. Rounding out the checklist of 1971-1975’s worst golf equipment are the 1975 Detroit Tigers and the 1974 Padres (good day once more).
Look under for an inventory of the underside 10 groups of the interval. Every is proven with its win-loss document and the share of Fashionable Period golf equipment that it outperformed. (TS is plotted on an equalized scale, which permits direct comparisons of groups from completely different years. A complete of 1,656 big-league golf equipment performed between 1961 and 2022.) Crew scores and extra data are supplied for the 5 squads that had been the very worst.
For those who’re within the earlier rankings on this collection, comply with these hyperlinks to see the lowest-rated groups from 1961-1965 and 1966-1970. And for those who’d wish to take a extra constructive spin, use this hyperlink to see my scores of the very best groups within the half-decade that we’re discussing at this time, 1971-1975.
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Document: 60-102
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Crew rating: 10.185 factors
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Fashionable Period percentile: 0.6%
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Supervisor: Don Zimmer
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Stars: First baseman Nate Colbert hit 22 homers and had 80 RBIs, main the Padres in each classes. Middle fielder Johnny Grubb batted .311. Pitcher Steve Arlin led the employees with an 11-14 document, whereas rookie Randy Jones went 7-6.
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Backside line: The Padres dropped into final place within the Nationwide League West on Might 8, and so they stayed there the remainder of the 12 months. They misplaced 30 video games by 5 runs or extra, however received solely 9 by equally lopsided margins. San Diego completed 39 video games behind divisional champion Cincinnati.
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Document: 54-100
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Crew rating: 11.812 factors
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Fashionable Period percentile: 1.1%
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Supervisor: Ted Williams
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Stars: Proper fielder Ted Ford was the one Ranger to succeed in double digits in residence runs. He hit 14. Catcher Dick Billings led the group with 58 runs batted in. Beginning pitcher Wealthy Hand went 10-14 with a good earned run common of three.32.
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Backside line: The Washington Senators relocated to the Dallas-Fort Value space in 1972, bringing alongside their fame for ineptitude. They lived as much as their billing by ending final within the American League West, 38.5 video games behind the first-place Oakland Athletics.
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Document: 57-105
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Crew rating: 12.786 factors
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Fashionable Period percentile: 1.2%
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Supervisor: Whitey Herzog, Del Wilber, and Billy Martin
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Stars: Proper fielder Jeff Burroughs blasted 30 homers and drove in 85 runs. Second baseman Dave Nelson stole 43 bases. Jim Bibby led the pitching rotation with 9 victories, 180.1 innings pitched, 155 strikeouts, and a 3.24 ERA.
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Backside line: The Rangers remained within the cellar of the AL West, although they minimize Oakland’s divisional result in 37 video games, an enchancment of 1.5 video games from the earlier season. (See instantly above.) Texas’s pitching employees allowed a minimum of 10 runs in 17 contests.
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Document: 57-102
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Crew rating: 13.022 factors
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Fashionable Period percentile: 1.4%
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Supervisor: Ralph Houk
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Stars: Mickey Lolich, a star within the late Sixties and early Nineteen Seventies, pitched his thirteenth and last season with Detroit in 1975. He led the rotation in wins (12), innings (240.2), and ERA (3.78). Designated hitter Willie Horton blasted 25 homers, 11 greater than some other Tiger.
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Backside line: The Tigers suffered 102 defeats in 1975, their first triple-digit loss complete since 1952. Their descent into final place within the American League East coincided with a 19-game dropping streak that ran from late July to mid-August.
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Document: 60-102
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Crew rating: 13.763 factors
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Fashionable Period percentile: 1.6%
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Supervisor: John McNamara
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Stars: Willie McCovey, a 36-year-old first baseman, led the Padres with 22 residence runs. Second-year left fielder Dave Winfield added 20. Each would wind up within the Corridor of Fame. Invoice Greif anchored the pitching employees by working 226 innings and posting a 9-19 document.
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Backside line: The Padres improved incrementally in 1974 — a minimum of by way of TS — regardless that they posted the identical 60-102 document as their 1973 predecessors. (Scroll again to first place in these rankings.) Runs had been at a premium. San Diego was shut out 16 instances and held to a single run on 29 events.
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6. Cleveland Indians (1971), 60-102, 2.7%
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7. Detroit Tigers (1974), 72-90, 3.0%
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8. San Diego Padres (1972), 58-95, 4.4%
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9. San Diego Padres (1971), 61-100, 5.6%
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10. Philadelphia Phillies (1972), 59-97, 8.3%
