Historically Bad Franchise Teams

Yes, friends, there have been some bright spots this year. Mention Byron Buxton's name, and your average Twins fan's stomach will no longer immediately feel indigestion. But it may be time to venture into the negative now, a thing which I do not normally enjoy. If you suspect this next bit will be depressing as all (Chip) Hale, now's the time to back out...!

Don't look behind you, Class of '82 boys. 
Something might be gaining on you..

But then, as it's hard to avert your eyes from train wrecks, so here you are - the TOP TEN WORST TEAMS IN FRANCHISE HISTORY - Ranked By Losses - #1-10! As I see it, the 2016 club has an incredibly good chance to surpass the 1982 Twins for the worst record since relocating in 1961...

Rk	Year	Tm	G	W	L ▾	W-L%	pythW-L%	Finish	GB	R	RA	Attendance	Top Player -Using WAR-
1	1904	Washington Senators	157	38	113	.252	.275	8th of 8	55.5	437	743	131,744	C.Patten (3.8)
2	1909	Washington Senators	156	42	110	.276	.269	8th of 8	56.0	380	656	205,199	W.Johnson (3.7)
3	1949	Washington Senators	154	50	104	.325	.326	8th of 8	47.0	584	868	770,745	E.Robinson (2.5)
4	1982	Minnesota Twins	162	60	102	.370	.401	7th of 7	33.0	657	819	921,186	T.Brunansky (5.6)
5	1907	Washington Senators	154	49	102	.325	.360	8th of 8	43.5	506	693	221,929	C.Smith (3.5)
6	1955	Washington Senators	154	53	101	.344	.376	8th of 8	43.0	598	789	425,238	M.McDermott (3.1)
7	2011	Minnesota Twins	162	63	99	.389	.383	5th of 5	32.0	619	804	3,168,116	S.Baker (4.4)
8	1957	Washington Senators	154	55	99	.357	.369	8th of 8	43.0	603	808	457,079	R.Sievers (4.6)
9	1999	Minnesota Twins	161	63	97	.394	.406	5th of 5	33.0	686	845	1,202,829	B.Radke (6.5)
10	1948	Washington Senators	154	56	97	.366	.358	7th of 8	40.0	578	796	795,254	R.Scarborough (5.5)

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/19/2016.

I guess the best one can say at this point is that the Twins cannot eclipse the 1904 and 1909 Senators. They were drawing favorable comparisons to the 1962 New York Mets early in the 2016 season, but leveled off at another brand of awful. That's what historically bad pitching gets you! Not to mention a roster full of rookies for reasons of injury to veterans, or ineffectiveness of the same. Take note where the under-performing 2016 Twins stand presently on the list below, and recall how their hypothetical, Pythagorean .413 winning percentage had placed them on a pace to win 66 games before this season began- a seemingly improbable end result now.

Though they had a miserable start to the season, their difficulties since August 1 have been especially vexing. Minnesota sat at 40-64 (.384), 21 GB on that date, and in the last 46 games they've been humming along at a .326 clip, going 15-31, 31.5 GB, the worst record in MLB. Not as bad as the baddest Washington teams of the 'Aughts, but plenty bad enough! Sadly, the potential for ugly is high now in the season's last two weeks, when they could overtake the 1948 Senators and move "up" higher yet, to the AT list 10 spot (which is assuming they run the board and lose every one of the season's last 12 games). That would definitely take some effort, however. It's more than a bit sad to think they could sweep the next 12 and STILL not match the 2000 Twins for success, the club that preceded the franchise's ascent to relevance in the early 2000s.

TOP 10 WORST FRANCHISE CLUBS - Ranked By Losses - # 11-20

Rk	Year	Tm	G	W	L ▾	W-L%	pythW-L%	Finish	GB	R	RA	Attendance	Top Player -Using WAR-
11	2013	Minnesota Twins	162	66	96	.407	.388	4th of 5	27.0	614	788	2,477,644	J.Mauer (5.3)
12	2012	Minnesota Twins	162	66	96	.407	.422	5th of 5	22.0	701	832	2,776,354	D.Span (5.0)
13	2016	Minnesota Twins	150	55	95	.367	.413	5th of 5	31.5	683	827	1,831,020	B.Dozier (6.7)
14	1956	Washington Senators	155	59	95	.383	.346	7th of 8	38.0	652	924	431,647	C.Stobbs (4.6)
15	1906	Washington Senators	151	55	95	.367	.388	7th of 8	37.5	519	665	129,903	C.Patten (4.4)
16	1997	Minnesota Twins	162	68	94	.420	.450	4th of 5	18.5	772	861	1,411,064	C.Knoblauch (6.7)
17	1903	Washington Senators	140	43	94	.314	.302	8th of 8	47.5	437	691	128,878	H.Wilson (3.1)
18	2000	Minnesota Twins	162	69	93	.426	.426	5th of 5	26.0	748	880	1,000,760	B.Radke (6.2)
19	1958	Washington Senators	156	61	93	.396	.366	8th of 8	31.0	553	747	475,288	D.Hyde (4.6)
20	2014	Minnesota Twins	162	70	92	.432	.462	5th of 5	20.0	715	777	2,250,606	B.Dozier (5.2)

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/19/2016.

Whatever will be the case, thank God this year is nearly over!

"So long, folks!" - Herb Carneal