Lukehart: The worst 3-season stretches in MLB history

From SABR member Jason Lukehart at Ground Ball With Eyes on October 7, 2013:

Entering 2011, the Houston Astros had never lost more than 97 games in a season. The Angels were the only other franchise that could say that. In 2011 though, Houston lost 106 games… then they lost 107 games in 2012… and then they lost 111 in 2013. They went from having one of the most impressive track records in all of baseball for avoiding really bad seasons, to putting together one of the worst stretches ever.

This is Part 3 in my look at the worst records in modern history. The first entry looked at single-season losing, while the second looked at back-to-back ineptitude.

Notes: 1901 is the starting point for all of that data. That’s the year the American League began playing, and is often seen as the start of the modern era. Many teams played in different cities and/or under different names at other times in history. I’ve made note of such things where applicable. The sixteen “original” teams (the teams that played in 1901) are starred in the chart below, other franchises are listed with their first year of play.

Read the full article here: http://groundballwitheyes.blogspot.com/2013/10/worst-teams-baseball-history-astros.html



Originally published: October 8, 2013. Last Updated: October 8, 2013.