History In The Making?

In the process of trying to follow the fits and starts of the potential move of the A’s from Oakland to Las Vegas, I neglected an important curmudgeonly duty.  The 2023 iteration of the Oakland A’s is a hot mess caught in the middle of a dumpster fire.

• The season is almost 40% over and the A’s record is 12-49.
• That is a winning percentage of .197.
• For the season that projects to a final record of 32-130.

In baseball, the “Modern Era” is said to begin in 1900.  In the Modern Era, the worst record ever posted by a team in a season was that of the expansion NY Mets in 1962.  Those Mets went 42-120 over the season so if the A’s continue on anything close to their current trajectory, they will shatter that mark of infamy by a stunning margin.

In the entire history of MLB, the worst record ever was in 1899; the team was the Cleveland Spiders who went 20-134 for the season (winning percentage = .130).  But that record needs a giant asterisk because:

• The owner of the Spiders also owned the St. Louis Browns.
• He thought he could draw more fans in St. Louis with a good team.
• So, he ‘traded” all the good players from the Spiders to the Browns.

Why might the A’s be able to eclipse the Mets’ record of futility this year?  Two current stats stand out here:

1. The A’s run differential as of this morning is minus-212.  They have played 61 games; so, they are losing games on average by 3.48 runs.
2. The A’s team ERA is 6.69.  The worst ERA in history was in 1930 when the Phillies’ staff pitched to an ERA of 6.60.

Bottom Line:  The A’s don’t score and they don’t get enough opponents out.

No one had high expectations for the A’s this year, but no one predicted a start to the season evidencing this level of ineptitude.  There are two teams for which there were high hopes in 2023 that have dramatically underperformed to date.

1. St. Louis Cardinals:  Many folks assessed the Cards as the best team in a not-so-formidable NL Central Division.  As of this morning the Cards are dead last in that NL Central Division race at 25-35.  That puts them 7,5 games out of first place there and 2 games behind the Reds who are in 4^th place.
2. San Diego Padres:  Back in March, the Padres were seen as a team poised to challenge the Dodgers’ dominance in the NL West.  As of this morning the Padres trail the Dodgers – – and the D-Backs too – – by 7.5 games and the Padres are 5 games under .500.  The team is loaded with talent but seems not to be able to “put the pieces together” even though reports have it that the Padres have had three player-only meetings.

In the tradition here of looking at both sides of the coin, there are also two teams that have done surprisingly well to this point of the season:

1. Arizona Diamondbacks:  Expectations for the D-Backs were not high in March; most prognosticators had them fighting it out with the Rockies for 4^th place in the NL West.  As of this morning they have the same record as the Dodgers atop that division; both teams are 35-25 to this point of the season.  The Dodgers are winning by bludgeoning opponents; the Dodgers’ run differential is +55.  The D-Backs are winning by scraping by; the D-Backs run differential is only +19.
2. Texas Rangers:  Before the season began, most folks had the AL West as a race between the Astros and the Mariners with the Ranges running a respectable third to those teams.  Right now, the Rangers lead the Astros by 3.5 games and have the second-best record in MLB – – behind only the Rays.  Even more than the Dodgers, the Rangers are winning by dramatically outscoring opponents; the Rangers have by far the best run differential in MLB at a stunning +152.

As noted above, the season is only about 40% in the books; so, these comments reflect more than the kinds of things one might see in the first month of a season.  But the baseball playoffs are still not in focus out there on the horizon; there is plenty of time for disappointing teams to right the ship or for over-achievers to come back to Earth.  The only “certainty” for the 2023 MLB season right now seems to be that:

• The Oakland A’s will stink!
• But will they stink to the point that they will “historically stink”?

Finally, Casey Stengel knows a few things about winning and losing in MLB.  So, let me close today with three of his observations:

“Good pitching will always stop good hitting and vice-versa.”

And …

“Most ballgames are lost, not won.”

And …

“Going to bed with a woman never hurt a ballplayer.  It’s staying up all night looking for them that does you in.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………