Worst of the Worst: 1962 Mets vs. 2003 Tigers

If I were to ask the casual baseball fan who the worst team ever was, the usual response would be the 1962 New York Mets. Technically speaking they would be wrong, as that honor belongs to the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, a team that lost 134 games and at one point endured a 24-game losing streak. In terms of modern baseball, however the Mets are a pretty decent choice for worst of the worst. But are they really at the very bottom? Personally, I believe that the 2003 Detroit Tigers are actually below the Mets. Read on to find out why.


The reasons for this are less statistical and more in terms of perception. That being said, the numbers do support this argument. While the Mets did have a worse record at 40-120 (.250 WL%), as opposed to the Tigers 43-119 (.265 WL%), the Tigers Pythagorean win-loss was actually even more dreadful. Based on their run-differential, the Mets should have gone 50-110, while for the Tigers that adjusted record would be 49-113. Also, looking at Wins Above Replacement (WAR), the Mets were positive at 4.3 and the Tigers were negative at -0.9. That means that the Tigers were worse than a team composed of replacement minor leaguers. Another point of comparison would be in regards to OPS+ and ERA+. The two teams were about the same, with the Mets possessing both an 82 OPS+ and ERA+, while the Tigers were at 83 and 81, respectively.

In terms of the players themselves, both teams had few bright spots. The best Mets hitter was Frank Thomas, who had 34 HR and 94 RBI. The Tigers were lead by Dmitri Young, who had a career year with a .297/.372/.537 triple slash. Both pitching staffs had 20-game losers. The Mets had 24-game loser Roger Craig and 20-game loser Al Jackson, while Mike Maroth lost 21 for the Tigers. It should be noted, however, that in 1962 it was fairly common for pitchers to lose 20 or more games. Maroth, on the other hand, is the only pitcher since 1980 to have done so.

As I said before, to me it is less about the numbers and more about the perception. The Mets were an expansion team, bringing National League baseball back to New York. The Tigers, however, were a well-established and fairly respected organization, at the time in their 103rd season. The fans embraced the Mets, and despite their poor play the team drew the 6th best attendance among 10 NL teams. The Tigers, meanwhile, were second-to-last in attendance despite having just moved into a new ballpark a few years before. All-in-all, the Mets were the "Lovable Losers", but the Tigers simply had no excuse.