The Philadelphia Phillies joined the most exlusive club in sports last night, for better or worse. With the 10-2 thumping the St. Louis Cardinals gave them, the Phillies became the first professional sports team ever to lose 10,000 games. It took decades of commitment and the fans were put through some winning seasons which slowed down the process, but it finally happened.
This is also a club that won’t be crowded any time soon. Going over the rest of the MLB as well as other North American professional sports, the next closest team is the Atlanta Braves franchise at 9,681 losses. The Cubs are more than 200 behind that as well. The closest in the American League are the Baltimore Orioles 8,629 while, if you go into different sports, the Golden State Warriors are closest, but are only at 8,563. Hockey’s Chicago Blackhawks only have 2,415 losses and Football’s sad-sack Arizona Cardinals have a measly 649 to lead their league. While baseball teams do have a decided advantage by playing roughly double the amount of games as both hockey and basketball, not to mention a whopping ten times more games per season than NFL teams, I look forward to seeing other, extremely crappy teams reach that pinnacle. Of course, unless I live another 93 more years and the Warriors seriously tank it and lose every game for that period of time.
Congratulations Philadelphia, you’re home to the biggest losers in sports history.