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J.J. Post, ESPNAug 28, 2024, 07:43 PM ET
The Chicago White Sox are chasing history. Unfortunately, not all history is positive.
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For decades the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics (worst winning percentage) and 1962 New York Mets (most total losses) have had fair arguments for the worst season in Major League Baseball history. The White Sox, however, are on pace to potentially settle the debate once and for all with the worst mark in both metrics.
Already boasting 102 losses and a winning percentage of just .233, Chicago is on pace to reset league records. Who might they join in infamy if they can’t find a September hot streak? Here are some of the worst campaigns ever in American sports leagues.
NFL
2008 Detroit Lions
Record: 0-16
Unsurprisingly, a season ending with a .000 winning percentage leads this list. The Lions weren’t without occasional hope — most notably enduring a stretch of four consecutive games decided by one score — but in the end fell short every time. The campaign was the eighth in a stretch of 10 straight losing seasons for Detroit, and third-year coach Rod Marinelli was fired one day after a Week 17 defeat to the Green Bay Packers that made the Lions the first team in NFL history to go 0-16.
The Detroit Lions became the first team in NFL history to finish a regular season 0-16 in 2008. Sporting News via Getty Images and Rogers Photo Archive via Getty Images
2017 Cleveland Browns
Record: 0-16
As the saying goes, misery loves company. Luckily (in a sense) for the Lions, they’re not the only NFL team to hold the unique distinction of completing a winless 16-game season. Just over a decade after Detroit went 0-16, the Browns put forth a winless season of their own.
Cleveland’s quest for a victory came down to the wire. Most notably, a 4-yard touchdown pass to Rashard Higgins pulled the Browns into a tie with the Pittsburgh Steelers early in the third quarter in Week 17. But their hope was short-lived. Minutes later, JuJu Smith-Schuster returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards to give the Steelers a lead they wouldn’t relinquish and seal Cleveland’s winless fate.
1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Record: 0-14
The Buccaneers’ winless season pales somewhat when compared to those of the Lions and Browns, who completed the feat with two more games on the schedule, but Tampa Bay still finished with the same winning percentage of .000. The offense was particularly anemic in the Buccaneers’ fateful campaign, getting shut out in five of its games.
WNBA
2011 Tulsa Shock
Record: 3-31
Tulsa’s 2011 campaign started out with a 20-point loss on the road to the San Antonio Stars and didn’t improve much from there. It was the first of 10 losses by 20 or more points for the Shock that season. Tulsa went two months between its first and second wins. The Shock won just one home game all season en route to a WNBA-record winning percentage of .088.
NHL
1974-75 Washington Capitals
Record: 8-67-5
It goes without saying that the Capitals’ debut as an NHL franchise could have gone a little better. The team set a number of records marks in its initial campaign, including the worst road record of any team in NHL history (1-39) as well as the worst defensive record (the team’s 446 total goals conceded remain an NHL record, over 30 more than the next closest squad).
NBA
2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats
Record: 7-59
The Bobcats’ season got off to a strong start, with a pair of free throws from rookie Kemba Walker sealing a 96-95 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on opening night. From there, though, things spiraled. Charlotte won no more than three games in any given month before a brutal stretch in which the squad lost their final 23 games. The Bobcats ended the season (shortened due to a fall lockout) a remarkable 43 games out of first place in the Eastern Conference, and 39 games behind the division-leading Miami Heat.
Rookie Kemba Walker helped the Charlotte Bobcats to a win in his first game with the team, but the 2011-12 Bobcats would go on to finish with the worst winning percentage in NBA history. Brock Williams-Smith/NBAE via Getty Images
MLB
1916 Philadelphia Athletics
Record: 36-117
While the 1962 New York Mets (40-120-1) hold the record for most total losses in a season, the 1916 Athletics are more relevant to the White Sox’s chase, having finished with the worst winning percentage (.235) of any MLB team (the Mets played an additional seven games). Philadelphia finished a remarkable 40 games back … of second-to-last place in the American League. The historic campaign came just one season after the Athletics came up short in the second of back-to-back World Series appearances.
