WATCH OUT, CUB-HATERS!
The Cubs are NOT The Biggest All Time Losers.
You probably read or heard the other day that the Chicago Cubs have now lost 10,000 games over the course of their entire MLB history. That’s a lot of losses, but, before an Cub-Haters out there get too horsey about it, also take into account that two other still existent franchises out there have preceded the Cubs past the 10,000 Loss level without anyone saying or writing a thing about it.
One of the most interesting pages at Baseball Reference.Com keeps track of the total Win/Loss record for all teams at this link:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/
The old “win some, lose some” philosophy doesn’t apply to the records on this page. If a club plays far beyond a century, as many of these clubs have, you move into “win a lot, lose a lot” territory, sometimes to the surprising drumbeat of unexpected findings.at the bottom line. For example:
(1) The Phillies (10,483) and Braves (10,178) have both lost more MLB games than the Cubs (10,001) over the course of all their total lifetimes. How come we didn’t hear as much about those clubs hitting 10,000 losses as we did the Cubs? Do other fans really hate the Cubs that much? I don’t, but I’m still hooked on the fact that Billy Williams and Ron Santo both came through Houston as Buffs and the fact that I always loved Ernie Banks. Plus, Wrigley Field is my kind of ballpark and Chicago used to be my kind of town for long weekend visits. Great, great people there – and great, great food – and a devotion on the north side to the Cubs that will never die. True Chicagoans are not like so many of the Cub-jersey wearing trolls that come to Minute Maid Park when the team is in Houston. They are first class friendly and baseball knowledgeable.
(2) Only three clubs have passed the 10,000 franchise career Wins mark – and none of them are the Yankees:
The leaders in Wins are the (a) Giants at 10,718; (b) Cardinals at 10,400;(c) Pirates at 10,072; and (d) Yankees at 9,967.
(3) Our relatively short-lived Astros have an overall record of 4,064 Wins, 4,272 Losses, and a Winning Percentage of .488.
I’ll leave the other observations, calculations,, imaginings and personal musings to the rest of you. Have fun with a very interesting page,
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The Pecan Park Eagle 
May 16, 2014 at 2:14 am |
It’s actually the Phillies, not the Pirates, who have the most losses, and a big deal was made about it when they lost their 10,000th game. At least the Cubs have a winning record overall. The Phillies joined MLB seven years after the Cubs and Braves,yet have more losses.
Also, seven clubs have over 10,000 MLB wins, obviously all teams that spent most of their time in the NL when there was one.
May 16, 2014 at 2:43 am |
Thanks, Cliff. I’ve made the correction. Sometimes flying blind is a real handicap.