Loser League: August
With a month left in the season the '79 Blue Jays have an outside chance of losing more games in the Loser League than they did back in 1979. That would truly be an astonishing feat of futility. We finally had a "lead" change in the West as the '80 Mariners eeked by the '79 A's by one game setting up what should be a thrilling finish. The '03 Tigers still cling to the Loser Card by two games over the '88 Orioles.
TEAM WON LOST BATTING AVERAGE HOME RUNS RUNS BATTED IN 1990 NYA 79 58 R.Kelly NYA .339 A.Belle CLA 36 A.Belle CLA 109 2002 TBA 75 61 E.Brown KCA .339 E.Murray BAA 33 E.Brown KCA 109 1992 BOA 74 63 R.Carew LAA .337 K.Maas NYA 32 J.Barfiel NYA 100 1988 BAA 61 76 A.Huff TBA .334 K.Hrbek MNA 31 B.Grich LAA 92 1979 TOA 47 90 J.Orsulak BAA .329 A.Huff TBA 27 K.Hrbek MNA 92 1989 CHA 74 62 WINS SAVES ERA 2005 KCA 69 68 F.Tanana LAA 16 T.Niedenf BAA 30 C.Hough TEA 2.16 1991 CLA 68 68 R.Clemens BOA 15 E.Yan TBA 25 R.Clemens BOA 2.27 2003 DEA 59 78 F.Martine LAA 13 G.Harris TEA 24 F.Martine LAA 2.64 1982 MNA 54 83 C.Hough TEA 13 B.Thigpen CHA 24 F.Viola BOA 2.87 G.Swindel CLA 13 M.Macdoug KCA 22 D.Aase LAA 2.88 1980 LAA 86 50 1985 TEA 70 68 CUR HIT STREAK STOLEN BASES STRIKEOUTS 1979 OAA 63 74 A.Sanchez DEA 18 A.Sanchez DEA 53 R.Clemens BOA 197 1980 SEA 62 74 M.Lewis CLA 13 R.Kelly NYA 48 T.Underwo TOA 172 C.Baerga CLA 12 A.Cole CLA 45 F.Bannist SEA 160 B.Higgins DEA 12 S.Sax NYA 36 D.Darwin BOA 146 A.Berroa KCA 11 OTHERS TIED W 33 M.Perez CHA 144 YESTERDAY'S GAMES TODAY'S SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE STARTERS CHA 4 at BOA 5 BAA-Bautist(8-6, 3.24) at BOA-Hesketh(7-5, 3.83) SEA 3 at CLA 6 CHA-King(9-8, 3.66) at CLA-Nagy(10-13, 5.22) KCA 3 at DEA 8 SEA-Honeycu(9-12, 4.11) at TEA-Hooton(7-5, 5.32) TEA 2 at LAA 8 TOA 3 at NYA 12 MNA 3 at OAA 4 BAA 1 at TBA 8 YESTERDAY'S BEST PERFORMANCES BATTER TM OPP AB R H RB BB Ks HR SB B.Higginson DEA KCA 3 2 1 2 2 1 1 1 W.Morris DEA KCA 5 2 3 3 0 0 1 0 J.Barfield NYA TOA 5 1 3 3 0 2 1 0 O.Velez TOA NYA 3 1 2 1 1 0 1 0 B.Grich LAA TEA 5 2 2 2 0 2 1 0 PITCHER TM OPP INN H R ER BB Ks HR WLS D.Heaverlo OAA MNA 4.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 S P.Quantrill BOA CHA 3.1 1 0 0 0 2 0 W T.Felton MNA OAA 3.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 T.Phelps TBA BAA 2.2 1 0 0 1 3 0 S D.Pall CHA BOA 4.0 2 2 0 3 3 0 WHO'S HOT - BEST IN LAST 10 DAYS BATTER TM AVG AB H RB BB HR PITCHER TM IP H ER BB Ks HR WLS C.Pena DEA .344 32 11 7 8 4 D.Schmidt TEA 5 1 0 1 4 0 100 K.Maas NYA .321 28 9 6 5 4 J.Bautista BAA 9 3 0 1 4 0 100 G.Ward MNA .462 39 18 7 3 4 B.Milacki BAA 9 3 0 3 10 0 100 B.Higginson DEA .371 35 13 10 8 2 D.Heaverlo OAA 11 5 0 2 7 0 102 E.Brown KCA .400 35 14 11 2 3 R.Langford OAA 23 22 4 1 12 1 200 WHO'S NOT - WORST IN LAST 10 DAYS BATTER TM AVG AB H RB BB HR PITCHER TM IP H ER BB Ks HR WLS R.Velarde NYA .148 27 4 1 0 0 M.Mason TEA 6 11 12 7 1 1 010 M.Mendoza SEA .143 35 5 1 1 0 Z.Greinke KCA 12 25 15 3 4 5 010 S.Sax NYA .160 25 4 0 1 0 R.Dressler SEA 10 20 8 1 3 2 020 R.Washington MNA .211 38 8 0 0 0 C.Knapp LAA 7 9 7 4 5 1 010 L.Sheets BAA .179 28 5 0 1 0 M.Norris OAA 6 9 7 5 4 2 000 INJURY REPORT P.Stanicek, Baltimore - 4 more games D.Pasqua, Chicago (AL) - 3 more games J.Browne, Cleveland - 11 more games S.Sax, New York (AL) - 1 more games E.Munson, Detroit - 6 more games
We have a three dead horse race in the N.L. Central as the '91 Astros pulled ahead of the '85 Pirates but a half game with the '81 Cubs making a late season charge, sitting three games back. Surprising development in the East as the '88 Braves and '98 Marlins haven't complete sucked ass in the last couple of months where there's now a chance the Loser Card might not come out of the division. Could this be a major choke job? And in the West the '93 Rockies are chipping away at the '81 Padres lead, now within three games going into the final month.
TEAM WON LOST BATTING AVERAGE HOME RUNS RUNS BATTED IN 2000 PHN 79 58 A.Galarra CON .386 R.Lankfor SLN 36 S.Rolen PHN 116 1993 NYN 77 60 J.Mabry SLN .356 B.Bonilla NYN 30 R.Lankfor SLN 111 2008 WAN 71 66 B.Gilkey SLN .340 S.Rolen PHN 30 A.Galarra CON 96 1998 FLN 57 81 B.Buckner CHN .339 E.Karros LAN 28 D.Bichett CON 96 1988 ATN 55 82 S.Rolen PHN .329 E.Murray NYN 27 E.Karros LAN 94 1995 SLN 80 57 WINS SAVES ERA 1982 CIN 75 63 M.Krukow SFN 18 G.Olson ARN 36 M.Krukow SFN 1.86 2002 MLN 70 66 R.Reusche PIN 16 M.Dejean MLN 36 R.Reusche PIN 2.50 1981 CHN 63 74 M.Soto CIN 15 T.Henke SLN 33 R.Person PHN 2.65 1985 PIN 60 76 O.Daal PHN 14 S.Garrelt SFN 29 D.Gooden NYN 2.67 1991 HON 60 77 B.Sheets MLN 14 D.Holmes CON 28 T.Candiot LAN 2.73 1985 SFN 81 55 CUR HIT STREAK STOLEN BASES STRIKEOUTS 1998 ARN 74 62 E.Karros LAN 20 B.Butler LAN 53 M.Soto CIN 236 1992 LAN 73 64 S.Rolen PHN 10 E.Young MLN 51 P.Harnisc HON 178 1993 CON 70 68 B.Jordan SLN 9 V.Coleman NYN 49 B.Sheets MLN 173 1981 SDN 66 70 A.Cedeno HON 8 S.Finley HON 47 D.Gooden NYN 168 OTHERS TIED W 7 A.Sanchez MLN 43 OTHERS TIED W 160 YESTERDAY'S GAMES TODAY'S SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE STARTERS LAN 2 at ARN 3 SLN-Morgan(10-5, 3.66) at ARN-Sodowsk(7-3, 4.43) SFN 4 at CIN 9 HON-Deshaie(6-12, 5.55) at CHN-Krukow(12-13, 3.55) NYN 2 at FLN 3 SFN-Krukow(18-3, 1.86) at CON-Harris(11-11, 4.87) SLN 6 at HON 0 ATN-Mahler(9-14, 4.56) at FLN-Larkin(3-6, 5.75) MLN 5 at PIN 6 SDN-Wise(6-7, 3.11) at LAN-Hershis(10-9, 4.37) CON 3 at SDN 2 NYN-Tanana(8-8, 4.68) at MLN-Quevedo(9-9, 5.43) ATN 4 at WAN 3 PHN-Wolf(13-9, 4.04) at WAN-Perez(7-9, 3.79) PHN 5 at CHN 4 YESTERDAY'S BEST PERFORMANCES BATTER TM OPP AB R H RB BB Ks HR SB T.Pena PIN MLN 5 2 4 4 0 1 1 1 A.Trevino CIN SFN 4 2 2 4 0 0 1 0 L.Smith ATN WAN 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 T.Kennedy SDN CON 3 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 B.Brenly SFN CIN 4 1 1 3 0 0 1 0 PITCHER TM OPP INN H R ER BB Ks HR WLS M.Petkovsek SLN HON 9.0 3 0 0 0 5 0 W T.Glavine ATN WAN 7.0 3 1 0 2 4 0 W L.Hernandez FLN NYN 8.0 5 2 1 3 7 0 W A.Holland PIN MLN 3.0 2 0 0 0 2 0 W D.Capilla CHN PHN 2.0 0 0 0 1 2 0 WHO'S HOT - BEST IN LAST 10 DAYS BATTER TM AVG AB H RB BB HR PITCHER TM IP H ER BB Ks HR WLS T.Pena PIN .375 32 12 11 3 4 M.Petkovsek SLN 11 5 0 0 7 0 300 B.Jordan SLN .300 30 9 10 3 4 R.Delucia SLN 5 1 0 1 5 0 000 E.Karros LAN .400 35 14 10 5 3 P.Byrd PHN 8 4 0 1 8 0 100 D.Strawberry LAN .500 24 12 10 2 1 V.Padilla PHN 6 2 0 0 2 0 000 B.Gilkey SLN .370 27 10 6 6 2 B.Anderson ARN 13 8 1 0 2 0 100 WHO'S NOT - WORST IN LAST 10 DAYS BATTER TM AVG AB H RB BB HR PITCHER TM IP H ER BB Ks HR WLS K.Orie FLN .057 35 2 0 0 0 B.Caudill CHN 8 21 15 7 9 1 020 J.Clark CON .214 28 6 0 0 0 J.Sanchez FLN 8 13 11 7 5 1 020 L.Gonzalez HON .143 35 5 2 2 0 J.Alvarez ATN 8 14 12 3 7 2 010 O.Smith SDN .222 36 8 2 0 0 J.Cabrera MLN 5 11 7 1 2 2 011 D.Hansen LAN .179 28 5 2 1 0 C.Puleo ATN 7 14 9 3 5 0 000 INJURY REPORT T.Blackwell, Chicago (NL) - 3 more games R.Jones, San Diego - 3 more games B.Evans, San Diego - 1 more games E.Davis, Los Angeles - 1 more games C.Hayes, Colorado - 2 more games D.Sheaffer, St. Louis - 8 more games T.Pagnozzi, St. Louis - 5 more games G.Zaun, Florida - 3 more games M.Lieberthal, Philadelphia - 2 more games A.Sanchez, Milwaukee - 1 more games A.Kearns, Washington - 14 more games
Now granted the '88 Braves have scraped together some wins lately but they still are the Braves and they are featured in our boxscore of the month for August. They were drubbed by that juggernaut that was the '08 Nationals 18-2 on August 29th as the Nats banged out 24 hits.
BOXSCORE: 1988 Atlanta Braves At 2008 Washington Nationals 8/29/2008 Braves AB R H RBI AVG Nationals AB R H RBI AVG J.Morrison 3B 4 0 1 0 .138 W.Harris 2B 6 4 3 2 .260 D.James LF 4 0 1 0 .263 C.Guzman SS 6 4 5 1 .319 G.Perry 1B 4 1 0 0 .331 D.Young 1B 4 2 2 2 .270 D.Murphy RF 3 1 1 0 .241 L.Milledge CF 5 0 5 5 .286 A.Thomas SS 4 0 2 0 .261 A.Gonzalez 3B 6 0 0 1 .183 O.Virgil C 4 0 2 2 .294 J.Flores C 4 2 2 1 .275 A.Hall CF 3 0 0 0 .238 E.Bonifacio RF 4 3 3 0 .305 J.Blauser 2B 4 0 1 0 .243 R.Bernadina LF 5 1 2 2 .381 K.Coffman P 0 0 0 0 .143 T.Redding P 5 2 2 2 .107 C.Puleo P 1 0 0 0 .118 M.Estrada P 0 0 0 0 .000 A-P.Runge PH 1 0 0 0 .136 J.Alvarez P 0 0 0 0 .273 B-L.Smith PH 1 0 0 0 .248 R.Mahler P 0 0 0 0 .045 C-T.Simmons PH 1 0 0 0 .203 -- -- -- --- -- -- -- --- Totals 34 2 8 2 Totals 45 18 24 16 A-Pinch Hit For Puleo In 5th Inning B-Pinch Hit For Alvarez In 7th Inning C-Pinch Hit For Mahler In 9th Inning Braves.......... 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 - 2 8 0 Nationals....... 1 5 4 0 5 2 0 1 - 18 24 0 Braves (54-81) IP H R ER BB SO HR PC ERA K.Coffman LOSS(5-4) 1 1/3 5 6 6 2 0 0 45 6.00 C.Puleo 2 2/3 8 4 4 0 3 0 64 5.60 J.Alvarez 2 9 7 7 1 2 1 71 4.52 R.Mahler 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 38 4.56 Totals 8 24 18 18 4 6 1 Nationals (70-65) IP H R ER BB SO HR PC ERA T.Redding WIN(10-7) 8 8 2 2 1 2 0 122 2.88 M.Estrada 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 3.12 Totals 9 8 2 2 1 2 0 ATTENDANCE- 33,441 DATE- Friday, August 29th 2008 TIME- Night WEATHER- Bad T- 3:18 LEFT ON BASE- Braves: 7 Nationals: 8 DOUBLE PLAYS- Braves: 2 Nationals: 1 DOUBLES- D.Murphy(41st), C.Guzman(36th), L.Milledge(22nd), J.Flores(17th), R.Bernadina(4th) HOME RUNS- W.Harris(17th) STOLEN BASES- W.Harris(17th) SACRIFICE FLIES- L.Milledge WALKS- A.Hall, D.Young-2, J.Flores, E.Bonifacio HIT BY PITCH- D.Murphy STRIKE OUTS- J.Morrison-2, J.Flores-2, R.Bernadina-2, T.Redding-2 GIDP- D.James, A.Gonzalez-2 WILD PITCHES- K.Coffman-2, J.Alvarez PASSED BALLS- O.Virgil, J.Flores WEB GEMS- Bot 4th: Jeff Blauser robbed Tim Redding of a base hit.