1962 New York Mets

 We've discussed the 1998 Yankees, who won the most games in baseball history (114 regular season + 11 postseason = 125 wins) on top of their championship...but on the other end of the spectrum, we have the worst record in history: the 1962 Mets. 120 losses is the mark for failure, and the Mets have found no equal. We tend to grant them a pass because this was their inaugural season and its expected that brand new teams perform terribly. Other terrible teams like the A's and Tigers have threatened this mark, but for now the Mets hold the record, kinda like a ying-yang with the Yankees being the greatest, and it's all contained in NYC...or that would all be true if not for the 2024 Chicago White Sox, who as we speak are challenging the record for failure.

The 120 losses could have been worse, their official record was 40-120-1. One tie and a cancelled game saved the Mets from finishing even worse than 120 Ls. The fans didn't care though. The Yankees were on their way to a 2nd straight title in '62 and the city was thankful that National League baseball had returned. A few years prior, the Giants and Dodgers abandoned the city for the west coast, and the Mets had arrived to fill the void. The weren't just here to replace the two former teams, the Mets were an attempt to fuse the franchises for nostalgia. The colors were orange and blue, complete with a Giants orange NY logo on a Dodger blue cap. They played in the Polo Grounds, and for good measure they brought in Casey Stengel. Not a single original aspect of their look.

Things got off to a bad start...nine times. It took 10 tries to win a game for the new franchise. Double digit losing streaks were a normal thing for the Mets, while the most in a row they'd win was just three games. In 2003, the Detroit Tigers would threaten the record for losses, but only finish out with 119, giving them the AL record for failure, but leaving the Mets as kings of baseball. Worth noting that while the Mets were just a first year franchise, the Tigers were just a very poorly run organization. But now in 2024, it seems that another AL Central team has come to claim the crown as the Chicago White Sox of 2024 have finally retired the '62 Mets from history.

But for now, let us honor the retiring title holders...

The regulars we're altogether *that* bad....but none of them were very good either. Ashburn was the one all star, as he capped off his hall of fame career by leading this bunch of castoffs from other teams. Faced with the prospect of returning in 1963 to possibly play off the bench for the Mets, Richie chose to retire instead.

And in the clutch, here is what the Mets had to draw from on their bench. Aside from Hodges, not a lot of bright spots. Don Zimmer barely qualifies for this set, but he is a baseball treasure, so his terrible card is included.
Poor Gil Hodges. Another legend of baseball who was closing out his career with the Mets. Unlike Ashburn, though, Hodges had a history with the city as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers. And if you think the indignity of being apart of 120 losses was the worst thing that the Mets could do to Gil, then I refer you to sportscaster and radio host Don LaGreca, who maintains that the Mets also killed Gil Hodges.

The rotation of failure. Roger Craig was their first "ace" as he led the team with just 10 wins...and led baseball with 24 losses. Jay Hook finally got the team their first win (in game #10) en route to a 8-19 season...Al Jackson also lost 20 games. Those three men were the only guys with over 100 Ks.

Mets had a lot of bullpen needs in 1962. Craig Anderson led the staff with a whopping FOUR saves. Ken MacKenzie can puff out his chest, as with his 5-4 record, he was the only pitcher on the entire staff who had a winning record.