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A unique take on sports news, updated several times throughout the day.
7/16/2007 10:07:00 AM

The Phillies do not walk alone

As you've surely heard by now, the Phillies have become the phirst phranchise to lose 10,000 games. We here at the 10 Spot, of course, are never ones to pile on. After all, it's not like the Phils are the only ones ever to lose a contest. So to take a little heat off, here's a list of some other notable losers:

• Most career losses, pitcher: Cy Young, 316. Young also has the most victories with 511. In fact, the seven pitchers with the most career losses are all in the Hall of Fame. To paraphrase an old baseball bromide, you have to be a pretty good pitcher to lose 250 games.

• Most career losses, manager: Connie Mack, 3,948. Another Hall of Famer, like Young he ranks first in wins too (with 3,731). Of the defeats, 3,814 came where else -- Philadelphia.

• Losingest NBA Franchise: Warriors, 2,190-2,562. OK, this probably won't make Philly feel much better either since 545 of the defeats came as the Philadelphia Warriors.

• Losingest NBA coach: Lenny Wilkens, 1,155. The Hall of Famer also ranks first with 1,332 coaching victories.

• Losingest NFL franchise: Cardinals, 658. (The Cards are 453-658-38 overall in Arizona, St. Louis and Chicago.) The Eagles have the third-most losses with 516 while the Lions are in second with 544.

• Losingest NFL coach: Dan Reeves, 165. Reeves also won 190 games and reached three Super Bowls with the Broncos and one with the Falcons, though fittingly for this list he lost them all.

• Most presidential elections lost as a major-party nominee: William Jennings Bryan, 3. He might have waxed eloquent about the Cross of Gold but could only take home silver as the Democratic nominee in 1896, 1900 and 1908. Bryan lost twice to William McKinley and once to William Howard Taft.

• Most Oscar nominations without a win: Kevin O'Connell, 19. The sound man was most recently nominated for Apocalypto, the story of the Phils' 1964 collapse. (OK, not really.) Peter O'Toole has the most acting nominations of anyone still on the schneid, with eight.
posted by SI.com | View comments |  

Comments:

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Posted: July 16, 2007 10:51 AM   by Anonymous
Hey Pete,
Didn't Susan Lucci lose about 18 times before finally winning an Emmy?
Posted: July 16, 2007 11:03 AM   by Son of Papi
Another memorable loss for the 10 Spot...Pete's hat.
Posted: July 16, 2007 11:03 AM   by Anonymous
Second place in most losses are the Atlanta Braves, who are less than 300 losses away from 10,000. Puts their successful over the last 16 or so years into perspective.
Posted: July 16, 2007 11:21 AM   by Venkat
Actually Philadelphia fans deserve better respect....when the media goes gaga over the Cubs and Red Sox fans for putting up with such a drought, us, Philadelphia fans need a shout out....but what we get are articles portraying us as bunch of classless, drunken dorks...okay we booed Santa Claus but we always rally behind our teams, and never give up season after season.....please show us some love
Posted: July 16, 2007 11:44 AM   by Anonymous
Why is it that the Cubs, Phillies and other clubs get attention for losing and being a model of futility? The most pathetic team in MLB history is undoubtedly the Senators/Rangers with the 3 measly division titles and a 1-9 playoff record since their inception in 1961.
Posted: July 16, 2007 12:43 PM   by anonymoose
I live in Philly and I can tell you that Philly fans are incredibly deserving of the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers and Sixers. If the Eagles start 2-0, everyone starts talking about the Super Bowl, they lose two in a row and they want McNabb traded. You can't take your kids to a game unless you want to spend several hours after explaining the human anatomy so they can understand what the other "fans" were shouting. At least the Cubs are lovable losers, rather than just losers.
Posted: July 16, 2007 2:12 PM   by Smart Alec
Anon 11:44
Actually the Senators record for futility goes back much further. The team has been around since 1901 (in 1960 they moved to Minn. to become the twins but a new Senators team started up in their place)
and the usual phrase regarding them was:

"Wash. D.C., 1st in peace, 1st in war and last in the American league."
Posted: July 16, 2007 4:35 PM   by Anonymous
I know how long the Senators have been around. I am referring to the expansion Senators who started in 1961, then moved to TX before the '72 season. What I am really griping about is the Texas Rangers and their lack of success. What other baseball team has only 1 playoff game victory in 46 years? The Rangers are just ridiculous. They are the ones who should bear the brunt of baseball loser jokes, not the Cubs, Phillies, etc.
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