The NFL portion of the loser update has to wait until tomorrow. The 0-3 Jets play the 0-3 Dolphins tonight. I’m sure this will be an exciting game, if you’re a big fan of fiascos.
The major league baseball regular season ended yesterday, though.
It delights me to be able to report that Cleveland clinched their division (AL Central) and Detroit clinched a playoff berth (also in the AL Central). I will be happy if either team goes to the big show.
But I know that’s not what you are wondering about.
The White Sox finshed 60-102, for a .370 winning percentage. That’s bad, but it doesn’t even make Wikipedia’s list for the modern era.
And the Rockies? Well, I was half right. They did get swept by Seattle (who won their division: the AL West).
But they also got swept by San Francisco. I had figured they’d win one game in SF, but they managed to put together a six game losing streak.
Their final record? 43-119, for a .265 winning percentage. So, so close to a record.
As it is, they are fourth on the Wikipedia list for losses (tied with the 2003 Tigers, and ahead of the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics). If you sort by winning percentage, they come in eighth, tied again with the 2003 Tigers and just ahead of the 1952 Pittsburgh Pirates. (For the record, the 2024 White Sox were .253, for fifth place on the list. The modern era record for worst winning percentage is still the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics, at .235 over 153 games.)
I remember when the NFL scheduled Monday Night games by the two teams that they thought would give them a good game for prime time viewers. It seems that they either have gone away from that, or some teams simply refuse to comply.
As for the Tigers, they sort of backed their way into the playoffs, after having what appeared to be a lock on not only their division, but on the first round bye. Last year they followed a mediocre season with a winning streak to get into the playoffs. Then they lost to a better team in the first round. No doubt with the way things go in Detroit sports, we will see the Tigers in the World Series.
I can’t post today without a word said about all of the killing done by crazy murderers this past weekend. Especially since one happened in a city that is just a couple of hours drive from me. Evil has always existed, and it shows no sign of changing it’s stripes. My prayers are for the families of the 3 incidents that I know of where people were both killed and seriously harmed. I pray for a day when such incidents are much further apart and condemned by all sides equally.
Pigpen: I think the NFL still does that, or at least tries to. Honestly, I don’t think anybody expected these two teams to be 0-3 at this point. I also think there’s an element of “two teams from major metropolitan areas” as well. “People in New York will watch anything we put on, no matter how bad they are!”
The Tigers may have backed their way into the playoffs, but they might very well be peaking in time for the World Serious. So far, Lawrence hasn’t offered me a bet on the Tigers or Cleveland.
I would hate to predict Tigers or the Indians, I mean the Guardians. They are both pretty equally matched. I suspect it will come down to who can score the big runs when needed. Not many 1-0 or 2-1 game wins.
But with so much happening in the world today, my mind has sort of left sports behind a bit. I am more about making sure that I don’t go someplace where I don’t belong.