Thanks to nine runs in two innings–a week’s output for last April’s squad–the Detroit Tigers moved to 4-0 with a 10-6 win over the Minnesota Twins. While the Tigers have gotten fairly good pitching, with all four starters notching wins and a team ERA of 3.00, the key to the start has been an offense gone haywire. The Bengals have 30 runs in four games, with at least six tallies in each contest. It’s the first time since last May that the Tigers have scored six or more runs in at least four straight games (a streak that stretched to five at the time).
I had a sense that what the Tigers had done this week was historic, so I decided to put on my researcher cap–two sizes too big, signed by Clay Davenport, and rarely worn–and check. I fired up my two favorite tools, the Sabermetric Baseball Encyclopedia and Retrosheet (God Bless Retrosheet!) and tried to ascertain how unique this was.
Damned if I’ll go down that particular rabbit hole again. Thinking this would be a quick process, I soon discovered that the Tigers have gone where no team of their ilk had gone before. Of the worst 50 teams by winning percentage in baseball history, none had ever started the following season 4-0 until Steve Colyer closed out the game yesterday. Just one, the 1928-29 Braves, had opened 3-0.
Until yesterday, the worst team to open the next season 4-0 had been the 1905-06 Boston…well, the Boston entry in the National League, which was the Beaneaters in ’06 and had about eleventeen names in the first half of the 20th century (the Doves?). Their .331 winning percentage in 1905 is tied for the 51st worst in modern baseball history. Note to Alan Trammell: not a role model. That squad started 4-0 and closed 45-102.
Here’s the data dump, through those 1906 Braves:
Rk Team Year Pct. Rec* 1 A's 1916 .235 1-3 2 Braves 1935 .248 1-3 3 Mets 1962 .250 0-4 4 Senators 1904 .252 1-3 5 A's 1919 .257 1-3 6 Tigers 2003 .265 4-0 7 Pirates 1952 .273 1-3 8 Senators 1909 .276 2-2 9 Phillies 1942 .278 1-3 T10 Browns 1939 .279 2-2 T10 Red Sox 1932 .279 1-3 T10 Phillies 1941 .279 0-4 T13 A's 1915 .283 0-4 T13 Phillies 1928 .283 2-2 15 Braves 1911 .291 3-1 16 Braves 1909 .294 2-2 17 Browns 1911 .296 2-2 18 Phillies 1939 .298 1-3 T19 Phillies 1945 .299 0-4 T19 Browns 1937 .299 1-3 21 Phillies 1938 .300 1-2-1 22 Red Sox 1926 .301 0-4 T23 Terrapins 1915 .305 NA T23 Phillies 1961 .305 3-1 T23 Browns 1910 .305 2-2 26 Mets 1965 .309 2-2 27 Red Sox 1925 .309 2-2 28 A's 1920 .312 1-3 T29 Senators 1903 .314 0-3-1 T29 Cardinals 1903 .314 2-2 31 Mets 1963 .315 0-4 32 Dodgers 1905 .316 0-4 T33 Cardinals 1908 .318 2-2 T33 A's 1943 .318 3-1 T33 A's 1946 .318 1-3 T33 Red Sox 1906 .318 2-2 T37 Expos 1969 .321 0-4 T37 Padres 1969 .321 2-2 T39 Braves 1906 .325 3-1 T39 White Sox 1932 .325 2-2 T41 Phillies 1923 .325 1-2-1 T41 Pirates 1953 .325 1-3 T41 Senators 1949 .325 2-2 T41 Tigers 1952 .325 1-3 T45 Phillies 1940 .327 1-3 T45 Braves 1928 .327 3-1 (3-0) T47 Blue Jays 1979 .327 1-3 T47 Tigers 1996 .327 1-3 T47 Mets 1964 .327 1-3 50 Yankees 1912 .329 1-3 T51 Yankees 1908 .331 3-1 T51 A's 1954 .331 1-3 T51 Pirates 1917 .331 2-2 T51 Phillies 1927 .331 2-2 T51 Braves 1905 .331 4-0 *Rec: Rec to start next season
The 1915 Baltimore Terrapins of the Federal League ceased to exist, along with the rest of the league, after the season.
In doing something like this, you really get a sense of how much better competitive balance is now than it was for most of the century. Bad teams used to be worse, and stayed worse for much longer stretches. This list consists almost entirely of teams that played prior to the free-agent era. In fact, the two Tigers entries are the only ones from the expansion era that don’t belong to expansion teams or a close relative.
I’m not even going to get into whether they can keep it up. It’s four games, and all we really know is what we knew a week ago–this is a better offense, and the pitching is supported by better infield defense. You can’t come close to drawing conclusions based on four games.
I will say that it was fun to see a huge crowd cheering wildly in Comerica Park. That’s something rarely seen since the park opened in 2000. Detroit can be a good baseball town that will turn out for a competitive team, and if the Tigers stay in the Central race deep into the summer, as I expect them to, they’ll see a big bump in attendance and revenue.
I’m off to the middle of the Pacific, folks. Have a great weekend, and I’ll check in on Tuesday.
Thank you for reading
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