The original title of this post was to be “Milwaukee Blows”, but I have a lot of friends and family in that state (my parents met at Madison, where my dad was briefly in the same graduate school program as Dick Cheney), so we’ll take it easy.
The Brewers have blown a lot of leads this year — 13 times they have been ahead by at least three runs, and gone on to lose the ballgame. Even more remarkably, nine of those losses have come since July 28, which is the sort of thing that gets managers and pitching coaches fired.
Our friends at ESPN Radio Milwaukee asked us if this is an historic number: has a team ever turned that many 3-run leads into losses and gone on to make the playoffs? The answer is yes, although it isn’t easy to do. Since 1959, just two teams have blown more than 13 3-run leads and advanced to the playoffs: the 1974 Pirates, who lost 14 ballgames that way, and the 1963 Dodgers, who lost 18 (that Dodger team had a staff ERA of 2.85, so this has to be one of the stranger statistics of all time). Several other teams did blow exactly 13 games and make the playoffs — but of course, the Brewers still have five more weeks to surpass that threshold.
The all-time leaders in this category (well, since 1959) are listed below. Thanks to BP MVP Bil Burke for processing the request.
year team blown
2000 HOU 20
1998 SEA 20
1998 FLO 19
1999 KCA 19
1971 WS2 19
1996 KCA 18
2002 TOR 18
1963 CHN 18
1963 LAN* 18
2004 PHI 17
1963 PHI 17
1986 OAK 17
2005 TBA 17
1973 MIL 16
2002 TBA 16
2004 CIN 16
2006 KCA 16
2003 TOR 16
1997 KCA 16
1987 ATL 16
1989 SEA 16
1996 BOS 16
2000 PIT 16
1999 SLN 15
1973 ATL 15
1992 PHI 15
2001 PIT 15
2000 CLE 15
1997 ANA 15
1985 CLE 15
1963 HOU 15
2004 MON 15
2000 KCA 15
1997 BOS 15
1998 LAN 15
1970 SFN 15
1986 LAN 15
2003 CLE 15
1980 MIL 15
2001 FLO 15
1960 CHN 14
2002 TEX 14
1987 CLE 14
1996 DET 14
1986 MIN 14
1987 BOS 14
1991 CLE 14
1999 SFN 14
1962 CHN 14
1971 MIN 14
1974 PIT* 14
1975 HOU 14
1991 MON 14
2002 PHI 14
2004 TOR 14
1996 SFN 14
2001 TBA 14
2004 COL 14
1959 DET 14
1998 SLN 14
2002 DET 14
1973 TEX 13
2000 MIN 13
1995 DET 13
1996 SEA 13
1999 OAK 13
2000 TEX 13
2004 CLE 13
1995 SEA* 13
1998 CHN* 13
1978 LAN* 13
1979 SEA 13
2002 ANA* 13
2004 DET 13
2007 MIL 13 <------------------------
1989 BOS 13
1995 MIN 13
2000 OAK* 13
2005 BOS* 13
1979 KCA 13
2006 LAN 13
1988 KCA 13
1999 CHN 13
2004 SFN 13
2005 TEX 13
1979 NYA 13
1984 MIL 13
* made playoffs
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