What is going on?

The Oakland Athletics have won three in a row! For the first time since they won the last 4 games of the 2022 season against the Mariners and Angels.

If they keep this up, I won't have anything to write about. I will write until their win total and winning percentage are better than the 1962 New York Mets. We have a ways to go; Oakland is 15-50 (.231), and the Mets were 40-120 (.250).

Oh, and the Kansas City Royals (18-45, .286) are also in danger of being worse than the Mets, although they are on pace to be merely very bad, not historic.

By Wins

All-time: Oakland (15-50) is 29th worst on the least-wins list, tied with the 1876 NL Milwaukee Grays (15-45), 1877 NL Cincinnati Reds (15-42), 1890 AA Baltimore Orioles (15-19) (who were the only AA team not to finish the season), the 1871 NA Washington Olympics (15-15), and the 1872 NA Troy Trojans (15-10). Next on the list is 16 wins by the 1884 UA Kansas City Cowboys (16-63), 1874 NA Hartford Dark Blues (16-37), and the 1871 NL New York Mutuals (16-17). The Royals (18-45) are 40th on this list, ties with the 1882 NL Worcester Ruby Legs (18-66), whose team was taken away from their owners in the offseason. There are four teams with 19 waiting for them.

Since 1876: The A's are tied at 9th with the 1878 Grays, 1877 Reds, and 1890 Orioles. Next are the Cowboys. Royals tied at 15th; next on the list is the 1879 NL Troy Trojans (19-56).

American League: The White Elephants have the least amount of wins all-time in the AL, followed by the Royals at #2. Next on the list is the 2020 AL Texas Rangers (22-38).

Since 1900: Both teams are #1-#2. Next on this list is the 2020 NL Pittsburgh Pirates (19-41)

Since 1871, >100 games: #1-#2. Next on this list is the first interesting team, the 1899 NL Cleveland Spiders (20-134), the worst modern normal full season team in baseball history.

By Winning Percentage

Note that if any team is over .300, I am not tracking them hear. The Royals have sometimes been that high, but they aren't now.

All-time: Oakland (15-50; .231) is 26th worst, better than the 1872 NA Washington Olympics (2-7, .222), and worse than the 1886 NL Washington Nationals (28-92, .233). Kansas City (18-45, .286) are ahead of the 1884 AA Richmond Virginians (12-30, .286), and ahead of the 1896 NL Louisville Colonels (38-93, .290).

Since 1876: The A's are 11th worst, ahead of the 1897 NL St. Louis Browns (now Cardinals; 29-102 .221), and worse than the 1886 NL Washingotn Nationals (28-92 .233). The Royals are tied at 44th with the 1884 Richamond Virginians (12-30, .286). They are ahead of the 1915 Philadelphia Athletics (43-109, .283), and the 1928 Philadelphia Phillies (43-109, .283), and behing the 1896 NL Louisville Colonels (38-93, .290)

American League: Oakland has the worst AL winning percentage so far. Next on the list is the team that gave up completely, the 1916 AL Philadelphia Athletics (36-117, .235). Kansas City is the 10th worst, better than the 1915 Athletics (.283), and worse than the quite recent 2018 AL Baltimore Orioles (47-115, .290).

Since 1901: Oakland worst here as well, behind their 1916 counterparts. Royals are #16, ahead of the 1915 A's and 1928 Philles (43-109, .283), and behind the 2018 Baltimore Orioles (.290)

Since 1871, >100 games: Oakland is #5 on the worst wining percentage list, ahead of the 1897 St. Louis Browns (now the Cardinals; 29-102, .221), and behind the 1886 Washington Nationals (28-92, .233). Kansas City is #29, ahead of the two Philly teams from 1915 and 1928 (.283), and behind the 1896 NL Louisville Colonels (.290)

By Losses

Not significant yet. I only have lists down to 100 losses. Oakland has 50; KS has 45.

BTW, I am NOT rooting for either team to be bad. I would be happy to stop writing about these teams being this depressing. It is interesting seeing the carnage of 19th century "major" league non-integrated teams, and see broken team from the 20th century, but I don't want any modern team to ever be this bad.

I had Oakland Athletics 2000 post-season tickets, and season tickets from 2001-2006. I was at the Moneyball game and the other home games in that magic 20-game win streak. I was at the game with the famous Derek Jeter play. While I don't live there anymore, I still root for them against every time except my hometown Astros.

I am documenting this because this might actually be historic. Hopefully, it won't be.

I don't approve of what the A's are trying to do here. They are playing in the Oakland Alameda Coliseum. Even in it's best days, it wasn't the best stadium. When they added Mt. Davis, they destroyed any charm it had. I loved the view of the Oakland Hills and the BART line, and the flower boxes i the outfield. I did love how easy it was to get in and out of your seats (I could use the bathroom or get a hot dog most games during the inning break), and having it on BART was great as well. Oakland weather is spectacular, so having outdoor baseball there makes all kinds of sense.

The A's should logically be in San Jose now, but MLB screwed that up when they bent over backwards to keep the Giants in the Bay Area in the early nineties, declaring that Santa Clara county was "Giants territory", prohibiting any other team from moving there.

The current stadium is rotting in place. The plumbing is backing up, and there are feral critters in the stadium. It's also not in the best neighborhood. There is nothing in walking distance (except one bar near the steps up to BART). It is bounded by a freeway on the west, and BART on the east, with warehouses on the north and south.

The team is not interested in remodeling the stadium. I think they could have probably worked with the city to take down Mt. Davis, and maybe destroy the arena where the Warriors used to play, and make that a multi-purpose business park, with shops, apartments, and the like. But the team wants a new stadium/real-estate complex, like the one they built in Cobb Country Georgia.

The team has raised ticket prices, and sold off all interesting parts, driving down attendance. They, of course, can then complain that they can't support there team with that attendance. And with regional sports network revenue drying up, they are feeling the pinch.

But the city isn't taking the bait. The Bay Area already has a team who build their own stadium, and built their own real estate empire across the Bay. The city was willing to negotiate when it was just a stadium, but they don't seem to have an appetite for the BS claim that a new stadium complex would generate a lot of tax revenue and jobs, something that many many studies have shown doesn't actually happen.

So the A's are trying to get Las Vegas to give them billions and billions of dollars, and acres of high-priced real estate. And they could not keep that quiet, so they announced that they were moving without having a deal in place. 

The Nevada legislature has not played ball like expected, so now they are in limbo. I can't imaging that that Oakland and Alameda County will renew the least on the Coliseum, which is expiring soon. And they don't have a stadium deal in place yet.

This has totally blown up in their face. I can't imagine this ownership group can fix this situation; somebody else is going to have to buy this team and build a stadium.

We are going to see a lot more very bad baseball out of this team. And it's really a shame; they went to the playoffs from 1970-1975, 1988-1992 (with one year skipped), 2000-2003, 2006, and off an on from 2012-2020), and won 6 pennants and 4 World Series during their time in Oakland. That's outstanding.

And it's over.