The 2024 Major League Baseball season just ended and the Chicago White Sox had a historically awful season. But was it as bad as the 1962 New York Mets? Or the 2003 Detroit Tigers? Or the 2023 Oakland A’s? Let’s find out.
I went back to the beginning of the expansion era in 1961 and looked at all the teams that were really bad. The 1962 - 1965 New York Mets have the worst four year stretch in baseball history. The most games they won in that stretch was 53 in 1964. The Houston Astros of 2011 - 2013 rivaled those Mets teams, winning 56 games in 2011 and actually got worse each of the next two seasons. The 1988 Baltimore Orioles started the season 0-18 and finished with a dismal 54-107 record. But that’s not even their worst team. The 2018 Baltimore Orioles went 47-115.
Since 1961, only five teams failed to win 50 games in a season:
- 1962 New York Mets (40-120)
- 2003 Detroit Tigers (43-119)
- 2018 Baltimore Orioles (47-115)
- 2019 Detroit Tigers (47-114)
- 2024 Chicago White Sox (41-121)
But I’m not basing this solely on their record. How many runs did they score? How many runs did they allow? My rating system takes all of this into account. So without further ado, here are the ten worst baseball teams of the expansion era:
| Year | Team | Wins | Losses | Runs | Runs Allowed | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Chicago White Sox | 41 | 121 | 507 | 813 | 54.996 |
| 1962 | New York Mets | 40 | 120 | 617 | 948 | 55.441 |
| 2003 | Detroit Tigers | 43 | 119 | 591 | 928 | 56.324 |
| 2019 | Detroit Tigers | 47 | 114 | 582 | 915 | 58.968 |
| 2023 | Oakland A’s | 50 | 112 | 585 | 924 | 60.446 |
| 2018 | Baltimore Orioles | 47 | 115 | 622 | 892 | 62.534 |
| 2004 | Arizona Diamondbacks | 51 | 111 | 615 | 899 | 64.198 |
| 1979 | Oakland A’s | 54 | 108 | 573 | 860 | 65.218 |
| 1996 | Detroit Tigers | 53 | 109 | 783 | 1103 | 66.050 |
| 2013 | Houston Astros | 51 | 111 | 610 | 848 | 66.485 |
There you have it. The 2024 Chicago White Sox are officially the worst team of the expansion era. Note: The 1963 and 1965 New York Mets would have been on this list, but I decided to only include the worst team from that run.