Phillies' 10,000 Losses Should be Honored
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by user The Waiver Wire
Now at 9,991 losses and counting, the Philadelphia Phillies’ pursuit towards becoming the first team in professional sports history to 10,000 losses is as inevitable as death and taxes, to quote an overused cliché.
While it wouldn’t be my first choice as a marketing pitch for a banner to hang in the stadium, there’s nothing to be ashamed of with holding this distinction. To me, being the first to 10,000 losses is only a mark of the longevity of the franchise.
The Phillies have existed as a franchise over a period of 124 years, making them the 6th oldest franchise in major league baseball (behind the Braves, Cubs, Reds, Pirates, Cardinals, tied with Giants), and the 5th oldest to remain in one city (Chicago, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, St. Louis). It is to be expected that, over that span, there would be some difficult seasons in which the losses would pile up, and though they may have come more frequently for Philadelphia than the other franchises I’ve named, it isn’t a huge gap. The Braves have 9,673 losses, and the Cubs, Reds, and Pirates are all over 9,300 themselves. I could even go as far as to say that the fact that the Phillies continued to be supported in spite of their record speaks to the devotion that Philadelphia sports fans have for their franchises.
For those willing to proclaim the Phillies as the worst franchise in professional sports when they hit the lamentable milestone, look at some of these numbers.
All-Time Loss Leaders
Cy Young (316)
Pud Galvin (310)
Nolan Ryan (292)
Walter Johnson (279)
Phil Niekro (274)
Gaylord Perry (265)
Don Sutton (256)
That’s a fairly exclusive list; seven Hall-of-Famers (I can admit it - I had to check for Pud). Cy Young may have had the most wins in Major League history, but he also had the most losses on account of the fact that he made the most starts. In fact, none of the seven on that list ranked outside the top 12 in career starts. But would anyone consider these seven pitchers the worst seven in history because of their loss total? If they did, they’d have no business discussing sports.
The same applies in other professional sports – George Blanda, an NFL Hall-of-Famer leads the NFL in Career Interceptions thrown, and the only player on track to surpass him is Brett Favre. If he did pass Blanda’s 267 INTs, would we disregard the rest of his stellar career, and focus on that one total? It would be impossible.
When that day comes in the next two or three weeks when Philadelphia gets to 10,000 in the loss column, I hope Phils fans will celebrate like those at http://www.celebrate10000.com/, who honour the fans that have supported Philadelphia sports for years, sometimes in spite of their records.
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