Worst teams of 1986-1990
The Tigers fell rapidly from the grandeur of 1984 to the disgrace of 1989
No team in baseball’s Modern Era — the period since 1961 — was better than the 1984 Tigers.
That Detroit squad won 35 of its first 40 games, led the American League East from wire to wire, breezed to a world championship while losing only one postseason game, and amassed the era’s highest team score (TS), 97.109 points.
TS, as you recall, is an equalized measure of a club’s performance in any given season. It’s plotted on a 100-point scale. (Click here to learn more.) I’m using it to determine the best (and worst) teams in each half-decade throughout the Modern Era.
Today’s topic is the worst clubs from 1986 to 1990, a list that you wouldn’t expect to include the Tigers. It’s almost impossible to imagine them plummeting so quickly from the summit of 1984.
But that’s what they did. The 1989 Tigers suffered 103 defeats — 45 more than their 1984 predecessors — and cratered with a team score of 8.859 points, the lowest figure in the half-decade that we’re analyzing today.
A total of 1,656 teams took the field between 1961 and 2022. Only four clubs (0.2 percent) were worse than Detroit’s 1989 squad.
A pair of entries from 1988 — the Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves — are the runners-up on today’s unhappy list of 1986-1990’s worst teams. Rounding out the bottom five are the 1987 Cleveland Indians and the 1990 New York Yankees.
This is the sixth installment in my ongoing series about the worst ballclubs of the Modern Era. Follow these links to see previous stories about the tailenders in 1961-1965, 1966-1970, 1971-1975, 1976-1980, and 1981-1985. If you want to read about the best teams in today’s half-decade, 1986-1990, click this link.
Look below for a rundown of 1986-1990’s 10 tailenders. Each is listed with its win-loss record and its Modern Era percentile, the percentage of all clubs between 1961 and 2022 that it outperformed. Team scores and additional facts and figures are provided for the period’s five worst clubs.
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1. Detroit Tigers (1989)
Record: 59-103
Team score: 8.859 points
Modern Era percentile: 0.2%
Manager: Sparky Anderson
Stars: Second baseman Lou Whitaker led the Tigers with 28 home runs and 85 runs batted in. Designated hitter Keith Moreland batted .299. Frank Tanana anchored the pitching staff with a 10-14 record and a 3.58 earned run average.
Bottom line: Yes, as noted above, the Tigers were great in 1984, and they were reasonably strong as late as 1987, when they won the American League East with a 98-64 record. But they plummeted to 103 losses just two years later. Detroit’s 1989 squad dropped into last place for good in early June.
2. Baltimore Orioles (1988)
Record: 54-107
Team score: 9.850 points
Modern Era percentile: 0.4%
Manager: Cal Ripken Sr. and Frank Robinson
Stars: A pair of future Hall of Famers provided the power in Baltimore’s lineup. First baseman Eddie Murray finished with 28 homers and 84 RBIs, shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. with 23 and 81. Jeff Ballard posted the starting rotation’s best record, 8-12.
Bottom line: The Orioles cemented their fate in their first 21 games, all of which they lost. They floundered 16 games behind the leader in the AL East before April was over. That margin widened to 34.5 games by the time that Baltimore’s 107-loss season reached its conclusion.
3. Atlanta Braves (1988)
Record: 54-106
Team score: 12.913 points
Modern Era percentile: 1.3%
Manager: Chuck Tanner and Russ Nixon
Stars: Right fielder Dale Murphy set the pace at the plate, delivering 24 homers and 77 runs batted in. First baseman Gerald Perry batted an even .300 in 141 games. Tom Glavine, a 22-year-old pitcher, secured seven wins, but he also led the National League with 17 losses.
Bottom line: All five Atlanta squads in this half-decade had losing records, but the 1988 team was the worst at 54-106. The Braves began the season with a 10-game losing streak, burying them in last place in the NL West. And that’s where they finished, 39.5 games out of first.
4. Cleveland Indians (1987)
Record: 61-101
Team score: 15.631 points
Modern Era percentile: 2.3%
Manager: Pat Corrales and Doc Edwards
Stars: Center fielder Brett Butler topped the Indians in runs scored (91) and stolen bases (33). Three batters walloped more than 30 home runs: right fielder Cory Snyder (33), first baseman Joe Carter (32), and third baseman Brook Jacoby (32).
Bottom line: The Indians were stuck in a rut, sinking below .500 in 11 of 12 seasons from 1982 through 1993. They were especially weak around the midpoint of that streak, losing 101 games in 1987. Cleveland was 23 games behind at the All-Star break, 37 games out by the end.
5. New York Yankees (1990)
Record: 67-95
Team score: 17.305 points
Modern Era percentile: 3.4%
Manager: Bucky Dent and Stump Merrill
Stars: Center fielder Roberto Kelly batted .285 and stole 42 bases. Right fielder Jesse Barfield led the club with 25 homers and 78 RBIs. Closer Dave Righetti managed to secure 36 saves for a team that won only 67 games.
Bottom line: The Yankees have finished above .500 every year since 1993, but they were saddled with losing records in the four seasons prior to that. Their worst year during that stretch was 1990 at 67-95, a record that mired New York in last place in the AL East.
Next five
6. Atlanta Braves (1990), 65-97, 5.0%
7. Philadelphia Phillies (1989), 67-95, 5.2%
8. Seattle Mariners (1986), 67-95, 5.7%
9. Baltimore Orioles (1987), 67-95, 6.2%
10. Philadelphia Phillies (1988), 65-96, 6.7%