Worst teams of 1996-2000
Detroit reached the heights in 1984, then plumbed the depths in 1996
Fair is fair. Detroit fans enjoyed watching the best team in the Modern Era, so they had no reason to complain about enduring the worst squad of the 62-year period.
A total of 1,656 major-league ballclubs took the field between 1961 and 2022, and I’ve calculated team scores for all of them. (Click here to learn more about TS.) Detroit earned a score of 97.109 points on the equalized 100-point scale in 1984, the highest TS throughout the entire era.
The flip side came just 12 years later in 1996, when the Tigers bottomed out with a score of 5.197 points, the lowest mark for any Modern Era club.
Only one big name from Detroit’s 1984 champions was still around in ’96, though Alan Trammell played just 66 games in what would be his final season. Manager Sparky Anderson had retired the previous fall. He said he was leaving because the game seemed to have changed, and not for the better. Skeptics insisted that the Tigers’ top brass had pushed him out.
If so, they did him a favor. A 12-game losing streak in May set the stage for a dismal season for new manager Buddy Bell. Another 12-game skid in September wrapped things up. The Tigers lost games in bunches all year, suffering nine losing streaks of five games or longer.
The final dispiriting numbers: 109 defeats, 6.81 runs allowed per game (the worst mark for any pitching staff since 1961), and the aforementioned lowest TS of the entire Modern Era.
I’m examining the era’s lousiest clubs at five-year intervals on successive Mondays, a search that brings us today to 1996-2000, a span that opened with Detroit’s miserable ‘96 perfomance.
That edition of the Tigers is the only club in today’s standings to finish with a score below 12 points. The 1998 Florida Marlins (TS of 12.978) fill the runner-up slot with a TS of 12.978. Rounding out the list of 1996-2000’s five worst clubs are the 1997 Oakland Athletics, the 1997 Philadelphia Phillies, and the 1996 San Francisco Giants.
This is the eighth installment in my series about the Modern Era’s worst ballclubs. Follow these links to see previous stories about the tailenders in 1961-1965, 1966-1970, 1971-1975, 1976-1980, 1981-1985, 1986-1990, and 1991-1995. If you prefer to take a positive approach, use this link to read about the best teams in today’s half-decade, 1996-2000.
Look below for breakdowns of 1996-2000’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 (1996)
Record: 53-109
Team score: 5.197 points
Modern Era percentile: 0.0%
Manager: Buddy Bell
Stars: Five Tigers swatted more than 20 home runs, led by first baseman Tony Clark with 27. Third baseman Travis Fryman scored 90 runs and drove home 100, leading the club in both categories. Left fielder Bobby Higginson batted .320.
Bottom line: The Tigers fell into last place in the American League in the first week of May, and they never climbed any higher. They finished 39 games out of first. Another decade of pain awaited, as Detroit wouldn’t climb above .500 again until 2006.
2. Florida Marlins (1998)
Record: 54-108
Team score: 12.978 points
Modern Era percentile: 1.3%
Manager: Jim Leyland
Stars: Left fielder Cliff Floyd set the pace for the Marlins with 22 homers and 90 RBIs. Second baseman Craig Counsell posted the club’s best on-base average of .355. Brian Meadows led the pitching staff with 11 wins.
Bottom line: The Marlins dropped from peak to valley more rapidly than the Tigers did. Florida (as Miami’s franchise was known at the time) won the World Series in 1997, then commenced a fire sale. The club plummeted from 92 wins in its title season to just 54 in 1998.
3. Oakland Athletics (1997)
Record: 65-97
Team score: 16.589 points
Modern Era percentile: 2.8%
Manager: Art Howe
Stars: First baseman Mark McGwire was the most dependable member of Oakland’s batting order, drilling 34 homers before being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals at the end of July. Third baseman Dave Magadan hit .303. Reliever Aaron Small led the club with nine wins.
Bottom line: The Athletics started the year decently enough, going 13-13 in April. But they nosedived to a 9-21 mark in May, setting an unhappy tone for the rest of the 1997 season. They ended the year 25 games behind Seattle, the champs of the American League West.
4. Philadelphia Phillies (1997)
Record: 68-94
Team score: 20.921 points
Modern Era percentile: 5.9%
Manager: Terry Francona
Stars: Future Hall of Fame third baseman Scott Rolen batted .283, drove in 92 runs, and was named the National League’s Rookie of the Year. Pitcher Curt Schilling somehow fashioned a sterling 17-11 record for a club that went 51-83 in its other games.
Bottom line: Terry Francona might eventually make it to the Hall of Fame, though his first year as a manager was anything but successful. An 11-game losing streak in late June and early July essentially clinched Philadelphia’s last-place finish in the NL East.
5. San Francisco Giants (1996)
Record: 68-94
Team score: 22.411 points
Modern Era percentile: 7.4%
Manager: Dusty Baker
Stars: Left fielder Barry Bonds topped the Giants in almost every offensive category, including batting average (.308), home runs (42), runs batted in (129), stolen bases (40), and walks (151). Starter Mark Gardner paced the pitching staff with a 12-7 record.
Bottom line: The Giants were comfortably above .500 with a 36-33 record as of June 20, only to spiral into a 10-game losing streak that ended any dreams of playoff contention. They dropped 63 of their final 100 games, plunging into last place in the National League West.
Next five
6. Florida Marlins (1999), 64-98, 7.6%
7. Philadelphia Phillies (1996), 67-95, 7.7%
8. Minnesota Twins (1999), 63-97, 7.8%
9. Montreal Expos (2000), 67-95, 8.8%
10. Minnesota Twins (2000), 69-93, 9.5%