If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant’s life, she will choose to save the infant’s life without even considering if there is a man on base.
– Dave Barry
As of right now, the Tampa Bay Rays have won eight straight games to start the season. That’s good, but two teams once did better.
On April 20, 1987, the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Chicago White Sox for their 13th-straight win to start a season, tying a record established five years before in the National League.
At the conclusion of the streak, the Brewers led the Yankees by three games in the AL East. A 7-1 loss to the Chisox ended the streak.
The Brew Crew then won four straight to follow up the hot start, but they just couldn’t shake the Yankees, who still only trailed by 3.5 games.
But the baseball gods like to play tricks on fans from time to time. On the final day of the 1987 season, Red Sox ace Roger Clemens shut out Milwaukee 4-0 to win his 20th game and the Brewers wound up finishing third behind division-winner Detroit and runner-up Toronto. The Yankees fell to fourth.
So, I wouldn’t get too worked up by Tampa Bay’s 9-0 start this year just yet. (Although I suppose if the Rays sweep the Red Sox this week and wind up 13-0, I will be dining on a passerine bird species of the Corvidae family.)
In 1982, the Atlanta Braves established the National League record to start a season when they won 13 straight games. The Braves had trailed 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth against the Cincinnati Reds, but Claudell Washington singled to drive in Brett Butler and Rafael Ramirez (who once loaned his red BMW to my cousin Susan’s husband Henry) to walk it off 4-3.
The Braves then lost five straight and went on to finish 88-72, just one game ahead of the Dodgers that year. And then the Cardinals swept the Braves in the NLCS.
The truth is the Braves weren’t a very good team in 1982 and went 75-72 after the streak under new manager Joe Torre who replaced Bobby Cox prior to the season. Dale Murphy won the first of two consecutive MVP awards in ‘82, and Phil Neikro (17-4, 3.61) and Bob Horner (32 HRs) were named to the All-Star team, but frankly, the rest of the players were mediocre or just plain bad.
Atlanta made matters worse by trading away Butler, Brook Jacoby and Rick Behenna to the Indians a year later for Len Barker, who won only 10 games for the Braves while losing 20. Butler played for 17 seasons and led the league in hits once and runs scored twice.
Jacoby hit 112 home runs for Cleveland and made the All-Star team twice. Behenna didn’t do much in MLB and sadly died of cancer in 2012 at the age of 51.
The Braves finished second in ’83 and ’84 and dead last four times from 1986 to 1990. Then the team hired John Schuerholz as the GM and put Bobby Cox back in the dugout to manage Smoltz, Glavine, Justice and a team that would win 14 consecutive division titles.
Speaking of streaks, the 1916 New York Giants hold an all-time record with 26 straight wins. The Cubs won 21 straight in 1935 with league MVP Gabby Hartnett behind the plate. Gabby and I were born on the same day. Well, in different years, of course, or else I’d be coming up on my 124th birthday. He also died on his birthday.
If you’ve seen the film “Moneyball,” you know that the Oakland A’s won 20 straight games in 2002 to establish a new American League record. The film ranks as one of my all-time favorites, but don’t put too much stock in that. I’m also a big fan of Ed Wood’s “Plan Nine from Outer Space.”
The Cleveland Indians broke the Oakland record by winning 22 straight in 2017. Or were they the Guardians by then?
At least they weren’t the Cleveland Spiders, who lost 24 straight in 1899. Or the ‘61 Phillies who lost 23 straight on their way to a 47-107 finish. I suppose I mention that because, well, I hate the Phillies. I’d love to watch the Phillies finish with 107 losses this year.
If that happens, I bet Bryce Harper will ask if he can go back to Washington D.C. to play for the Nationals. But Harper’s rich and probably a Republican like most rich people.
And I’m sure Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez doesn’t want a Republican with a nasty attitude and a baseball bat anywhere near Capitol Hill.
Selah.