Like all sports, baseball is a game with a seemingly infinite amount of records. Some are common knowledge to fans of the game, like Cal Ripken Jr.’s most straight games played, Joe DiMaggio’s longest hitting streak, Nolan Ryan’s most career no-hitters and strikeouts, Pete Rose’s record for the most hits, and Barry Bonds’ controversial 73 home runs in a season. These are all monumental accomplishments. Some baseball accomplishments, however, are equally monumental, but for slightly more infamous reasons.
When a baseball player finally makes it to the Majors, they can only dream of setting a new record. In the majority of cases, setting a record means having an extraordinarily long career and performing at a very high level consistently throughout it. It can also mean having one earth-shatteringly spectacular season, or in very rare cases, a one-in-a-million game (nobody’s ever hit five home runs in a game, for example, and no pitcher has ever struck out every batter in a perfect game, two records ripe for the taking).
When players dream of setting records, however, we doubt that they dream of setting embarrassingly bad ones. Specifically, records that demonstrate the worst statistical performances in baseball history. These are records that these players would probably wish nobody knew about. Some of these were set by exceptionally bad teams; some by players who got hit by a stroke of bad luck. Some of these record holders are fairly obscure; some are household-name Hall of Famers, believe it or not. But these are the baseball records that hold down the other end of the spectrum: the ones that their holders don’t want to be remembered for, up there with the most embarrassing records in sports history.
Most Losses by Any Team in a Season
The ignoble honor of losing more games in a single season than any other team goes to none other than the 1962 New York Mets, which won only 40 games in the entire season, losing an astonishing 120. But hey, this was the team’s inaugural season, so there was nowhere to go but up.
The Longest Losing Streak in Baseball History
The Boston Braves lost a shocking 38 games in a row during the 1935 season, a record that seems unlikely to ever be broken. The team also lost 115 games that season, a franchise record.
Highest Earned Run Average in a Single Season
A pitcher’s Earned Run Average (ERA) is calculated by dividing earned runs by innings pitched and multiplying that by total innings. The lower, the better; for example, Gerrit Cole won the Cy Young Award in 2023 with an ERA of 2.63. The record for the highest ERA in a season by a pitcher with a qualifying amount of innings pitched is 7.71 by Les Sweetland, who presumably lost a lot of games for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1930.
Most Losses in a Season by a Pitcher
American baseball players Babe Ruth (1895 - 1948) (born George Herman Ruth Jr) (left) of the New York Yankees and Walter Johnson (1887 - 1946) of the Washington Senators each pose with their prize-winning roosters, 1927. During the off-season, both players brred and raise animals. (Photo by FPG/Getty Images)
In 1925, Washington Senators pitcher Joe Harris earned a record 29 losses, the most for any pitcher ever. Nowadays, if a pitcher has 10 losses in a season it’s considered fairly embarrassing, and only one pitcher has lost more than 20 games in a season since 1980.
Most Hits Allowed in a Season
The record for most hits allowed in a single season by a pitcher belongs to Red Donahue, who allowed 376 hits while pitching for the St. Louis Browns in 1897. In modern times, anything over 200 in a season is considered pretty bad, especially if they don’t also get a lot of wins.
Host Home Runs Allowed in a Season
Minnesota Twins pitcher Bert Blyleven holds the record for most home runs allowed in a single season by a pitcher, surrendering 50 home runs in 1986 while pitching for the Minnesota Twins. But that didn’t matter much; the legendary curveballer was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011.
Most Strikeouts by a Batter in a Season
Mark Reynolds holds the record for most strikeouts by a batter in a single season. He struck out a record 223 times in 2009 while playing for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Lowest Batting Average in a Season
1909 was a rough year for Brooklyn catcher Bill Bergen. His batting average of just .139 (well below the infamous “Mendoza Line” of .200, which indicated a player is truly struggling) is the worst of all time for any player with a qualifying amount of plate appearances. He had an astonishing run of 45 consecutive at-bats without a base hit during this season, a record that stood for 102 years.
Most Consecutive At-Bats Without a Hit
The Aviators is a great Nevada baseball team.
While we’re on the subject, Eugenio Vélez holds the record for most consecutive at-bats without a base hit by a non-pitcher. He went hitless in 46 consecutive at-bats during the 2010 and 2011 seasons.
Longest Losing Streak to Start a Season
The 1988 Baltimore Orioles hold the record for the longest losing streak to start a season, losing their first 21 games of the season.
Most Runs Allowed in a Single Inning
The Detroit Tigers hold the record for most runs allowed in a single inning by a team, surrendering an embarrassing 17 runs in the first inning of a game against the Chicago White Sox on May 24, 1925.
Lowest Career Batting Average
Poor Bill Bergen also holds the record for the lowest career batting average of any player who logged more than 1,000 plate appearances, with an average of just .170 over 3,228 plate appearances. If you’re wondering how this guy managed to have a career at all, it’s because he was an exceptionally good fielder, one of the best defensive catchers of all time.
Most Errors Committed in a Season
Goodwin & CompanyHerman C. Long, Catcher, Kansas City Cowboys, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes, 1888American, Albumen photograph; sheet: 2 11/16 x 1 3/8 in. (6.9 x 3.5 cm)The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, Gift of Jefferson R. Burdick (63.350.215.172.1314)http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/403504
Herman Long holds the record for most errors committed by a fielder in a single season, committing 122 errors while playing shortstop for the Boston Beaneaters (later the Braves) in 1889.
Most Passed Balls by a Catcher in a Season
Geno Petralli holds the record for most passed balls by a catcher in a single season, with 35 passed balls in 1987 while playing for the Texas Rangers.
Most Walks Issued in a Season
Bill Stemmyer holds the record for most walks issued by a pitcher in a single season, issuing 289 walks while pitching for the Louisville Colonels in 1891. Most modern-day starting pitchers don’t issue more than a few dozen walks in a season.
Most Runs Scored Allowed in a Season
The 1930 Philadelphia Phillies hold the record for allowing the most runs to be scored against them in a single season, allowing 1,199 runs over the course of the season.
Most Home Runs Allowed in a Career
Jamie Moyer holds the record for most career home runs allowed by a pitcher, surrendering 522 home runs over his 25-season career. Moyer also holds the record for being the oldest pitcher in history to win a game (at age 49).
Most Strikeouts by a Batter in a Career
Believe it or not, none other than Yankee legend Reggie Jackson holds the record for most career strikeouts by a batter, striking out 2,597 times over his 21-season career. As they say, you can’t get a hit unless you swing the bat!
Most Errors Committed in a Career
Herman Long holds the record for most career errors committed by a fielder, with 1,096 errors over the course of his lengthy career, which lasted from 1889 to 1904. He was also known for his great fielding range, however.
Most Losses in a Career
Cy Young holds the record for most career losses by a pitcher, with 316 losses over his 22-season career. But that’s not the only record held by the legendary pitcher: Young also holds records for most earned runs, most hits allowed, most innings pitched, most games started, most batters faced, and most complete games. And, in a legendary bit of baseball trivia, he also holds the record for the most career wins by a pitcher, with 511. All these records put him in the pantheon of the greatest baseball players of all time.