1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

What is the most disappointing single season for a pro sports team ever?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Mizzougrad96, Apr 10, 2013.

  1. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    Yeah, I agree. Named them early on in this thread. Not just for not making the playoffs, but for flaming out spectacularly in the season's last days. When you figure it was the encore act after the '03 playoffs, the '04 Cubs are definitely in the team picture here.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
  2. deskslave

    deskslave Active Member

    If you're gonna pick a single Braves team, it has to be 96. Up 2-0 in the Series and in complete command, then up 6-0 in Game 4 before they pissed it away. You could argue that they never really recovered.
     
  3. cyclingwriter

    cyclingwriter Active Member

    screw that...the 1993 through 2012 Pirates have been nothing, but disappointing.

    College football is a different animal, and I am stretching way back, but the 1950 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. First-ever preseason AP poll favorite. Hadn't lost a game in more than three years...ended up 4-4-1. Of course, it became apparent quickly that ND was not a great team because they lost so many seniors from the previous year.
     
  4. Guy_Incognito

    Guy_Incognito Well-Known Member

    My favorite series in sports history. The Pettite - Smoltz game is my favorite game.
     
  5. Steak Snabler

    Steak Snabler Well-Known Member

    I can still see Wohlers throwing that slider to Leyritz ... argh!!!!!!!! That's truly where it all came apart for the Braves, and all came together for the Yankees.
     
  6. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    Led by Scott Hatteberg, the 2003 Oakland A's won 20 games in a row, but lost in the Divisional Round of the playoffs to the Twins.
     
  7. Versatile

    Versatile Active Member

    The 1925 Yankees should take the cake. Six Hall of Famers, including Babe Ruth in what should have been his prime, helped them to a seventh-place finish.

    How teams that made the playoffs are even in the discussion is beyond me.
     
  8. Steak Snabler

    Steak Snabler Well-Known Member

    That was 2002. Zito's Cy Young year and Miguel Tejada's MVP year.

    The 2003 team also won the AL West, but lost in the division series to the Red Sox.
     
  9. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    Hatteberg carried them. And Chad Bradford.
     
  10. Steak Snabler

    Steak Snabler Well-Known Member

    That was the year of Ruth's famous "stomach ache," which supposedly was actually a bout with syphillis.

    And the "six Hall of Famers" is a little misleading. Only Ruth (who was 30) and Herb Pennock (31) were in their primes.

    Lou Gehrig was 22 and a rookie, Earl Combs was 26, Waite Hoyt was 25. Leo Durocher — who was a Hall of Famer as a manager, not a player — was 19 years old and batted one time.
     
  11. Brian

    Brian Well-Known Member

    It can't be a football team in the modern era, can it? Success is too fleeting, too volatile. Even some of our so-called recent NFL dynasties of the Pats and Giants have been interrupted by non-playoff years. I think it has to be a baseball or basketball team, where you can reasonably gauge success based on a preponderance of talent and a long season.
     
  12. printit

    printit Member

    Baseball post season is, and always has been, a crap shoot. How someone can be a disappointment for losing in the World Series is beyond me.
    I would almost agree that any playoff appearance in any sport should remove the category of "Most disappointing ever" but, yeah, so many teams make it in the NBA that, if the Lakers get the 8 seed and lose in the first round, they would be in the conversation.
    1925 Yankees probably the best answer, but Ruth was sick for much of that year. Not sure that should count.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page