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All-time turkeys (The worst individual seasons in baseball history)

Posted by Andy
Whether or not you're celebrating Thanksgiving today, here's a little turkey for you--some of the worst performances in baseball history.
Worst WAR among position players:

Rk Player WAR/pos Year Age Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BA OBP SLG OPS Pos
1 George Wright -4.0 1985 26 TEX 109 393 363 21 69 13 0 2 18 .190 .241 .242 .483 *98/D
2 Jerry Royster -4.0 1977 24 ATL 140 491 445 64 96 10 2 6 28 .216 .278 .288 .566 564/8
3 Brian Giles -3.9 2009 38 SDP 61 253 225 18 43 10 1 2 23 .191 .277 .271 .548 *9
4 Jim Levey -3.8 1933 26 SLB 141 567 529 43 103 10 4 2 36 .195 .237 .240 .477 *6
5 Jose Guillen -3.5 1997 21 PIT 143 526 498 58 133 20 5 14 70 .267 .300 .412 .712 *9/8
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/19/2011.

Royster, Giles, Levey, and Guillen all had at least -1.0 WAR on defense, meaning that as far as pure offense seasons go, Wright takes the cake.

Worst WAR among pitchers:

Rk Player WAR Year Age Tm G GS CG SHO GF W L W-L% IP H R ER BB SO ERA ERA+
1 Steve Blass -5.8 1973 31 PIT 23 18 1 0 1 3 9 .250 88.2 109 98 97 84 27 9.85 36
2 Tom Fisher -5.4 1904 23 BSN 31 21 19 2 9 6 16 .273 214.0 257 165 101 82 84 4.25 65
3 Bill Bailey -5.1 1910 22 SLB 34 20 13 0 9 3 18 .143 192.1 186 133 71 97 90 3.32 74
4 Gene Wright -4.9 1903 24 TOT 23 20 15 1 3 6 15 .286 162.2 195 123 90 74 79 4.98 58
5 Andy Larkin -4.6 1998 24 FLA 17 14 0 0 0 3 8 .273 74.2 101 87 80 55 43 9.64 42
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/19/2011.

I feel like Steve Blass should get a pass on this and not have to be here, but that 84/27 BB/K ratio is too staggering to ignore.

Worst WPA (Win Probability Added) among batters since 1950:

Rk Player WPA Year Age Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS Pos
1 Neifi Perez -6.819 2002 29 KCR 145 585 554 65 131 20 4 3 37 20 53 .236 .260 .303 .564 *6/4
2 Sam Dente -5.181 1950 28 WSH 155 654 603 56 144 20 5 2 59 39 19 .239 .286 .299 .585 *64
3 George Wright -5.053 1985 26 TEX 109 393 363 21 69 13 0 2 18 25 49 .190 .241 .242 .483 *98/D
4 Gary Disarcina -5.051 1997 29 ANA 154 583 549 52 135 28 2 4 47 17 29 .246 .271 .326 .597 *6
5 Alcides Escobar -4.810 2011 24 KCR 158 598 548 69 139 21 8 4 46 25 73 .254 .290 .343 .633 *6
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/19/2011.

Oh God, that Neifi Perez season makes me want to gouge my eyes out. In a partial season with KC in 2001 he posted a 49 OPS+ and amazing he went even lower, 44, in a full season in 2002. Of course, that KC team was just horrible, and I blame management more than anything for giving Perez a full season.

Most games in a season since 1991 with at least 3 plate appearances an no times on base:

Rk Player Year #Matching PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB TOBwe SO
1 Alex Gonzalez 2004 49 Ind. Games 180 178 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 50
2 Sammy Sosa 1993 47 Ind. Games 184 184 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 52
3 Miguel Olivo 2011 46 Ind. Games 184 180 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 73
4 Gary Disarcina 1992 46 Ind. Games 150 146 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 18
5 Yuniesky Betancourt 2009 46 Ind. Games 170 161 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 17
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/20/2011.

Other players including Aurelio Rodriguez had more in earlier years.

Most starts in a season of less than 5 innings pitched:

Rk Player Year #Matching W L W-L% ERA IP H ER HR BB SO WHIP
1 John O'Donoghue 1964 16 Ind. Games 0 12 .000 11.68 47.0 86 61 11 33 24 2.53
2 Pat Caraway 1931 15 Ind. Games 0 15 .000 21.55 33.0 88 79 6 33 7 3.67
3 Ken Schrom 1987 14 Ind. Games 0 11 .000 13.61 39.2 86 60 15 22 18 2.72
4 Pete Redfern 1977 14 Ind. Games 0 4 .000 8.40 45.0 72 42 6 33 18 2.33
5 Dennis Lamp 1980 14 Ind. Games 0 7 .000 10.80 46.2 94 56 4 36 20 2.79
6 Sean Bergman 1995 14 Ind. Games 0 8 .000 11.42 43.1 80 55 14 40 20 2.77
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/20/2011.

Most losses in relief:

Rk Player Year #Matching L ERA IP H ER HR BB SO WHIP
1 Gene Garber 1979 16 Ind. Games 16 9.59 25.1 50 27 7 7 16 2.25
2 Mike Marshall 1979 14 Ind. Games 14 6.30 30.0 38 21 5 13 25 1.70
3 Mike Marshall 1975 14 Ind. Games 14 10.73 24.1 40 29 4 14 15 2.22
4 Darold Knowles 1970 14 Ind. Games 14 5.47 24.2 33 15 3 17 13 2.03
5 John Hiller 1974 14 Ind. Games 14 5.17 38.1 49 22 2 27 29 1.98
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/20/2011.

Now that you've filled up on that turkey, why not have some sweet potato pie?

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