Posted by Matt Sisson on Thursday, September 10, 2009 at 1:52 pm

Some great emails have been flying through the SABR-L over the past week about the 2009 season.  SABR member Brian Wood had a particularly interesting one about losing and winning streaks.  Brian writes:

Both the Orioles and Pirates have set franchise  records this year for most consecutive seasons with a losing record.  The  Pirates mark of 17 years breaks a tie with 1933-48 Philadelphia Phillie/Blue Jay  teams. If the Giants go into the tank and finish 4-18 or worse they will also  set their franchise record (of 5).

Brian goes on to list the records of all instances of at  least ten years of consecutive futility:

17 PIT(NL) 1993-2009*
16  PHI(NL) 1933-1948
15 PHA-KCA(AL) 1953-1967
15 BOS(AL) 1919-1933
14  SEA(AL) 1977-1990
14 PHI(NL) 1918-1931
13 PHA(AL) 1934-1946
12 BAL(AL)  1998-2009*
12 DET(AL) 1994-2005
12 MIL(AL/NL) 1993-2004
12 SLB(AL)  1930-1941
11 SLB-BAL(AL) 1946-1956
11 CIN(NL) 1945-1955
11 BKN(NL)  1904-1914
11 BOS(NL) 1903-1913
11 WAS(AL) 1901-1911
10 TBR(AL)  1998-2007
10 MON(NL) 1969-1978
10 CHC(NL)1953-1962
10 BOS(NL)  1922-1931
10 PHA(AL) 1915-1924

Nice work by Brian.  He then follows it up with a listing of all instances of at least 10 years of consecutive .500 or better seasons. With another .500+ season in 2010, the Yankees will have both the longest & second longest (tied) streaks.

* = active streak
39 NYY(AL) 1926-1964
18 BAL(AL) 1968-1985
17 CHI(AL) 1951-1967
17 NYY(AL) 1993-2009*
16 BOS(AL) 1967-1982
15 PIT(NL) 1899-1913
15 STL(NL) 1939-1953
15 ATL(NL), 1991-2005
14 CHI(NL) 1878-1890
14 CHI(NL), 1926-1939
14 MIL-ATL(NL), 1953-1966
14 SFG(NL) 1958-1971
13 BOS(NL) 1887-1899
13 PIT(NL) 1918-1930
13 BKN(NL) 1945-1957
11 DET(AL) 1978-1988
11 TOR(AL) 1983-1993
11 BOS(AL) 1998-2008*
10 BOS(AL) 1909-1918
10 CIN(NL) 1917-1926
10 CLE(AL) 1947-1956
10 LAD(NL) 1969-1978
10 CIN(NL) 1972-1981
10 PHI(NL) 1975-1984

Wow…39 consecutive years with a record over .500…Nothing even comes close on either side of the spectrum.  Of the top 5 current streaks, the Yankees total 56 consecutive winning seasons and are still building on their current steak of 17.  I hate to say it being from Boston but what other franchise will come close to breaking that streak of 39 consecutive winning seasons?

Another email that got my attention was concerning James Loney.  In last night’s game, Loney hit his 11th home run of the season, all of which have come on the road.  SABR member Bob Timmermann points out that according to the SABR Record Book, Goose Goslin holds the AL record for having the most homers in a season, all of them on the road, with 17 for the 1926 Senators.  Home run expert David Vincent provides an interesting list of players who have had all their home runs come away from their own ball park and it’s as followed:

Most Homers, All on the Road (Season, NL)
Jose Cruz           1984  12
Willie Davis        1969  11
Dick Sisler         1948  11
Jack Fournier       1927  10

Most Homers, All on the Road (Season, AL)
Goose Goslin        1926  17
Ken Keltner         1939  13
Sam Mele            1950  12
Eddie Yost          1952  12
Tom Paciorek        1982  11
Babe Ruth           1918  11
Odell Hale          1933  10

Thanks to  Brian, Bob, and David for their hard work.   If what I wrote in this post is something you find interesting, be sure to check out the SABR website and become a member.  Many of the baseball writers out there, including a lot of writers here at BDD are members.  The benefits far out weight the cost of membership.