On August 30, Jeff Sullivan, SB Nation’s MLB Editor, published a column encouraging everyone to jump on board the San Diego Padres’ bandwagon.
What The 2010 Padres Have In Common With The 1932 Pirates (Hint: Losing)
Uh, whoops.
Since Sullivan’s suggestion, the Padres are 0-6. And after Sunday night’s 4-2 loss against the Rockies, San Diego has actually now lost 10 games in a row. What’s perhaps even more amazing is that they’re still in first place, thanks to the Giants going 5-5 over the past week and a half. But the Padres have watched their N.L. West lead shrink from 5.5 games to just one. And suddenly now the Rockies are back in it, only 4.5 games behind San Diego (they were 10.5 back on Aug. 25, the last time the Padres won a game).
So how often does a first-place team lose 10 games in a row? The answer is “not very.”
According to Elias, the Padres’ losing-streak ties the all-time MLB record for consecutive losses by a team in first place. The 1932 Pirates are the only other team to drop 10 straight while sitting atop the division, doing so during a futile stretch from July 30-August 9.
The good news for the Padres, and their new fans: the Pirates righted the ship and turned in an 11-game win streak just a few weeks later.
Bad news: the 1932 Pirates went just 27-20 the rest of the season after their 10-game losing streak and missed the playoffs, finishing four games back of the Cubs in the National League.
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