Web site we like

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CLV

By TOM ZUCCO, Times staff writer

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 2, 2000

We shake our heads and marvel at how the Devil Rays have elevated ineptitude to an art form. They blow leads, they boot grounders, they strike out with the bases loaded ... And those are their strong points.

They were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs on Opening Day. Of the previous season.

But you have to put the term "inept" into prospective. And when you do, you find that the Rays are actually ... well, not completely horrible. Not when you compare them to the worst Major League baseball team of all time: the 1899 Cleveland Spiders.

To be fair, this was a team that was 81-68 the year before. But owner Frank Robison pulled a Wayne Huizenga and stripped the team of all its good players, including Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young.

How bad were the amazing Spidermen? Their 20-134 record gives only a glimpse into the depths of their futility.

Try these numbers on for size:

They lost 30 of their first 38 games.

Their total attendance for their first 16 home games: 3,179.

Their longest losing streak: 24 straight. That's still a Major League record.

Only once did they win two games in a row.

The entire team hit a total of 12 home runs.

When Baltimore Orioles pitcher Jerry Nops lost to the Spiders in June, his manager fined and suspended him. (The Orioles won the next day, 21-6.)

The Spiders' "ace" pitcher, Jim Hughey, had a record of 4-30. The team also had a starting pitcher named Fred "Crazy" Schmidt (apparently he threw a lot of screwballs) who posted a 2-17 record. But their worst pitcher was Harry "Ears" Colliflower, who was 1-11 with an 8.17 ERA.

Afraid or embarrassed to play in front of the few fans they had left, the Spiders spent the last half of the season on the road.

After their final game (guess who lost), the players presented the team's traveling secretary with a diamond locket because, according to the inscription, he "had the misfortune to watch us in all our games."

Mercifully, the National League disbanded the franchise after the season.

See? These guys make the Devil Rays look like the '27 Yankees.

Don't you feel better now?

What better place to learn more about the Spiders than on the Web. You can find their names, their positions, and their (ahem) statistics, at http://www.baseball-reference.com. Two other good sources are http://www.britannica.com (includes an excellent Sports Illustrated story) and http://wcnet.org/dlfleitz/cleve.htm.