In the wise words of Journey: Some will win, some will lose. What the rock band forgot to mention is that some will lose a lot. When it comes to sports, two notoriously bad teams stand out from the rest: For baseball, it’s the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, and for football, it’s the 2008 Detroit Lions. What’s behind these epic, pro-level fails?
Cleveland Spiders |
Detroit Lions |
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WHAT HAPPENED? Owner Frank Robison also owned the St. Louis Perfectos and transferred all the Spiders’ best players there. 
Owner Frank Robison Photo Courtesy: Cleveland Spiders |
WHAT HAPPENED? The team had one of the worst defenses of all time, allowing 517 points across the season. |
| HOW MANY GAMES DID THEY LOSE?
(out of 154) 134 |
HOW MANY GAMES DID THEY LOSE?
16 (out of 16) |
| YOU’RE FIRED!
The team was disbanded after the season, so technically everybody got the boot. |
YOU’RE FIRED!
Head coach Rod Marinelli, plus three other coaches, were sent packing.
Ex-head coach of the Detroit Lions, Rod Marinelli Duane Burleson/Associated Press |
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WORST TRADE All of them? Trading future Hall of Famer CY Young to St. Louis probably hurt the most, though.
Hall of Famer, Cy Young Photo Courtesy: Cleveland Spiders |
WORST TRADE Defensive tackle Shaun Rogers to the Cleveland Browns, because, according to Sports Illustrated, the team “didn’t like this attitude.” |
| WELL, THAT WAS WEIRD
The team let a shop clerk pitch in exchange for a box of cigars on the last day of the season. |
WELL, THAT WAS WEIRD Quarterback Dan Orlovsky accidentally ran out of bounds in his own end zone, giving the Minnesota Vikings two points. The Lions lost 12-10 pounds. |
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WORST PLAYER Pitcher Frank Bates. According to The Cleveland Press he succeeded only in “turning almost every game into a howling farce.”
Cleveland Spiders pitcher, Frank Bates Photo Courtesy: Cleveland Spiders |
WORST PLAYER Dan Olovsky (see above).
Former Detroit Lions QB, Dan Orlovsky Rick Osentoski/Associated Press |
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WORST BLOWOUT In a doubleheader against the Baltimore Orioles, they didn’t score a single run, losing 10–0 and 5–0.
The Baltimore Orioles logo. Photo Courtesy: Baltimore Orioles |
WORST BLOWOUT They lost 42-7 to the New Orleans Saints in the last home game of the season.
The New Orleans Saints logo. Photo Courtesy: New Orleans Saints |
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TOUGH CROWD Total attendance was only 3,179 after their first 16 home games. They played almost all matches on the road after that. Sportswriters referred to them as “the Wanderers” or “the Exiles.” |
TOUGH CROWD Center Dominic Raiola flipped off heckling fans and challenged them to a fight, later saying he would them his address so they could go at it face-to-face. He was fined $7,500. Nobody took him up on it.
Former Detroit Lions center, Dominic Raiola Scott Boehm/Associated Press |
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FINAL THOUGHTS At the end of the season, the Spiders gave a diamond locket to George Muir, the team’s traveling secretary, because, as per the dedication, he “had the misfortune to watch us in all our games.” |
FINAL THOUGHTS “I’ve got to live with this. This is on my resume.” -Dominic Raiola after the Lions officially went 0-16. |
