• Joe: Just came across this. Interesting. Here's the way I would frame it: In the ...
16

Worst lineup ever?

POSTED BY ON 1:35 pm, August 27, 2009 - POSTED IN Diamond cuts

Check out today’s starting lineup for the New York Metropolitans…

CF Angel Pagan
SS Wilson Valdez
1B Daniel Murphy
RF Jeff Francoeur
LF Cory Sullivan
3B Fernando Tatis
C Omir Santos
2B Anderson Hernandez
P Tim Redding P

Worst lineup ever, in the history of ever?

Seriously, let us know in the comments if you can ever remember seeing a worse lineup than that one (or can dig one up somewhere like Retrosheet).

I think that lineup’s collective OBP must be something like .280.

Update: Hahaha, wow, the Mets scored 10 runs with this lineup since I posted this!

Baseball is indeed a strange and beautiful game.

Don’t get too excited though – it doesn’t mean this isn’t still one of the worst lineups ever.

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16 comments so far

16 Responses to “Worst lineup ever?”

  1. Molotov-Coqtiz says:
    August 27, 2009 at 2:29 pm

    that’s not even the worst lineup in the history of the Mets.. look at some of the lineups they had in the 60′s and in the late 70′s – early 80′s.

    or some of the lineups the cubs have put up over the past century… or the red sox.. or the braves.. or the tigers.. or the old St Louis Browns.. or the (original) Washington Senators.. or the Phillies.. or the Pirates

    this was written by someone who obviously doesn’t know the history of the game

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  2. Coley Ward says:
    August 27, 2009 at 2:35 pm

    Molotov, you gotta do better than that. If you’re gonna hate, at least give some specific examples.

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  3. Molotov-Coqtiz says:
    August 27, 2009 at 2:36 pm

    heh.. and the “worst lineup ever” already put up 4 runs and 10 hits and it’s not even the 6th inning :)

    wow.. they’re horrible

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  4. Molotov-Coqtiz says:
    August 27, 2009 at 2:37 pm

    and i see that my first comment got deleted… looks like i stepped on a nerve

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  5. Molotov-Coqtiz says:
    August 27, 2009 at 2:37 pm

    now i’m sure of it… the person who wrote this little article not only doesn’t know the histpry of the game.. he’s probably a philly fan

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  6. Molotov-Coqtiz says:
    August 27, 2009 at 2:38 pm

    history of the game.. made a typo :D

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  7. Molotov-Coqtiz says:
    August 27, 2009 at 2:41 pm

    and now it’s 7 runs 12 hits and it’s not even the 6th inning

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  8. JC says:
    August 27, 2009 at 2:41 pm

    If it were the worst lineup ever, would the Mets be up 7-1 only in the 5th? Lol but yea it could be the worst lineup ever…

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  9. Paulo Antunes says:
    August 27, 2009 at 4:05 pm

    It did look bad on paper.

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  10. Kris says:
    August 27, 2009 at 4:43 pm

    How about this Reds lineup from earlier this season 5/19 vs the Phillies (OBP):

    CF Willy Taveras (.273)
    3B Jerry Hairston (.305)
    2B Brandon Phillips (.317)
    RF Jay Bruce (.283)
    C Ramon Hernandez (.330)
    1B Adam Rosales (.286 – worst 1B this season?)
    LF Darnell McDonald (.271)
    SS Alex Gonzalez (.258)
    P Johnny Cueto (.175)

    Not a single player in this lineup has a league average OPS , 5 of them less than 60!

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  11. Kris says:
    August 27, 2009 at 4:49 pm

    Not a single player in that Mets lineup has an OPS less than 60, 2 players better than league average, I’d say the Reds win (or lose?) pretty easily between the two.

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  12. Coley Ward says:
    August 27, 2009 at 6:12 pm

    Kris, that Reds lineup is bad, but I think it’s a bit misleading to give OBP’s through 1.5 months of baseball. The fact is Phillips is an all-star and Bruce is a well-above-average defensive RF and burgeoning star. In fact, despite his putrid OBP, Bruce was still worth more than 1 win above replacement before he got hurt.

    Today’s Mets lineup features no one who is even close to an all-star. Tatis is probably the best player in that lineup and his glove does not play well at 3B at all.

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  13. Coley Ward says:
    August 27, 2009 at 6:12 pm

    Oh, and for the record Nick wrote this post and he’s a Dodgers fan. I’m a Phillies fan, though.

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  14. Nick Kapur says:
    August 27, 2009 at 8:23 pm

    Haha, the Mets scored 10 runs with this lineup since I posted this!

    Baseball is indeed a strange and beautiful game.

    Don’t get too excited though – it doesn’t mean this isn’t still one of the worst lineups ever.

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  15. Kris says:
    August 28, 2009 at 4:40 pm

    The OBP for those Reds players is through their entire time this season as a Red, not a month and a half. Yes, Phillips is a good player (though .324 wOBA is nothing to brag about), but Jeff Francoeur probably equals Jay Bruce’s offensive production from this season, and since we are comparing lineups, I don’t think defense was meant to be a consideration. Angel Pagan for example is probably better than any hitter in the Reds lineup outside of Phillips.

    Just looking at offense this season, you have to clearly say that the Mets lineup is better than the Reds’.

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  16. Coley Ward says:
    August 28, 2009 at 5:11 pm

    You’re right that the Mets had two hitters who could be described as league-average-or-better, and the Reds on that day in May probably only had one. But I’d still rather have the Reds lineup, if only because Phillips is a very good player, and the Mets had no very good players yesterday. I bet if you added up the WAR of all the Mets players, it wouldn’t equal more than Phillips’ 2.1.

    But it’s very close. They’re both very crappy lineups.

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