Casey Stengel Plaque (Creative Commons/slgckgc)
When it comes to bad teams in baseball’s modern era, the 1962 New York Mets are generally considered the gold standard. But every so often, a team arises that seems to have the general ineptitude and organizational dysfunction to wrestle that title away. The 2024 Chicago White Sox are just such a team.
The 1962 Mets are just a little before I had a grasp of most MLB teams, but in subsequent years I read and watched some of the components of that team. And, as a semi-baseball nerd, I’ve managed that team in their 1962 season. Here are a few things to note about that team.
Key players on the 1962 Mets
The Mets were an expansion team in 1962 but they did have a few players with name recognition who were playing out their careers. Frank Thomas was a journeyman player who was a terrible fielder but swung a good bat. Thomas hit .266 with an OPS of .824. He sprinkled in 34 homers and 94 RBIs with those numbers.
Center fielder, Richie Ashburn was a productive player. Ashburn put up and OPS of .817 powered in large part by an amazing OBP of .424. Gil Hodges had a limited role with the team but hit nine home runs and an OPS of .803.
As a team the collective WAR for positional players was 5.6.
What about the pitching?
The pitching was more problematic. The bullpen was flat-out terrible. The Mets rotation was anchored by right-handed Roger Craig and lefty Al Jackson. Craig went 10-24 while Jackson finished up at 8-20. Jay Hooker nearly gave the team a trio of 20-game losers, going 8-19. Craig’s WAR was a strong 3.0 while Jackson nearly matched that at 2.9. The Mets pitching staff had a collective WAR of 3.0.
The Mets were managed by hall of famer, Casey Stengel. Casey was 72 at the time. The Mets seemed to be a little better than their record might indicate. Their Pythagorean record was 50-110. Once again, their actual record was 40-120.
The White Sox have some guys that are just killing them
The Sox position player have collective WAR of -3.5. That’s utterly amazing to be that bad in a little over one third of the season. That number is a large part a function of Andrew Benintendi‘s mark of -2.4 and Martin Maldonado‘s -1.4. Maldonado’s hitting .078. Let me pitch a new baseball saying at this point.
We know the Mendoza line is when a hitter hits .200. Well, Forrest Gump’s IQ was 75. I say we call .075 the Gump line. Maldonado is barely hitting over the Gump line.
The Sox best player, Luis Robert Jr., has been injured for a good bit of the season. His current WAR is only 0.1. If he stays healthy, and on the roster, that number will jump. But both of those are fairly big ifs.
The current positional WAR leader is Paul DeJong with a WAR of 0.8. DeJong could also be gone after the trade deadline.
Starting pitching is a relative strength
Erick Fedde has been a revelation this season with a WAR of 3.2. Garrett Crochet has nearly matched that weighing in with a WAR of 2.7. After that, things get dicey. Overall, the Sox pitchers have a collective WAR of 4.9. Once again, remember that together Crochet and Fedde have a WAR of 5.9.
The Sox Pythagorean record is 19-50. Their actual record is 17-52. They are slightly underperforming. The Sox have their work cut out for them to catch the Mets as the worst team in modern baseball, but under the guidance of manager, Pedro Grifol, I like their chances.
