Philadelphia fans have 10,000 reasons to be unhappy today.
Yesterday, the present day Philadelphia Phillies immortalized themselves in a 10-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. The game was never really in doubt as Albert Pujols hit two of six Cardinal home runs. St. Louis benefited yet again from the Phillies demise.
The Philadelphia Phillies are now the losingest team in sports as yesterday's shellacking was the 10,000 loss of the team's not so storied history.
While the Chicago Cubs are loveable losers, the Philadelphia Phillies are just losers. There's very little "brotherly love" for the Phillies outside Eastern Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia's losing history dates back to 1883. They only have one World Series title, five National League pennants and six Eastern Division titles in 124 seasons. Between 1938 and 1942, the Phillies endured five consecutive 100-plus loss seasons.
The Phillies are so bad that numerous attempts by the press were made to change the team's name and possible their luck. In the 1910s, reporters tried to revive the original nickname "Quakers." Instead the team has the longest continuous name in American professional sports history synonymous with losing.
During the 1920s, it is reported that an outfield wall advertisement stated, "All the Phillies use Lifebuoy" (a brand of deodorant soap). It was a fitting ad, because the Phillies stunk. They lost a staggering 962 games during the decade.
One more thing to note, when the Phillies finally won the World Series in 1980, they were the last of the sixteen original teams to win a championship. The Kansas City Royals were favored at the beginning the series.
Congratulations on your momentous accomplishment Philadelphia. You added another reason why it's painful to be a Phillies fan.
Unfortunately, with the Fightin’ Phils hovering around .500 things look like they will get worse before they get better.
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