Worst Pitching Start Ever

Back in April, I said that I would probably examine the worst pitching start in baseball history. Obviously, this is a subjective determination; after all, is it worse to give up, say, 8 runs in zero innings, or 35 runs in 9 innings? Or 11 runs in 0.2 innings? Obviously, it's up to the individual to decide which they think is the worst, but here's my top ten:

10. Gio Gonzalez, July 20, 2009. 2.2 IP, 11 R, 11 ER
It's not often that a starting pitcher does this poorly but walks away with a no-decision. But, in what ended up being a 14-13 win against the Twins, Gonzalez's Athletics hitters managed to negate a pretty ugly start. It didn't help his ERA much, but at least they came away with a win.

9. Johnny Miljus, July 25, 1929. 3.0 IP, 14 R, 14 ER
Never heard of Johnny Miljus? Don't worry, I hadn't either. He played in parts of seven seasons between 1915 and 1929, and in the process earned the rare distinction of playing in three major leagues. However, in what ended up being his final major league year, he had a pretty ugly game, in which his Indians ultimately lost 21-3. He could rightly claim that he wasn't responsible for the last seven runs, but then again the 14 that he did give up didn't help matters much.

8. Tomo Ohka, April 17, 2002. 0.0 IP, 6 R, 6 ER
Like Gio Gonzalez, Tomo Ohka ended up with a no-decision after his Expos rallied to beat the Cubs 15-8, but that didn't change the fact that for zero innings he was really, really bad. He did manage to earn the rare distinction of pitching 0 innings while having the opposing team hit for the cycle against him (2 singles, 1 double, one triple, and one home run) but I'm sure it was of little consolation at the time.

7. Jason Jennings, July 29, 2007. 0.2 IP, 11 R, 11 ER
Many starting pitchers have been unable to get out of the first inning, but few have given up 11 runs in the process. Somehow, the Padres hitters managed to get two outs while all of this was going on, but Jennings wasn't left in to see if they could get a third one. They did manage to get 8 hits, 3 walks, and 2 home runs off the former Rookie of the Year though. The Padres' own starter, Tim Stauffer, didn't do much better, allowing 7 earned runs in 3.2 innings, but he pitched well enough to help them beat the Astros 18-11.

6. Luke Hudson, August 13, 2006. 0.1 IP, 11 R, 10 ER
At least Jason Jennings can say he got twice as many outs as Luke Hudson did in this game between Hudson's Royals and the Indians. Of course, Hudson can turn around and point out that Jennings gave up more earned runs in his start. Although I doubt either of these pitchers do much bragging about their respective starts. Both did very poorly, but Hudson was worse; his ERA for the game was 270.00, making Jennings, 148.50 ERA, look like Sandy Koufax by comparison. The Royals ultimately lost this game 13-0.

5. Paul Wilson, July 10, 2003. 0.0 IP, 8 R, 7 ER
Red Barrett once pitched a 9-inning complete game with 58 pitches. Decades later, Paul Wilson threw 41 pitches in...zero innings. That's a lot of effort for something that, statistically speaking, never happened. Except, unfortunately for Wilson, it did happen. In fact, it resulted in 8 runs, 7 of them earned, for the Astros against Wilson's Reds. But, Wilson did get a record out of it in the process. Since 1988, when pitch counts were first recorded, he holds the record for most pitches thrown by a starter without recording an out. The Astros eventually won 13-2.

4. Paul Wilson, May 6, 2005. 0.0 IP, 8 R, 8 ER
It's hard to imagine that, of all the starting pitchers in baseball history, Paul Wilson would manage to get in the top 5 worst starts ever, twice. But two years after his disastrous outing against the Astros, he was able to top even that when it comes to bad starts. Granted, this start against the Dodgers wasn't much worse, but this time he not only gave up 8 runs, but all of them were earned this time. He was much more efficient this time though, needing only 25 pitches to allow 8 runs. The Dodgers won 13-6, and Wilson started 2 more games for the Reds, giving up 11 runs in 10.1 innings, and hasn't pitched in the majors since.

3. David Rowe, July 24, 1882. 9.0 IP, 35 R, 12 ER
Normally any pitcher who gives up 35 runs would easily make the top of the list, but Rowe has a couple factors in his favor that keep him at #3. First, baseball in 1882 was substantially different than today; pitchers threw underhand on flat ground from 45 feet, batters could request a high ball or low ball, it took seven balls for a walk, and fielders did not wear gloves. Additionally, Rowe "only" allowed 12 earned runs; the other 23 were unearned, which probably means he had some bad fielders behind him. It should also be mentioned that Rowe was primarily an outfielder; he pitched only four games in his career. Still, his 35 runs allowed in a single game (won 35-12 by the Chicago White Stockings against the Cleveland Blues) by one pitcher is a major league record that probably won't be broken anytime soon.

2. Allan Travers, May 18, 1912. 8.0 IP, 24 R, 14 ER
Certainly the worst complete game ever, and for the purposes of this list, the second worst start ever. You could make a case that this was the worst start ever, since he gave up 24 runs and 14 earned in an era when pitchers dominated baseball. But, it must also be noted that Travers was literally found on a street corner by the Tigers' manager. Three days earlier, Tigers outfielder Ty Cobb ran into the stands and assaulted a fan who had accused him of being of African-American descent. This was quite the insult to a man like Cobb, so he proceeded to attack the partially-disabled fan. In response, league president Ban Johnson suspended Cobb indefinitely, so the Tigers protested by going on strike. Rather than face a $5,000 fine for every game in which they failed to field a team, the Tigers decided to find "replacement players;" in this case a collection of amateur and retired players, including a couple Tigers coaches. Somehow, Travers, a 20-year old junior at St. Joseph's College, ended up pitching, despite never having done so in his life. His inexperience showed, yet he was somehow able to pitch a complete game, in a 24-2 loss to the Athletics. After the joke of a game, Ban Johnson told the striking Tigers players that they would be banned for life if they didn't end the strike. So, the strike ended, and so did the brief major league careers of Allan Travers and his teammates.

1. Howard Ehmke, September 28, 1923. 6.0 IP, 17 R, 16 ER
Although it could be argued that Travers' game was worse, Red Sox pitcher Howard Ehmke makes the #1 spot on my list. Unlike Travers and Rowe, Ehmke was a professional pitcher who, one could reasonably assume, was capable of getting batters out. After all, earlier in the same month he pitched a no-hitter, and then followed it up with a one-hitter against the same Yankees team that scored 17 runs against him just over 2 weeks later. He still holds the AL record for fewest hits allowed in two consecutive games, but he also holds the post-1920 record for most earned runs in a game. He might hold the all-time MLB record, but I can't confirm that for pre-1920. Still, despite an atrocious end to his season, he finished 11th in MVP voting, and ended up having a respectable MLB career. He is perhaps most famous for a 1-0, 1.42 ERA in two starts for the Athletics in the 1929 World Series, a series that the A's won against the Cubs four games to one. But, September 28, 1923 just wasn't his day, and the Red Sox lost 24-4 to the Yankees, who would go on to win their first World Series the next month.