Worst Red Sox Team Ever

Today, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine remarked that the Red Sox currently have the weakest roster in team history.  Given their thoroughly underwhelming 64-80 record, they are certainly the worst Red Sox team in recent history.  In fact, their .444 winning percentage is worse than any Red Sox team since 1966, when they had the same percentage.  However, do they actually have a chance at being the worst Red Sox team ever?

Actually, they won't even break the top ten.

Provided the Red Sox win one more of their remaining 18 games (admittedly a difficult challenge for this team), they can rest assured knowing they will be guaranteed to finish above .400 (someone forgot to tell them that hitting .400 doesn't mean reaching it in the standings).  This will put them ahead of 11 other Red Sox teams, mostly from the 1920s, that reached even lower points of futility.  The worst, however, is the team that I am focusing this blog post on, the 1932 Red Sox

The early 1930s is remembered as the low point of the Great Depression, and for Red Sox fans, that term described the era in more ways than one.  To fully appreciate the situation, it is important to note that in the ten seasons prior to 1932, the Red Sox had finished with a winning percentage lower than this year's team, every year.  The best season in that time period was 1924, when they managed a 67-87 record and didn't finish in last place (which was quite the accomplishment for them back then).  All of this to say, there wasn't much in the way of expectations for the Red Sox in 1932.  But I doubt that anyone was expecting a season quite as bad as what they experienced.

Since most of you (including myself) did not have the great fortune of watching this team in action, here are some facts and highlights from the season:

• The team went through 2 managers; Shano Collins was fired after an 11-44 start, and was succeeded by Marty McManus, who was able to improve the team enough to go 32-67 with them for the rest of the season.  I guess the one advantage to being hired midseason after an 11-44 start is that there can't be a whole lot of expectations on you.
• At the end of the first half of the season, the team had a 15-59 record, good for a .203 winning percentage.  However, they went on a tear, going 28-52 the rest of the way to finish 43-111.  Had they kept up the pace from the first half, they would have finished with the worst winning percentage in post-1900 MLB history.
• They finished the season a mere 64 games out of first place.
• They managed to put together a three game winning streak during the season.  And they did it twice!
• The star of the team was first baseman Dale Alexander, who was traded in mid-June and hit .372 for the team, the fourth highest single-season batting average in Red Sox history.
• The starting second baseman, shortstop, and centerfielder combined for zero home runs.
• The starting shortstop was Rabbit Warstler, whose name sounds like what a redneck would call someone who tackles hares.  In any case, he hit .211 with 0 home runs, 34 RBI, and an astonishingly low OPS+ of 42.  But, at least his defense was good, right?  Except for those 41 errors that he made...
• In 1932, the team hit a combined total of 53 home runs.  Jimmie Foxx, first baseman for the A's, hit 58.
• The "ace" of the staff was Ed Durham, whose 3.80 ERA was lowest on the team.  However, he also had a 6-13 record.
• The leader in wins was Bob Kline, who went 11-13 as both a starter and reliever.
• Starting pitchers Gordon Rhodes and Danny MacFayden had a combined win-loss record of 2-18.