DETROIT -- The 1962 New York Mets generally are accepted as the most pathetic team in the history of professional sports. They went 40-120 but had an excuse. They were a first-year expansion team that became lovable losers.
There really was no excuse for the 2003 Detroit Tigers going 43-119 and coming within one loss of tying the Mets' major league record for losses. They had moved into Comerica Park in 2000, attracted sellout crowds and appeared to be a franchise on the move. Instead, they went into a sorry spiral triggered by the signing of free agent disaster Juan Gonzalez, countless horrible amateur drafts and no commitment to a competitive payroll.
The 2003 Tigers had the three pitchers with the most losses in the majors: Mike Maroth (9-21), Jeremy Bonderman (6-19) and Nate Cornejo (6-17). They were outscored, 928-591, and escaped matching or eclipsing the Mets by winning five of the last six games.
Detroit trailed 8-0 in the next-to-last game with the Minnesota Twins. But the Tigers rallied to pull out the game by scoring the winning run on a walkoff strikeout in the ninth inning.
We're not making this up.
Tigers center fielder Alex Sanchez raced home with the winning run after Warren Morris struck out on a low pitch from Jesse Orosco that skidded past catcher Rob Bowen for a wild pitch.
The Tigers beat the Twins again, 9-4, in the season finale at Comerica Park. Maroth pitched six strong innings for a victory to finish a 21-loss season.
"Nobody likes to lose and we were losing every day," said Dave Dombrowski, Detroit's president and general manager since 2001. "But the way we finished told you that there was still fight in the team. We could've folded, but battled back and won. It was exciting to win those last two games."
