What's That Smell? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Orioles

The 1988 Baltimore Orioles started their season on April 4, and would not win a game until a game until April 29. With 21 losses in-between, their first victory was a 9-0 shutout against the White Sox in Chicago. They would finish with the worst record in the season at 54-107. Not one Oriole pitcher won in double-figures.

Answer: Roger Craig

Craig pitched for the Dodgers for seven seasons before joining the expansion team New York Mets in 1962. As a Dodger, Roger never lost more than 11 in a season. However, that would change with the dismal Mets as Craig went 5-22 in 1962, then lose 18 games straight and finish with a 10-24 record in 1963.

It wasn't just Craig, other pitching, or hitters. The entire team just smelled. They would lose 100+ games in five of their first six seasons.

Answer: Athletics

The Athletics, from Philadelphia to Kansas City to Oakland did it 16 times. Their worst season was in 1916 with their 36-117 record. The Orioles franchise did it 10 times. The Cubs did it only twice when they lost 103 in 1962 and 1966. The White Sox did it three times.

Answer: Mark Reynolds

Reynolds accomplished this manager's eye-burner in his second season with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2008. The infielder went with the Diamondbacks to the 2007 World Series, and he struck out four times in ten at-bats.

Answer: Cleveland Spiders

The Spider organization survived in the NL from 1890-1899. Cleveland's owner after the 1898 season, who also owned the St. Louis Perfectos (Cardinals), took all his good players from the Spiders and signed them with his other team. The result was the Perfectos having a 84-67 record, leaving the Spiders with a 20-134 record. Pitcher Jim Hughey also had a dismal performance with his 4-30 record.

Their fan attendance totaled 6088 for the entire season, compared to the third place Philadelphia Phillies who had an attendance of 388,933.

After they finished 12th of 12 teams in the National League in 1899, that was it for the franchise.

Answer: Phil Niekro

Niekro was a three-time 20-game winner, and won a career 318 games. But, from 1977-1980, Phil smelled up the mound by going 16-20, 19-18, 21-20, and 15-18, respectively. Still, within his career he was in top six voting for a Cy Young Award five times. He also led the league four times by giving up the most home runs in a season.

Answer: Philadelphia Quakers

The others listed never played in the National League. The 1883 Quakers went only 17-81, with John Coleman "leading" his pitching staff with a 12-48 record. The Quakers had only one starting batter hit .300, a very common average in the early days of baseball.

Answer: Dodgers

Under manager Walter Alston, the Dodgers finally pulled one out in 1955 against the Yankees. In their seven losses, they bowed down to the Red Sox, Indians, and Yankees five times.

Answer: George Frazier

Frazier pitched in only 3.2 inning in the entire series, all in relief, but the Dodgers hammered him to earn his 17.18 ERA. The Yankees fourth loss came via Ron Guidry.

Answer: Rays

The Angels had Alex Johnson who won the crown in 1970. John Olerud took the honors for the Blue Jays in 1993. Julio Franco represented the Rangers in 1991. The Rays were empty-handed.