The Capitals Debuted 52 Years Ago Today. Here Are the 5 Worst Losing Streaks in Sports History
The 1974-75 Capitals, the 0-21 Orioles, the 26-game Bucs, Prairie View's 80 straight and Anthony Young's 27: the 5 worst losing streaks in sports history, and how each one finally ended.
On October 9, 1974, the Washington Capitals played their first NHL game. They lost 6-3 to the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Then they kept losing, and losing, until they had built the worst season in the history of the league.
That's the bar for this list. The 2008 Lions went 0-16 and didn't make it. These 5 streaks were longer, stranger, and in a couple of cases came with a trash can.
5. Anthony Young, New York Mets: 27 straight losing decisions
The streak: May 6, 1992, to July 24, 1993. 14 losses as a starter, 13 more out of the bullpen.
Anthony Young broke Cliff Curtis' major league record of 23 straight and kept going. The weird part is that he wasn't that bad. In the middle of the streak, the Mets moved him to closer and he saved 12 games in a row. He just could not get a win. His previous one had come on April 19, 1992, a span of 74 appearances.
How it ended: July 28, 1993, at Shea Stadium. Young gave up a run in the top of the 9th to fall behind the Marlins 4-3, which would have been loss number 28. Then Ryan Thompson singled in the tying run and Eddie Murray doubled in the winner. Young's teammates mobbed him like he'd thrown a no-hitter.
Why it's only number 5: It's one man, and the 1993 Mets lost 103 games. Somebody had to.
4. The 1988 Baltimore Orioles: 0-21
The streak: Opening Day through April 28, 1988. The worst start in baseball history.
The Orioles lost on Opening Day. Then they lost 5 more, and the club fired manager Cal Ripken Sr. with both of his sons, Cal Jr. and Billy, on the roster. Frank Robinson took over and lost the next 15. Sports Illustrated put Billy Ripken on the cover under the headline "0-18: The Agony of the Orioles." A Baltimore DJ named Bob Rivers swore he'd stay on the air until they won. He was on for 258 hours.
How it ended: April 29, 1988, at Comiskey Park. Orioles 9, White Sox 0. Mark Williamson held Chicago to 3 hits over 6 innings, Eddie Murray homered in the 1st, and Cal Jr. had a double and a home run. As the New York Times put it, President Reagan's phone calls could now switch from sympathetic to congratulatory.
Why it hurts: They finished 54-107. The 21 losses were the start of it, not the whole thing.
3. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 26 straight
The streak: The entire 1976 season, 0-14, and the first 12 games of 1977. Still the NFL record.
Tampa Bay joined the league in 1976 with John McKay, who had won 4 national titles at USC, as head coach. It didn't help. McKay was once asked about his team's execution. "I'm in favor of it," he said.
How it ended: December 11, 1977, at the Superdome. Bucs 33, Saints 14. It came the way McKay always said it would, with the defense scoring. 3 interceptions went back for touchdowns, 2 of them off Archie Manning. The Saints fired Hank Stram after the season, which tells you how New Orleans felt about being the team that lost to them.
Why it's number 3: 26 straight games over 2 seasons, and the Bucs went to the NFC Championship Game 2 years later.
2. Prairie View A&M football: 80 straight
The streak: October 1989 to September 1998. The longest losing streak in college football history, at any level.
Prairie View won 1 game in 1989, over Mississippi Valley State on October 28, 21-12. Then a financial scandal hit the athletic department, and the school canceled the 1990 season outright. When football came back in 1991, there were no scholarships. Prairie View lost every game. And the next year. And the next. For 9 years.
How it ended: September 26, 1998, against Langston. Langston cut Prairie View's lead to 14-12 on a 51-yard touchdown pass with 34 seconds left, then went for 2 to tie. Prairie View stopped the conversion. Langston tried an onside kick. Prairie View recovered it and ran out the clock. The coach on the winning sideline was Greg Johnson, who had left Langston 2 years earlier to rebuild the Panthers.
Why it's number 2: 80 games. It's not close to any other college program, and the 1990 cancellation means the losses span a decade.
1. The 1974-75 Washington Capitals: 37 straight on the road
The streak: The Capitals' first 37 road games, October 1974 to March 1975. And 17 straight losses overall, still the NHL record.
They went 8-67-5. That's 21 points out of a possible 160, a .131 points percentage, the worst season in NHL history. They gave up 446 goals. On the road they went 1-39-0, and the 1 came at the very end.
How it ended: March 28, 1975, in Oakland. Capitals 5, California Golden Seals 3. Their first road win of the season. "It was like winning the Stanley Cup," coach Milt Schmidt said. The players took that literally. They grabbed a beat-up metal trash can, hoisted it over their heads, paraded it around like the Cup, and then they all signed it.
Why it's number 1: It's the worst season in NHL history, and the team carried a trash can around to celebrate the end of it. 43 years later, in 2018, the Capitals won the real one. It took a while.
Honorable mentions
- The 2008 Detroit Lions, 0-16. The first 0-16 team in NFL history, and still not as bad as the Bucs' 26.
- The Philadelphia 76ers, 28 straight. Across the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, an NBA record. It ended December 1, 2015, against Kobe Bryant's Lakers.
- The Detroit Pistons, 28 straight in 2023-24. The single-season NBA record. It ended December 30, 2023.
Your turn
What did we miss? Which streak would you put at number 1? Tell us in the comments.
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