News & Politics

Schadenfreude Alert: The Orioles Are Very, Very, Very (Very!) Bad

No team has lost more than 19 games in a row since 2005.

Photograph via iStock.

Not only are the Baltimore Orioles currently the worst team in baseball with a record of 38-86, they are on a 19-game losing streak. How abysmal is this state of affairs? You have to go back to 2005, when the Kansas City Royals lost 19 games in a row, to match it. Somehow, it gets worse: the Orioles are just two games away from tying the longest American League losing streak ever. Its owner? The 1988 Baltimore Orioles, who took 21 L’s in a row. 

And while the District is majority Nationals fans, according to this handy-dandy map from Vivid Seats, it’s hard to see a neighboring team, one that for many years was Washington’s team by default, flounder like this. To wit: 

It’s not like the Nats are having a great year. The Orioles even swept them in July. But since their final meet-up on July 25, the Orioles have gone 4-22—their last win was against the New York Yankees on August 2. The Nats have at least gone 9-17 during the same time period.  They have a 54-70 record over all, and they’re not even in last place in the NL East. Nats general manager Mike Rizzo himself has weighed in: “I couldn’t fathom twenty in a row. That would be difficult for me.” (The Nats’ longest losing streak is seven games.)

The Orioles face off against the Los Angeles Angels tonight—they beat the O’s 14-8 on Tuesday.

Jason Fontelieu
Editorial Fellow