The 1899 Cleveland Spiders, Still the Worst Ever

Geoff Baker has a decent, and balanced, post on the construction of the historically inept offense of the 2011 Seattle Mariners (unfortunately, my preferred team playing “baseball” since 1977).  Placing the current edition of the Mariners into historical context, Baker offers us this to assuage our pain:

The Mariners open play tonight with an OPS+ of 75. Last year’s abysmal team — with the worst offense in the DH era — posted a 78. The 1899 Cleveland Spiders — generally recognized as the worst team in baseball history — were at 74.

Unfortunately, the 2011 season isn’t over yet, so there’s still time to overtake the Spiders and achieve baseball immortality.