If the Marlins aren't the worst ...

    OK, let's say the pundits are right and the Marlins are not going to be the worst team in baseball history. Are they still among the worst of all time?
    Here's a list of the worst five from Yahoo.com, by William Browning:
    5-- Pittsburgh Pirates, 1952. Baseball Reference states in 1952, the Pirates finished with a 42-112 record. They finished 54 ½ games back of the Brooklyn Dodgers who won twice as many games. The Pirates once went 18 years without a winning season. Ouch.
    4 -- Detroit Tigers, 2003. In 2003, they finished the season 43-119, a full 47 games back . They had a winning record against only one team, the San Diego Padres with interleague play in which the Tigers took two out of three games. Detroit started the year 1-17 and finally won their 10th game of the year May 22, 2003.
    3 --  New York Mets, 1962. They were no better than ninth place out of 10 in the first seven years of their existence. Their inaugural season was the worst as the Mets won just 25 percent of their games. New York finished 60 ½ games back in the National League going 40-120. They never won a season series against a team, but the did split with the Chicago Cubs.
    2 -- Boston Braves, 1935. They won only 38 games in the 1935 season. Amazingly, they started out in first place in the National League when they won their season opener against the New York Giants by a scored of 4-2. The season would go downhill from there, very quickly. Their 10th win came June 2, 1935. The Braves were involved in 38 one-run games, of which they only won seven. They finished the season 38-115, 61 ½ games back of the division leaders.
    1 -- Philadelphia Athletics, 1916. They were the worst team since the World Series began to be played. They won only 36 games coupled with 117 losses. In one stretch from June 2 to August 8 , the Athletics were 4-56 including a 20-game losing streak. The A's finished 54 ½ games behind the front of the pack.
    Remember the lossing-est team in ML history was an expansion team, the 1962 Mets. In a first year, fans are always loose and hopeful, and Casey was giving his comic observations. That could be fun. No one is saying this year is fun to be a Marlins fan.
    After Monday night's loss to the Phils, the Marlins are now 16-42, the same record that the '62 Mets had at this point.