The 1949 Senators were, indeed, horrible. But, their total ineptitude wasn't evident for the first 3 months of the season. I grew up in Silver Spring, MD, a Washington DC suburb. My father was friends with Shirley Povich (Maury's father) who covered the Senators for the Washington Post and was considered the Dean of Washington sportswriters. In the mid-1950's, Shirley wrote a history of the Senators and gave my dad an autographed copy for me which I treasured.
One thing I remember from that book is a section on the 1949 Senators. They took their first western road trip in early May on which they had a 10-game winning streak, losing only the final game to the Tigers. According to Povich, the team returned home to a large welcoming throng at Union Station. Fans carried signs such as "Drink a toast to Eddie Yost" and "We'll Win Plenty With Sam Dente." The team went 18-10 in May and 10-16 in June.
At the end of June, their record was a not completely awful 31-35. After that, it was a disaster. From July-October, the Nats were 19-69. They finished at 50-104, three games behind the almost equally inept St. Louis Browns. With the exceptions of the 1946, 1952 and 1953 seasons the Senators were pretty much the dregs of the AL from the end of World War II until they left for Minnesota after the 1960 season, but the 1949 version was the worst of a bad lot.
Daniel,
The 1949 Senators were, indeed, horrible. But, their total ineptitude wasn't evident for the first 3 months of the season. I grew up in Silver Spring, MD, a Washington DC suburb. My father was friends with Shirley Povich (Maury's father) who covered the Senators for the Washington Post and was considered the Dean of Washington sportswriters. In the mid-1950's, Shirley wrote a history of the Senators and gave my dad an autographed copy for me which I treasured.
One thing I remember from that book is a section on the 1949 Senators. They took their first western road trip in early May on which they had a 10-game winning streak, losing only the final game to the Tigers. According to Povich, the team returned home to a large welcoming throng at Union Station. Fans carried signs such as "Drink a toast to Eddie Yost" and "We'll Win Plenty With Sam Dente." The team went 18-10 in May and 10-16 in June.
At the end of June, their record was a not completely awful 31-35. After that, it was a disaster. From July-October, the Nats were 19-69. They finished at 50-104, three games behind the almost equally inept St. Louis Browns. With the exceptions of the 1946, 1952 and 1953 seasons the Senators were pretty much the dregs of the AL from the end of World War II until they left for Minnesota after the 1960 season, but the 1949 version was the worst of a bad lot.