Jan

The last of a dying breed

Chances are it didn’t register as anything more than a blip on your radar, but 42-year-old reliever Russ Springer announced his retirement over the weekend. Why should you care? Because as Cliff Corcoran explains, Springer was the last active player to have suited up for a losing Yankees team. He appeared in 14 games as a rookie for the 1992 Yankees, a team that went 76-86 and finished fourth in what was then a seven-team AL East. Springer’s career in pinstripes lasted only those 14 games (6.19 ERA in 16 IP); he was traded to the Angels after the season as part of the package for Jim Abbott.

The Yankees have finished over .500 every year since then, and they own the major’s longest streak of consecutive winning seasons. The Red Sox and Phillies are the only other clubs to have not had at least one losing season since ~~2006~~ 2007. That blows my mind.

Categories : Asides, Days of Yore

13 Comments»

JGS says:

January 31, 2011 at 4:41 pm

The Red Sox and Phillies are the only other clubs to have not had at least one losing season since 2006

2007 really. St. Louis, Minnesota, and Tampa were all under .500 in 2007 and haven’t been since. That Tampa has the fourth longest active winning-season streak is pretty crazy.

vin says:

January 31, 2011 at 4:45 pm

That’s insane.

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Tom Zig says:

January 31, 2011 at 4:46 pm

I love fun facts like these.

jsbrendog (returns) says:

January 31, 2011 at 4:53 pm

so what you’re saying is it is time for an alvaro espinoza comeback

ChrisS says:

January 31, 2011 at 4:55 pm

Seems just like yesterday.

JGS says:

January 31, 2011 at 5:03 pm

Regarding the flipside–there are two active players who played for a winning Pirates team: Tim Wakefield, and Miguel Batista (who threw two innings as a 21 year old for the 1992 Pirates)

CS Yankee says:

January 31, 2011 at 5:19 pm

Pittsburgh still has a MLB team?

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Tom Zig says:

January 31, 2011 at 5:28 pm

wow good find.

Reply
Accent Shallow says:

January 31, 2011 at 8:56 pm

Good call.

Hey, Barry Bonds hasn’t officially retired . . .

Reply

Michael R. says:

January 31, 2011 at 7:00 pm

Ah, Russ Springer was one of those hotshot Yankees prospects of the 90s that always seemed to fail miserably aka Jackson Melian, Gerald Williams, Ruben Rivera, etc. Good thing there were several NON top 100 prospects like Posada and Rivera to help out.

Le Noir Faineant says:

February 1, 2011 at 12:16 am

I think it was supposed to be 1997. The Red Sox last had a losing season in 1997. The Phillies last had a losing season in 2002. It’s still impressive.

Le Noir Faineant says:

February 1, 2011 at 12:18 am

Never mind. I was reading too fast. It was correct as written.

Plank says:

February 1, 2011 at 3:18 am

Has there ever been another team who has had this distinction for any stretch of time?