No team had been outscored by that many runs in a season since the infamous 1899 Cleveland Spiders, an outfit that lost 134 games. You may have heard of them.
The previous modern record for worst run differential was minus-349, by the 1932 Boston Red Sox. That one held up for 92 years. Then these Rockies blew past it by 75 runs. That’s the equivalent of Aaron Judge or Cal Raleigh breaking Bonds’ single-season HR record of 73 by hitting 89.
The 2024 White Sox run differential was “only” minus-306. Imagine having a run differential 118 runs worse than the losingest team of the modern era.
The Rox were 93 runs worse than the 1962 Mets.
It wasn't really close. The Rockies zoomed past the ’24 White Sox run differential on Aug. 6. They roared by the ’62 Mets on Aug. 14. They’d shattered the record of the 1932 Red Sox by Aug. 24. Too bad for them but the season kept going.
Here's the minus 400 club. The Browns entry became the Cardinals 3 years later.
Code: Select all
-723 1899 Cleveland Spiders 20-134
-638 1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys 23-113
-496 1897 St. Louis Browns 29-102
-459 1889 Louisville Colonels 27-111
-450 1883 Philadelphia Phillies 17-81
-424 2025 Colorado Rockies 43-119
-406 1890 Buffalo Bisons 36-96