When It Came to Losing Games, These Guys Were Hard to Beat

In a world obsessed with winners, losers are sometimes more interesting.

Take the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, for instance. They lost 134 games, a record unbroken to this day, and their season ended with 40 losses in their last 41 games. George Robinson and Charles Salzberg, in a book, “On a Clear Day They Could See Seventh Place,” set out to chronicle the worst teams in baseball history, and the list started with the Spiders.

Their longest winning streak was two games. But were they any worse than two Philadelphia teams--the 1942 Phillies, who finished 62 1/2 games out of first place, or the 1916 Athletics, who were 40 games behind the next-to-last team?

Add Spiders: For their final game, Manager Joe Quinn gave the ball to Eddie Kolb, a 19-year-old cigar store clerk at the hotel where the team stayed in Cincinnati. Kolb, a sandlot pitcher, gave up 19 runs, 18 hits and five walks, a fitting ending to the season.

Trivia question: Who is the youngest golfer to play in the Masters?

The right stuff: When John Havlicek was still playing for the Boston Celtics, his Mr. Clean image attracted politicians who thought the basketball star might be a good vote-getter.

“Ohio Gov. Jim Rhodes was trying to get me in politics,” Havlicek told the Boston Globe’s Bob Ryan. “I told him I didn’t know anything about politics, and he told me that’s exactly the kind of candidate he needed.”

Fair warning: Just in case the Kansas City Royals aren’t in tune with their new teammate, Kirk Gibson, he gave it to them straight:

“When I leave spring training each year, I leave to be a world champion. That is the only goal, and I’ve been fortunate to do it twice (with the 1984 Detroit Tigers and the 1988 Dodgers).

“To be a world champion, you have to have a lot of talent, a lot of drive and a lot of heart. You’ll look a long time to find someone who wants to win as badly as I do.”

Small wave: When only 32,000 fans are in the 103,000-seat Rose Bowl, it’s not impressive. When the gathering tried to do the wave last Saturday night at the Mickey Thompson off-road races, Ontario Bulletin reporter Louie Brewster quipped: “That’s more like a ripple.”

Not so senior: A fan approached Arnold Palmer and asked the 61-year-old golfer, “If you didn’t know how old you were, how old would you think you are?”

Arnie didn’t hesitate. “29,” he answered.

Just asking: Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun asks: “If relief pitcher Steve Howe can come back to the major leagues with the commissioner’s blessing after breaking the sport’s drug ban repeatedly from 1982 to 1987, isn’t it fair to argue that Pete Rose should be reinstated after he finishes paying his price to society?”

Vital fact: An official boccie course must be from 78 to 92 feet in length and from 13 to 19 1/4 feet in width.

Trivia answer: Tommy Jacobs, who was 17 and a student at Montebello High when he played as an amateur in 1952. Fourteen years later, he lost in a playoff to Jack Nicklaus.

Quotebook: The late Red Grange, on why he never took up golf: “Golf lacks something for me. It would be better if once in a while someone came up from behind and tackled you just as you were hitting the ball.”