FUTILITY CLINIC

The signs were there on May 1, 1883, when the Philadelphia Phillies squandered a three-run lead over the Providence Grays and lost their first game, 4-3.

The Phillies were destined to be more than merely a bad team.

They would be record-setting awful.

On Sunday, 124 years and countless blown leads after their debut, the Phillies became the first American sports team to lose 10,000 regular-season games. After staring at 9,999 for more than a week -- they won their last game before the All-Star break and first two afterward -- they pushed the odometer to a nice, round five digits with a 10-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Citizens Bank Ballpark.

The sellout crowd acted predictably, giving the Phillies a standing ovation laced with boos and holding up signs that noted the occasion, including one that said “10,000 N Proud.”

Fans’ love-hate relationship with the Phillies is almost comical. One website, countdownto10000.com, bitterly proclaims its mission: “Officially tracking the worst franchise EVER, in all of pro sports.”

There’s also celebrate10000.com, “the site that celebrates a crowning achievement in baseball history.” Anyone with a morbid sense of humor and a few bucks can buy pint glasses -- empty, alas -- and T-shirts imprinted with the box score from Sunday’s game.

“Losing 10,000 games, it’s a testament to the fans that the team is still there,” said Charley DeBow, creator of celebrate10000.com.

“But sometimes we’re our own enemy. We demand a quality product on the field, but management knows we’re going to show up, anyway, so there’s no pressure on them to make the team better.”

The Phillies have a chance to get started on the next 10,000 today, when they face the Dodgers in the opener of a three-game series at Dodger Stadium, but losing that first 10,000 games wasn’t as easy as it sounds.

The Braves, who were born in 1871, haven’t done it. They’re at 9,681.

Even the Cubs, those cuddly losers, have lost 9,425 games since 1876.

The Phillies got to 10,000 the old-fashioned way: They earned it.

They had 11 seasons of at least 100 losses from 1921 through 1942, one under the watch of a manager named Kaiser Wilhelm -- a former pitcher, not the German ruler -- and five consecutive seasons of more than 100 losses from 1938 to 1942.

But they’ve also sent 34 people to Cooperstown who played for or managed them. They’ve outlasted three Philadelphia newspapers and one intracity rival, the Athletics, on the way to this milestone. Or is it a millstone?

“We’ve had some great players,” said Larry Shenk, the Phillies’ vice president for public relations and a team employee since 1964.

“We’ve had some donkeys too. Just like every other team.”

They’ve endured heartbreak that is uniquely their own.

Though it’s tough to choose one loss among 10,000 as the most devastating, there’s a good candidate.

That would be the 1-0 loss they absorbed on Sept. 21, 1964, when Cincinnati’s Chico Ruiz stole home in the sixth inning. That triggered a 10-game losing streak, obliterating the 6 1/2 -game lead the Phillies had built with 12 games to play.

Before that, they had been so sure they would win the National League pennant that they commissioned the printing of World Series tickets and program covers.

On the back of the program, Ballantine beer offered “a toast to the champs.” On the front, an American flag flies above a Phillies pennant and another pennant that was left blank, awaiting the name of their American League opponent.

Oops.

“That was our yearbook cover two years later,” Shenk said.

Shenk’s phone has been ringing a lot the last year, since Philadelphia-area media determined that the 10,000th loss would occur this season. He helped clear up a discrepancy that had given the Phillies one loss too many and was firm in saying the Phillies would not recognize what came after 9,999.

“Other than the Washington Generals, I don’t know of any team that celebrates losses,” he said. “We are seventh in games played, ninth in wins and first in losses. And we’ve drawn 116 million fans since 1883.

“We’re the oldest continuous, same-name, same-city team in professional sports. We’re as old as the Brooklyn Bridge.

“It’s a matter of our longevity, that’s the way we look at it.”

Fox broadcaster and former catcher Tim McCarver, who played in three NL Championship Series with the Phillies but retired a few months before their lone World Series championship in 1980, retains fond memories of the team and its followers.

“What has endured in Philadelphia is the fact that some fans get it,” he said.

“In our country, who wins and who loses is very important. It’s the ultimate deciding thing. In Philadelphia, it’s more the joy of going to a game and seeing a game. Wins and losses are important, but it’s the experience of being there that’s most important to them.”

Like Shenk, McCarver took a positive perspective on 10K.

“A lot of people would look upon it as a disparaging type of mark,” he said, “but to me, it’s a sign that the team has endured.”

Shenk survived that 1964 disappointment, but he won’t have to bear much more pain. He plans to retire after this season.

“I was hopeful we wouldn’t lose another game this year,” he said, laughing, “and it wouldn’t be on my watch.”

Helene Elliott can be reached at helene.elliott@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Elliott, go to latimes.com/elliott.

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The top losers in each of the U.S. professional sports leagues:

*--* NL Philadelphia Phillies 10,000 AL Baltimore Orioles* 8,629 NBA Golden State Warriors** 2,563 NHL Chicago Blackhawks 2,415 NFL Arizona Cardinals** 649

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* Were formerly the St. Louis Browns.

**Also known as the Philadelphia and San Francisco Warriors; Chicago-St. Louis-Phoenix Cardinals.

Source: Associated Press