The Phils jumped out to a four-run lead tonight and were actually able to hold onto it for their second victory of the season. In the process they went from the cellar of the NL East to third place, a position they seem destined to hold for the remainder of the season.

Before the win the Phils had the worst record in baseball (1-6), which made me wonder how many times they had occupied that position in their history. (And unfortunately, they went out and improbably won a game—with Lidle pitching yet—to ruin my research, but I decided to post it anyway.)

Here are the teams that recorded the worst record in the majors at least four times:

The Phils, of course, top the list. The Louisville Colonels are the only inactive team to make the list.

Of the current teams, here are the ones to finish last overall the fewest times:

Then again, the Phils have been around for 123 years. To put it in perspective, I looked at the teams that finished last the most often (just active teams—for the record Louisville finished last 4 out of 18 times to tie the D Rays for worst):

OK, so the Phils may not the most frequent last-place team. Of the franchises that have been in existence for at least a hundred years, the Phils trail the Senators/Twins and A's. Then again, if the Phils succeed in failing worse than any other team this year, they will leapfrog those two franchises (as well as the D-Backs.

Unfortunately, if the Phils offense can come alive enough to win games for Lidle, they might be able to win a game or three. And Charlie "I Need A" Manuel finally figured out that Burrell is a better option at cleanup than Utley. Unfortunately, he hasn't figured out that Utley and Howard at the numbers five and six spots with the on-base-impaired Rowand batting second makes no sense at all.

Don't worry: his successor will figure it out pronto.