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Pena, Shano On You
2005-05-11 09:10
by Mike Carminati

Tony Pena resigned as manager of the Kansas City Royals today as his team lurched to an 8-25 start this season. It is a new low for a franchise given that a little over a season ago Pena seemed to rejuvenate the team en route to AL Manager of the Year honors. Many (including me) picked the Royals to win the AL Central just last season.

Now, the Royals seemed assured to suffer through their eleventh losing season in the last twelve years. They are currently on track to best (worst?) the inaugural 1962 Mets 40-120 record as the worst record in the expansion era. They do trail the 1916 Philly A's for the worst record in the "modern" era:

TeamYrWLPCT
Philadelphia Athletics191636117.234
Washington Senators190438113.242
Kansas City Royals2005825.242
Boston Braves193538115.248
New York Mets196240120.248
Philadelphia Athletics191936104.257
Detroit Tigers200343119.265
Colorado Rockies2005822.267
Washington Senators190942110.269
Pittsburgh Pirates195242112.271
St. Louis Browns193943111.276
Philadelphia Phillies194143111.277

Pena also has the worst record of any manager to win Manager of the Year honors (stats through 2005):

Manager# YrsGWLPCT
Tony Pena4483198285.410
Jeff Torborg111352634718.469
Don Baylor91317627689.476
Frank Robinson1519519311019.477
Tom Kelly16238611401244.478
John McNamara19239511601233.484
Jim Leyland14440421382262.485
Bruce Bochy111636799837.488
Larry Bowa6853418435.490
Gene Lamont81115553562.496
Buck Rodgers161559784774.503
Don Zimmer131744885858.507
Felipe Alou131763898865.509
Jerry Manuel6971500471.515
Johnny Oates111544797746.516
Jack McKeon15361018741734.519
Buck Showalter10281814641352.520
Lou Piniella19558829172671.522
Hal Lanier3486254232.523
Tom Lasorda21608231982878.526
Mike Scioscia6843444399.527
Jim Frey5611323287.529
Joe Torre24674835773159.530
Whitey Herzog18240912811125.532
Tony LaRussa281588484767396.534
Jimy Williams121701910790.535
Dusty Baker13567230652604.540
Sparky Anderson26806043883668.544
Larry Dierker5810448362.553
Davey Johnson1420391148888.563
Bobby Cox241064160274605.566

Not only that, Pena has the fifteenth worst record among managers with at least three seasons and 300 games of managerial experience. His is the worst such managerial career since Russ Nixon shuffled off his managerial coil in 1990:

Name# YrsGWLPCTLast Yr
Doc Prothro3460138320.3011941
John McCloskey5615190417.3131908
Fred Tenney4616202402.3341911
Roy Hartsfield3484166318.3431979
Joe Cantillon3465158297.3471909
Zack Taylor5649235410.3641951
Mickey Vernon3363135227.3731963
Lew Fonseca3318120196.3801934
Art Fletcher5623237383.3821929
Preston Gomez7875346529.3951980
Russ Nixon5579231347.4001990
Jimmie Wilson91237493735.4011944
Dave Bancroft4615249363.4071927
Billy Herman4465189274.4081966
Tony Pena4483198285.4102005
Larry Rothschild4499205294.4112001
Jack Chapman11869351502.4111892
Billy Meyer5774317452.4121952
Jim Marshall4555229326.4131979
Cookie Lavagetto6657271384.4141961
Bill Dahlen4615251355.4141913
Ben Chapman4474196276.4151948
Wes Westrum5627260366.4151975
Alex Grammas3328137191.4181977
Buck Herzog3401165226.4221916

Pena's 2005 campaign will go down as one of the worst for a manager ever. It's just one of twenty in the last forty years in which the manager's team lost at least three times as many games as they won:

NameYrTeamGWLPCT
Tony Pena2005Kansas City Royals33825.242
Davey Lopes2002Milwaukee Brewers15312.200
Phil Garner2002Detroit Tigers606.000
Rene Lachemann2002Chicago Cubs101.000
Joe Altobelli1991Chicago Cubs101.000
Cal Ripken Sr.1988Baltimore Orioles606.000
Moose Stubing1988California Angels808.000
Jeff Newman1986Oakland Athletics1028.200
Marty Martinez1986Seattle Mariners101.000
Maury Wills1981Seattle Mariners25618.240
Johnny Pesky1980Boston Red Sox514.200
Jack Krol1980St. Louis Cardinals101.000
Dick Howser1978New York Yankees101.000
Ted Turner1977Atlanta Braves101.000
Chuck Tanner1970Chicago White Sox16313.188
Les Moss1968Chicago White Sox202.000
Luke Appling1967Kansas City Athletics401030.250
Ken Silvestri1967Atlanta Braves303.000
Johnny Keane1966New York Yankees20416.200
Mel McGaha1965Kansas City Athletics26521.192

If one filters out the interim managers, it gets worse. For managers who managed at least 25 games in the given season, Pena's 2005 is the worst in 25 years and one of just ten in the "modern" era in which the manager's team won 25% of the time or less:

NameYrTeamGWLPCT
Tony Pena2005Kansas City Royals33825.242
Maury Wills1981Seattle Mariners25618.240
Luke Appling1967Kansas City Athletics401030.250
Mel McGaha1965Kansas City Athletics26521.192
Casey Stengel1962New York Mets16140120.248
Bobby Wallace1937Cincinnati Reds25520.200
Bill McKechnie1935Boston Braves15338115.248
Shano Collins1932Boston Red Sox551144.200
Connie Mack1916Philadelphia Athletics15436117.234
Heinie Smith1902New York Giants32527.156

Using Pena's 33 games in 2005 as the minimum, only 29 other managers have plied their trade with a team for at least that many games in a season and won 25% of the time or less. Pena's .242 winning percentage this year is the worst such record since Shano Collin's helped "lead" the hapless 1932 Red Sox to 43-111 record (.279):

NameYrTeamGWLPCT
Tony Pena2005Kansas City Royals33825.242
Luke Appling1967Kansas City Athletics401030.250
Casey Stengel1962New York Mets16140120.248
Bill McKechnie1935Boston Braves15338115.248
Shano Collins1932Boston Red Sox551144.200
Connie Mack1916Philadelphia Athletics15436117.234
Lave Cross1899Cleveland Spiders38830.211
Joe Quinn1899Cleveland Spiders11612104.103
Hugh Nicol1897St. Louis Browns40832.200
Roger Connor1896St. Louis Browns46837.174
Guy Hecker1890Pittsburgh Alleghenys13823113.167
Dan Shannon1889Louisville Colonels581046.172
Jimmy Wolf1889Louisville Colonels651451.215
Mike Scanlon1886Washington Nationals821367.159
Dave Rowe1886Kansas City Cowboys1263091.238
Charlie Morton1885Detroit Wolverines38731.184
Alex McKinnon1885St. Louis Maroons39632.154
Jack Chapman1884Detroit Wolverines1142884.246
Holly Hollingshead1884Washington Nationals621250.194
Ted Sullivan1884Kansas City Cowboys621346.210
Blondie Purcell1883Philadelphia Quakers821368.159
Freeman Brown1882Worcester Ruby Legs41932.220
Jack Chapman1882Worcester Ruby Legs37730.189
Jack Chapman1878Milwaukee Grays611545.246
Al Wright1876Philadelphia Athletics601445.233
Charlie Gould1876Cincinnati Reds65956.138
Charlie Pabor1875Brooklyn Atlantics42240.048
Warren White1874Baltimore Canaries47938.191
Nick Young1873Washington Blue Legs39831.205
Bob Ferguson1872Brooklyn Atlantics37928.243
Comments
2005-05-11 16:22:31
1.   Scotty Mac
what about years for MOY chart?
2005-05-12 07:58:45
2.   Mike Carminati
Scotty Mac,

They are here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/manage.shtml

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