Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
The Phils won again today as Adam Eaton continued his recent turn at competency. In his last three starts, Eaton has allowed four runs in 20.2 innings and lowered his ERA from 8.18 to 5.70 even though he is just 1-1 over that span (though the Phils did win his no decision).
The Phils now find themselves again at .500 for the third time this season but have yet to have a winning record. Should this remain unchanged—that is, if the Phils never get over .500—they will become the 18th team in major-league history to hit .500 three times in a season without ever surpassing it.
Here are the previous 17:| Yr | Team | #Gs at .500 | First G over 500 | W | L | PCT | POS |
| 1983 | Minnesota Twins | 5 | 70 | 92 | .432 | 6 | |
| 1946 | St. Louis Browns | 5 | 66 | 88 | .429 | 7 | |
| 1982 | Toronto Blue Jays | 4 | 78 | 84 | .481 | 6 | |
| 1926 | Boston Red Sox | 4 | 46 | 107 | .301 | 8 | |
| 2005 | Kansas City Royals | 3 | 56 | 106 | .346 | 5 | |
| 2001 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 3 | 62 | 100 | .383 | 6 | |
| 1991 | San Francisco Giants | 3 | 75 | 87 | .463 | 4 | |
| 1977 | San Francisco Giants | 3 | 75 | 87 | .463 | 4 | |
| 1968 | New York Mets | 3 | 73 | 89 | .451 | 9 | |
| 1968 | California Angels | 3 | 67 | 95 | .414 | 8 | |
| 1964 | Washington Senators | 3 | 62 | 100 | .383 | 9 | |
| 1957 | Washington Senators | 3 | 55 | 99 | .357 | 8 | |
| 1933 | Philadelphia Phillies | 3 | 60 | 92 | .395 | 7 | |
| 1922 | Boston Red Sox | 3 | 61 | 93 | .396 | 8 | |
| 1916 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 3 | 65 | 89 | .422 | 6 | |
| 1900 | New York Giants | 3 | 60 | 78 | .435 | 8 | |
| 1891 | Columbus Solons | 3 | 61 | 76 | .445 | 6 |
The best teams to hit but never break .500 are as follows:
| Yr | Team | First G at 500 | W | L | PCT | POS | Div Win | WC Win | Lg Win | WS Win |
| 1923 | Washington Senators | 6 | 75 | 78 | .490 | 4 | N | N | ||
| 1981 | Kansas City Royals | 2 | 50 | 53 | .485 | 4 | Y | N | N | |
| 1982 | Toronto Blue Jays | 2 | 78 | 84 | .481 | 6 | N | N | N | |
| 1995 | New York Mets | 4 | 69 | 75 | .479 | 2 | N | N | N | N |
| 1937 | Washington Senators | 2 | 73 | 80 | .477 | 6 | N | N | ||
| 1973 | Atlanta Braves | 6 | 76 | 85 | .472 | 5 | N | N | N | |
| 1992 | Cleveland Indians | 2 | 76 | 86 | .469 | 5 | N | N | N | |
| 1932 | New York Giants | 50 | 72 | 82 | .468 | 7 | N | N | ||
| 1975 | Chicago White Sox | 2 | 75 | 86 | .466 | 5 | N | N | N | |
| 1985 | Philadelphia Phillies | 136 | 75 | 87 | .463 | 5 | N | N | N | |
| 1991 | San Francisco Giants | 12 | 75 | 87 | .463 | 4 | N | N | N | |
| 1977 | San Francisco Giants | 6 | 75 | 87 | .463 | 4 | N | N | N | |
| 1987 | Texas Rangers | 2 | 75 | 87 | .463 | 6 | N | N | N |
The '81 Royals won the "first half" title in that strike-interrupted season and then got swept in the division series by the Billy Ball A's. They are the only team on the list to make the playoffs.
One of these days this team is going to back into a winning record, but there's no reason to doubt that the Phils can't match the '83 Twins and '46 Browns for the "record" for most times reaching but never exceeding mediocrity.
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