How bad are the Oakland Athletics?

The A’s will begin play Friday with a 14-50 record, and they have a run differential of -200. However, they recently won their first road series by taking two of three games in Pittsburgh. With their plight and their roster of unknown players, the A’s are one of the game’s major storylines.

Even though they also recently won a home series against the Atlanta Braves, their race to futility appears like it will continue the rest of the way. The 2003 Detroit Tigers had a 43-119 record - the lowest number of wins in a 162-game season. Can the A’s be even worse than that?

In this week’s version of my Yesterday column - reminiscing about sports and pop culture in the 1960s. 70s, 80s, 90s and sometimes beyond – I’ll take a look at some of the worst seasons in Philadelphia sports history, as well as some on the national scene. I’ll also look back at some trends from the 1970s.

Did Ted Williams ever manage? Who was Charlie Finley? What was the top-selling movie of 1973? And who was “The Dean” of Philadelphia broadcasters? To get answers to all those questions and more, check out this week’s Yesterday column.

Voyage to the Bottom of the League ... The A’s are on a pace to win 46 games this season.

That would place them just a few notches above the 2003 Tigers all-time worst win total. That Tigers team was managed by Alan Trammell and were a relatively unknown group, but do you know who their general manager was? Try current Philadelphia Phillies’ president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, who had a 14-year stay in Detroit.

Before the current 162-game format came into effect, the 1962 New York Mets had a 40-120 mark in their inaugural season of existence, and the 1899 Cleveland Spider hold baseball’s record for futility with a 20-134 mark.

On a list of the 50 worst seasons in baseball history, the Philadelphia A’s appear six times, and the Phillies appear seven times.

The Swingin’ A’s ... Growing up, most of our thoughts about the A’s go back to the days of the early 70s when Oakland was a baseball dynasty. The A’s won three consecutive championships and 277 regular-season games due to a solid lineup from top to bottom, with the likes of Sal Bando, Reggie Jackson, and Joe Rudi along with pitching standouts Vida Blue, Catfish Hunter, and Rollie Fingers.

Defiant and colorful Charles (Charlie) O. Finley was the perfect owner for this swashbuckling band of baseball players. He brought in baseball’s first full-time pinch runner (track star Herb Washington), and had numerous issues with MLB’s front office. He also will be remembered for the bright, colorful uniforms he introduced to the sport

‘72 Slide ... As far as the Phillies, one of their worst teams in modern day baseball was the ‘72 team. The Phillies acquired Steve Carlton from St. Louis for Rick Wise in February, and “Lefty” proceeded to win 27 games - even though the team won just 59 games that season. Carlton had a 27-10 record with a 1.97 ERA and 310 strikeouts.

Going down memory lane, the rest of the starting staff was Ken Reynolds (2-15), Billy Champion (4-14), and Woodie Fryman (4-10). Youngster Wayne Twitchell managed to produce the second-highest win total (5-9), while veteran Jim Nash, (remember him?) acquired from Atlanta, went 0-8 with a 6.37 ERA.

In the field, 21-year-old Greg Luzinksi led the team in homers (18) and RBIs (68). Some possibly forgotten starters were catcher John Bateman, first baseman Tommy Hutton, and right fielder Roger Freed. Willie Montanez was in center.

Manager Frank Lucchesi was fired in early June with a 26-50 record, and GM Paul Owens took over. Their team batting average was .236, and their ERA was 3.66.

More bad baseball that season ... The Phillies weren’t even the worst team in 1972. That honor belonged to the Texas Rangers, who were 54-100. They were managed by the legendary Ted Williams (yes, it was him), who was in his final year after three years with the Washington Senators. The Rangers were led by a rising Toby Harrah, and an aging Frank Howard. Their team average was .217, and their ERA was 3.53.

Besides the Rangers, the Padres managed just 58 wins (58-95) that season behind managers Preston Gomez and Don Zimmer. Legendary first baseman Nate Colbert hit 38 homers, and outfielder Leron Lee hit .300 with 12 homers. Clay Kirby won 12 games.

The Phillies run differential was -132, the Rangers was -167, and the Padres was -177. Strangely, the Phillies team ERAs wouldn’t be terrible in today’s game.

How High Were Your Socks? ... If you were a child of the 70s, you wore your tube socks high.

We used to definitely try to have them over our calf, and we often tried to stretch them to our knees. It was a matter of whether you went for a conservative color or a more flamboyant one. There also was a matter of how many stripes you had.

Along with your socks, we all usually wore colored T-shirts with a wide, circle stripe at the end of sleeve.

The ‘72 Sixers ... Everyone is aware of the 9-73 Sixers’ team in the 1972-73 season, but the 1971-72 Sixers also were quite inept.

Jack Ramsey coached the team to a 30-52 record before he left for the Buffalo Braves. Archie Clark was traded to Baltimore at the start of the season for Freddie Carter and Kevin Loughery. Billy Cunningham led the team with a 23.3 scoring average. Luke Jackson retired at the end of the season.

The Dark Side ... In 1973, pop culture also had a down or dark side.

The movie, “The Exorcist” was released with groundbreaking material. Pink Floyd hit the charts with the “Dark Side of the Moon” album, and “The World at War” was a graphic, yet excellent documentary series about World War II.

Tapes and Popcorn ... Back in the day, how often did you create your favorite playlist on a cassette tape, or even on an 8-track tape. I do remember making my own selections on an 8-track tape when you could buy blank ones to record songs.

Once we had our tapes, it was time to make your own popcorn with a popcorn maker. Back in the 70s, one of the more popular ones was Joe Namath’s Hamilton Beach Butter-Up Corn Popper. Did you have one? Being a Jets’ fan, I had to have one, Others were Presto, Sunbeam, JCPenny, and of course, we all tried JiffyPop off the stove.

Another Classic Item ... As a kid, we all tried to collect the mini-football helmets. Recently, I thought about starting to collect them again or buy a new set.

It dawned on me to start to collect after I saw them in a vending machine in which you put in a quarter and turned the lever. It would be fun to find a 70s set and have them attached to a league background.

Memory Lane ... Every week, I will look back at a former player, coach, manager or media member from our yesterday.

Do you remember Bill Campbell? He was rightfully known as “The Dean” of Philadelphia broadcasters, as he was the play-by-play man for the Eagles, Phillies, and Sixers over the years. He worked on Phillies’ radio and TV broadcasts with By Saam and Richie Ashburn from 1962-71. Campbell was one of the first hosts on WIP.

One of his most notable moments was his call of Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in Hershey.

Campbell passed away at the age of 91 in 2014.

Feedback ... Your comments, thoughts, and ideas are always welcomed at tnsports@tnonline.com