Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right.
What's this? A legitimate Major League pitcher who had a long career? MacFayden was never really a great pitcher, but he was certainly a good one and he pitched from 1926 through 1943.
MacFayden started his career with the Red Sox during the ridiculously awful decade that was the 1920's. He pitched just three games in 1926 at the age of 21, but did not do much. He then had a few years of losing records and ERAs typically above 4.00. He had his first really good season in 1929. Despite a record of 10-18, which can be attributed more to how bad the team was than MacFayden, he had an ERA of 3.62 and led the league with four shutouts.
The next season, he was back to an ERA north of 4.00. Then, in 1931 he had his first winning record. MacFayden went 16-12 with a 4.02 ERA in 230.2 innings pitched. He then started the 1932 season opener as the best pitcher on the team. Unfortunately, MacFayden struggled greatly in 1932. In 12 games, he was just 1-10 with an ugly 5.10 ERA. In 77.2 innings pitched, he struck out 29 and walked 33. MacFayden was then traded in June for Ivy Andrews (who was covered earlier) and Henry Johnson.
MacFayden struggled with the Yankees for a couple of seasons, but then went on to some successful seasons with the Boston Braves later in his career. With the Red Sox, MacFayden's record was an 52-78, but he had an ERA of 4.23 in 1,167 innings pitched. He struck out 344 and walked 430.
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