It is never a good sign when an opposing player helps a team make history. Such was the case with Francisco Lindor and the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Phillies were on the cusp of becoming the first team to allow 100,000 runs in franchise history, having given up 99,997 runs since becoming a major league team in 1883. They did not need to wait long to reach that milestone, as Francisco Lindor’s run in the bottom of the first inning gave them that ignoble honor.
Philadelphia Phillies first MLB team to reach sad milestone
It may be a while before another team joins the Phillies at that mark. They have allowed more than 3000 runs more than the Cubs and Braves, the next two teams on that list. Both of those teams were charter members of the National League, existing for seven more years than the Phillies, despite giving up far fewer runs.
The fact that the Phillies are the first team to reach that mark should not be a surprise. They were the last of the original 16 major league teams to win a World Series, finally doing so in 1980, their 97th year of existence. But this is not a team that had a track record of success, having only reached the postseason twice in their first 92 years.
While the Phillies are first in one area of major league history, they are last in another. The Phillies are the only team to come into existence prior to 1900 that has yet to reach the 10,000 victory plateau as they had 9956 wins heading into Sunday. That is ninth all time in MLB history, although they have been passed by the Yankees, who came into existence 18 years later. It may be a matter of time before the Red Sox surpass the Phillies as well as they were just 216 wins behind entering Sunday’s slate of games.
Francisco Lindor helped the Philadelphia Phillies make major league history on Sunday night. It was not the type of history that they wanted.