The Unbelievable MLB History The Angels Might Make

The Los Angeles Angels earned an important win Sept. 8, when they beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-1.

Why was this an important win? Because it was just the Angels’ third win in their last 15 games? Not really. Did it un-eliminate them from playoff contention. That it did not. 

All Tuesday night’s win over the Red Sox did was improve the Angels to 55-90 — and inch them a little closer to not losing 100 games and thus extending one of the weirdest streaks in American sports history. 

Yes. Somehow, someway, a franchise forever associated with stepping on rakes from the day it debuted in 1961 has never hit triple digits in defeats. The win over the Red Sox puts the Angels on pace to go 61-101, but also means they can go 8-9 the rest of the way and finish with a mere 99 losses. 

Yet the lopsided nature of the rare win, along with a ninth-inning maneuver by manager Kurt Suzuki, nudged them even closer — pun intended this time — to creating an even weirder bit of ignoble history for the Angels, who have a chance to become the first team since 1974 to play a full season in which no pitcher records at least five saves. 

Who Leads the Angels In Saves?

That’s a kind of convoluted way to put it, but these are the Angels, for whom being convoluted is a way of life.

Perhaps a cleaner to put this is that per StatHead at Baseball-Reference.com, no team has had a player record fewer than five saves in a full season (i.e. every season except the strike-shortened 1981 and 1994 seasons and the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign) since 1974.

Until, perhaps, now.

With under three weeks left in the season, the Angels’ co-leaders in saves are Jordan Romano and Ryan Zeferjahn with four apiece. This would seem to put the Angels on the doorstep of avoiding this even weirder bit of ignoble history, except for the small matter of Romano and Zeferjahn no longer playing for the club.

Romano was released Apr. 27, when he had those four saves to go along with a 10.13 ERA. Had the Angels just hung on to him a few days longer, you probably wouldn’t be reading this story right now.

The Angels have lost nine games in which they led in the ninth inning, which is tied for the most all-time with the 1978 New York Mets and the 2012 Milwaukee Brewers.

And that is how you not only flirt with 100 losses for the first time ever but also flirt with not even getting one pitcher to five saves — something that should be impossible with the modern usage of relievers and closers.

Almost Everyone Has a Pitcher With At Least Five Saves

Saves are so omnipresent that all but four of the 30 teams had someone get to five saves in 2020, when only 60 games were played due to the pandemic.

Every team had at least one pitcher with five saves in 1994, when the players’ strike ended the season on Aug. 11 (Cleveland was the only team for whom no one had more than five saves, but Jeff Russell and Paul Shuey had five apiece).

And in 1981, when the players’ strike wiped out almost two months, just one team had no one with at least five saves. And the Oakland Athletics were managed by Billy Martin, whose starters completed 196 of the 433 games he managed from 1980-82. So it’s a minor miracle Dave Beard and Jeff Jones collected three saves apiece during the 109-game strike-shortened campaign.

Even the worst teams of the 21st century had at least one pitcher who recorded five saves, since the worst teams of the 21st century aren’t going to win a lot of games by more than three runs. 

The 2003 Detroit Tigers, who had to win five of their final six games to finish 43-119 and avoid tying the 1962 New York Mets’ record for most losses in the modern era, had two pitchers with five saves — Franklyn German and Chris Mears. In a truly fun bit of quirkiness, Fernando Rodney was one of five Detroit pitchers with three saves — the first three big league saves for Rodney, who ranks 19th all-time with 327 saves.

The 2021 Arizona Diamondbacks lost 110 games but received six saves apiece from Joakim Soria and Tyler Clippard. The 2024 White Sox, who managed to outdo the ’62 Mets by one loss, got nine saves from Michael Kopech. 

The 2025 Rockies, who went 43-119 but whose run differential of minus-424 suggests they were actually the worst team of the modern era, had TWO pitchers reach double figures in saves in Seth Halvorsen (11) and Victor Vodnik (10).

The Angels won’t be anywhere near that bad record-wise, but they are running out of time to get someone, anyone, to five saves. How in the name of DeWayne Buice is this happening?

Which Teams Had No Pitchers With Five Saves in 1974?

Here’s a glorious twist for you: As it turns out, the Angels are chasing themselves.

In 1974, two teams played the entire 162-game season without anyone collecting at least five saves. The Mets, one season removed from winning 82 games yet reaching the World Series after being in last place in the NL East as late as Aug. 30, were led by Harry Parker, who racked up four saves for a 71-win team.

And 2,800 or so miles away, the Angels went 68-94 while being led in saves by Orlando Pena, a 41-year-old right-hander who finished with three saves — IN JUST FOUR APPEARANCES, all after Sept. 6, one day after he was acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals.

Is the Angels’ saves leader not yet on their roster? Is it someone who is older than 40? It’d be such an Angels thing for someone to come out of nowhere and keep the 2026 team from matching the feat of their 1974 forebearers. Let’s find Bryan Harvey, Troy Percival, Jason Isringhausen, LaTroy Hawkins and Darren Oliver and see what they’ve got left.