Will the Colorado Rockies eclipse the Chicago White Sox’s 121 losses this season?

At the time of this writing, the Rockies had a 7-36 record, and they would be projected to have a 27-135 record over a 162-game season. That would surpass Chicago’s 41-121 mark last season, and it would give the Rockies the worst MLB record since 1900 — or in the modern era.

In this week’s version of my Yesterday column — reminiscing about sports and pop culture from the 1960s, 70s, 80s and sometimes before and beyond — I’ll take a look at some of Philadelphia’s and New York’s “losing” teams and their pitchers, as well as some through the years.

Also, what former Padres’ pitcher lost 22 games in a season before he bounced back to win the Cy Young two years later? Did the Beatles sing a song about a “loser?” And, did you watch “The Bionic Woman?”

Finally, what WWWF wrestler was introduced as “The Unpredictable?”

What teams were the worst? ... Since 1950, there have been a handful of teams that have dipped under 50 wins (See the Phillies and Mets below).

The 1952 Pirates were 47-112, and the 2003 Tigers ended 43-119 as Mike Maroth netted a 9-21, 5.73 line. Current Phils exec Dave Dombrowski was in charge, and ex-Phil Bobby Estalella had a brief stay.

The 2018 Orioles had a 47-115 record, and the 2019 Tigers were 47-114 with ex-Phil Spencer Turnbull going 3-17, 4.61.

What team had the worst season? The Cleveland Spiders were 20-134.

The Philly-NY Line ... Aside from the White Sox, there have been a number of Phillies teams, along with other ones, who suffered through 95 or more losses in a season.

As far as the Phillies, they were 47-107-1 in 1961, 67-99 in 1969, 67-95 in 1971, 63-99 in 2015, and 66-96 in 2017.

Aging Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz were in their final years in 2015, and these were the days of Maikel Franco, Aaron Altherr and Freddy Galvis. Now there’s a thought.

The Mets were 40-120 in their inaugural season of 1962, 51-111 in 1963, and 50-112 in 1965. They still struggled in 1967 when they were 61-101. In the late 70s under Joe Frazier — not the boxer — and Joe Torre, they finished 64-98 in 1977 and 63-99 in 1979. In 1982, they had a 65-97 mark and were 59-107 in 1993.

Unlike the Phillies and Mets, the Yankees only had three, 90-plus loss seasons: 72-90 in 1967, 67-95 in 1990, and 71-91 in 1991.

In 1967, Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford were in the twilight of their careers, Joe Pepitone was a cult hero, and ex-Phillie Ruben Amaro Sr. was their shortstop.

Seasons in the Sun ... Since 1960, there have been a number of pitchers who have lost 20 games or more in a season. After he had his 27-13 season in 1972, Steve Carlton went 13-20 with a 3.90 the following year.

How many of them do you remember? Remarkably, many of them had ERAs under four.

White Sox knuckleballer Wilbur Wood went 20-24 with a 3.46 ERA in 1975; Easton native Jack Fisher was 8-24 with a 3.94 for the 1965 Mets; and Roger Craig was 10-24 with a 4.51 ERA for the 1962 Mets (Craig went 5-22, 3.78 in 1963).

Those with 22 losses were Bill Bonham, who went 11-22 with a 3.81 ERA in 1971; Randy Jones, Padres, 8-22, 4.45 in 1974; Steve Rogers, Expos, 15-22, 4.47 in 1974; Dick Ellsworth, Cubs, 8-22, 3.98 in 1966; Steve Arlin, 10-22, Padres, in 1972; Denny McLain, Tigers, 10-22, 4.71 in 1971.

Jones won the NL Comeback Player of the Year Award the following season with a 20-12, 2.24 slate, and then won the Cy Young in 1976 with a 22-14 record and a 2.74 ERA with 25 complete games in 40 starts. I remember watching Jones pitching on the late-night telecasts from San Diego.

Former Phillie Larry Jackson was 14-21 with a 3.85 ERA for the 1965 Cubs after he went 24-11 with a 3.14 ERA the previous season. Detroit’s Mickey Lolich posted a 16-21 record with 4.15 ERA.

Phil Niekro is one of baseball’s underrated pitchers for his dexterity and longevity. He was 16-20, 4.03 in 1977, and 21-20, 3.39 in 1979, both with the Braves.

Others who may jog a memory are Clay Kirby, Padres, 7-20, 3.80 in 1969; Luis “El Presidente” Tiant, Indians, 9-20, 3.71 in 1969; and Ex-Phil Jerry Koosman, Mets, 8-20, 3.49 in 1977.

For the Record ... The longest MLB seasonal losing streak belongs to the 1961 Phillies, who lost 23-straight games.

That team featured Pancho Herrara’s team-high 13 homers, and the middle infield of Amaro Sr. and Tony Taylor. Art Mahaffey was 11-19 with a 4.10 ERA.

The Phils’ third baseman was Charlie Smith, a journeyman who had one season in Philly among seven teams in 10 years.

If you knew him, let me know.

On the Airwaves ... When you think about pop songs with “loser” in its title, one of the initial ones is the Beatles’ “I’m A Loser,” which they debuted in 1964, but it did not crack the Billboard Top 100.

Others along the way were “Deacon Blues” by Steely Dan in 1977, a song about a man leaving his old life behind to hold onto his once life of a suffering musical artist.

Those with easily recognized titles are “Even the Losers,” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1979), “Lonesome Loser (1979),” by the Little River Band, “Beautiful Loser,” by Bob Seger, and “Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me,” which was done by Warren Zevon (1976) and also Linda Ronstadt (1977).

Probably the less recognized ones above were Seger’s song and Zevon’s version.

For the Beatles’ fans, the Fab Four had 70 songs in the Billboard 100, 20 of them made it to No. 1.

On the Tube ... Through the years, television has had a plethora of programs that didn’t make it through its first season or never lived up to expectations.

See how many you can recall from the list below:

“Mrs. Columbo” (1979-80), “Holmes and YoYo” (1976-77), “Battlestar Galactica” (1978-79), “David Cassidy, Man Undercover” (1979), “Sha Na Na” (1976-78), “My Mother the Car” (1965-66), “Me and the Chimp” (1972), and the “Brady Bunch Hour” (1976) to name a few.

You have to dig deep to remember Jackie Gleason as a game-show host on “You’re in the Picture” (1961), which was canceled after its debut in January of that year.

Would you put the “Bionic Woman” (1976-78) on the list? It never reached its expected potential on its own after the “Six Million Dollar Man.”

Another Classic Game ... In 1969, Hasbro released its “NBC Game of the Week,” which played off its then ground-breaking telecast.

It was a simple game with charts, spinners, and a gridded game board/playing field to determine the result of each play. Each team selected a batting lineup from the two identical teams of individually-rated players. The team in the field positions its players on the grid. The “pitcher” threw one of the 10 blue “pitch” cards he holds at the same time the “batter” threw one of the seven red “hit” cards he holds. The two cards were indexed against the chart featured. There were additional rules for base runner advance, double plays, force outs, sacrifices, hit-and-run, pickoffs and errors.

What made it special was the lineup cards with the NBC sports logo.

WWWF/WWE Wrap ... Every week, I’ll recall a former wrestler from our youth.

Do you remember “The Unpredictable” Johnny Rodz? Born John Rodriguez, he was among a handful of weekly wrestlers who always were on the losing end of a match. In fact, Rodz had a record of 638-1,225 with 235 draws over his 32-year career that began in 1965.

Rodz was known as a “jobber,” as he usually made his opponent look very good, taking all of the lumps and bumps.

Aside from the WWWF and WWE, Rodz wrestled for the NWA, AWA, ICW, Pro Wrestling USA, WCW, Capitol Sports Promotions, and spent time in Japan.

Rodz teamed with Medico 2 as the Medicos to win the WCW Tag Team championship, and he also was the WCW Caribbean Heavyweight champion and the International Heavyweight champion.

Memory Lane ... Each week, I’ll look back at a former player, manager, coach or media personality from our yesterday.

In keeping with the theme, what Phillies’ pitcher has the most career losses?

It is Hall of Famer Robin Roberts, who lost 199 games in his Phils’ career. In his 14 seasons in Philly, Roberts compiled an overall record of 234-199 with a 3.46 ERA from 1948-61. He had a 10-22 mark with a 4.07 ERA in 1951 and was 19-18 with a 4.45 ERA in 1956. However, Roberts was 28-8 with a 2.59 ERA in 1952 and won 20 or more games five times.

Roberts played 19 seasons overall with stops in Baltimore, Houston, and Chicago (Cubs), the latter where he ended his career in 1966. His final record was 286-245 with a 3.41 ERA. Roberts was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1976, and he passed away at age 83 in 2010.

Your thoughts are always welcomed; email them to tnsports@tnonline.com.