In the sport of baseball, a loss is a statistic credited to the pitcher of the losing team who allows the run that gives the opposing team the lead with which the game is won (the go-ahead run). The losing pitcher is the pitcher who allows the go-ahead run to reach base for a lead that the winning team never relinquishes. If a pitcher allows a run which gives the opposing team the lead, his team comes back to lead or tie the game, and then the opposing team regains the lead against a subsequent pitcher, the earlier pitcher does not get the loss.[1]
John Coleman holds the record for most losses in a single season, losing 48 games in 1883.[2][3][4][5]Will White[6] (42 in 1880), Larry McKeon[7] (41 in 1884), George Bradley[8] (40 in 1879), and Jim McCormick[9] (40 in 1879) are the only other pitchers to lose more than 40 games in a single season. There has been 50 instances of a pitcher losing more than 30 games in a season, all taking place during the 19th century.[10]
