<P> After the 1899 season, the National League contracted from twelve to eight clubs for the 1900 season, with the Spiders, the original Baltimore Orioles, Louisville Colonels (Louisville has never had another major league team since), and the original Washington Senators folding operations . Baltimore had also been stripped of its best players by Brooklyn in 1899, to somewhat less dramatic effect, but still enough to speed their demise . The smaller 1900 National League allowed the Western League to fulfill its dreams of becoming a major league, filling the void in a number of cities by renaming itself the American League in 1900 and declaring itself a major league in 1901 . </P> <P> With shorter schedules before 1886, it was much more common for teams to finish with sub -. 300 winning percentages, as there was less of the evening - out effect of a longer season . </P> <P> Four teams have finished with worse overall winning percentages than the 1899 Spiders, but these teams played less than 50 games during their seasons and in leagues whose status as "major" is questionable . </P> <P> Three of these occurred in the National Association (the status of the National Association as a major league has long been disputed): </P>

How many games are the tigers out of first place