The 29 most hopeless fan bases in professional sports

CLEVELAND, OH - DECEMBER 13, 2015: Cleveland Browns fans hold up signs reading 'HELP' during a game against the San Francisco 49ers on December 13, 2015 at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland won 24-10. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images/Getty Images) /

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Jun 1, 2015; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres manager Bud Black (center) is ejected after coming out to defend right fielder Matt Kemp (left) whom had already been ejected by umpire Dan Iassogna (58) during the eighth inning at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports /

29. San Diego Padres

Last championship: Never

Last winning season: 2010

There is a certain level of misery that prolonged mediocrity brings on, and if anybody in baseball has cornered the market on this, it’s the San Diego Padres.

Outside of their first few seasons, the Padres have never been particularly awful for long when compared to teams like the Chicago Cubs or Pittsburgh Pirates. However, they haven’t been particularly good for long either; in 47 years of existence, the Padres have only five postseason appearances, only twice garnering back-to-back division titles.

Part of this malaise has been hidden by the fact that, for the majority of their history, the Padres have at least had a superstar to make watching them worthwhile. Tony Gwynn, Trevor Hoffman, Steve Garvey, Jake Peavy, Dave Winfield — they’ve all made Padres baseball at least slightly attractive, if not utterly redundant in the end.

More than anything, San Diego has been painfully consistent as perennial outsiders, always closer to the bottom of the pool than the top. In the Wild Card era, the Padres’ average finish has been 3.5 behind in the NL West, with three third place finishes, six fourth place finishes, and four last place demises, mixed in among the brief pockets of success.

Even their two recent first-round finishes came in years where 90 wins were not required for a championship (they won 82 and 88 games respectively in those seasons), only to lose a pair of Divisional Series matchups to the St. Louis Cardinals to the tune of a 1-6 win-loss record.

Behold the life of a perpetually middling Major League Baseball team.

Next: 28. Minnesota Timberwolves