It's a sad day in Tiger-town.

In fact, there have been many sad days in Tiger-town this season with the Detroiters about to set the major league record for losses in a season. (Related item: Mythical Mets-Tigers box score)

We haven't seen this kind of futility since the inaugural edition of the New York Mets, whose 40-120 record set the standard in 1962.

After watching the Tigers struggle all season long, one question remains: Does this club deserve to be called the worst of all-time?

Certainly, Alan Trammell's squad has seen a few glimmers of hope. Yet those always seem to be trumped by disappointment.

Eric Munson, the third overall pick in the 1999 draft, had 18 homers in 99 games until his season ended with a broken thumb.

Jeremy Bonderman, a prized pitching prospect acquired from Oakland, outdueled reigning Cy Young Award winner Barry Zito 4-1 back in April. He then proceeded to lose 16 of his next 21 decisions.

If only these Tigers and the Amazin' 1962 Mets could meet on the field to settle the score (so to speak).

In the words of then-Mets manager Casey Stengel: "Can anybody here play this game?"

The answer, of course, is yes.

That someone is APBA International (www.APBAgames.com) makers of the APBA tabletop baseball game.

The folks there answered the challenge and on the eve of what could have been the Tigers' 119th loss of the season, I received a box score and play-by-play sheet in my e-mail box.

Tearing through it like a kid with the latest Harry Potter book, I had to see who won. And perhaps more importantly, who lost …

Play ball

In a nod to both eras, the game takes place at Tiger Stadium. With a DH.

Roger Craig (10-24, 4.51 ERA) starts for the Mets against the Tigers' most effective pitcher this season, Nate Cornejo (6-17, 4.70). A pair of roughed-up right-handers.

The teams are scoreless in the first, but 26-year-old rookie outfielder Jim Hickman (.245, 13 HR, 36 RBI) launches a two-run homer to left in the top of the second inning to put the Mets up 2-0.

Surprisingly, it's a rather well-played game. New York's Marv Throneberry makes a pair of nice plays at first to prevent Detroit from getting things going in the second and third innings. On the other side, Carlos Pena of the Tigers snags a wild throw from second baseman Ramon Santiago to keep the Mets in check in the third.

Hickman comes up again in the fourth inning and puts one where no one can get it, into the left-field seats for another two-run homer. Later in the frame, light-hitting shortstop Elio Chacon (.236, 2 HR, 27 RBI) blasts one out to give the Mets a 5-0 lead.

By now Craig is cruising through the Detroit lineup, displaying the kind of knowledge on the mound that should certainly make him a fine pitching coach one day.

In the Tigers' sixth, the speedy Alex Sanchez gets on with an infield hit, goes to third on a hit-and-run single by Santiago and comes home on a groundout by Bobby Higginson to cut the deficit to 5-1. Detroit mounts a mini-rally when Dmitri Young walks, but Craig gets Craig Monroe to hit into a 1-6-3 double play to end the threat.

It stays that way until the bottom of the ninth, when the Tigers have Higginson, Young and Monroe coming up against Craig. But Higgy flies out to right, Young pops up and Monroe lofts a blooper down the right-field line that Ashburn gloves on the run to wrap up a 5-1 Mets victory.

And there you have it, good pitching stops below-average hitting any day of the week. Craig's complete-game five-hitter removes all doubt about who's the better team on this particular day.

Epilogue

Now that we know, are we really better off?

One of the fun things about baseball is that we can compare eras and no one's really sure of the right answer. Those Amazin' Mets bounced back from some gloomy early seasons to win a World Series title just seven years later.

It will probably take the Tigers a bit longer, but surely things can't get any worse than they are now.

In 1988, the Baltimore Orioles opened the season with 21 straight losses on their way to a dismal 54-107 season.

The next year, Frank Robinson turned the team around and had the O's battling for a playoff spot down to the last week of the regular season.

There will be good times again in Tiger-town. In their own division, they've seen teams like Minnesota and Kansas City rise from the depths to become contenders almost overnight.

General manager Dave Dombrowski has performed minor miracles before in turning around downtrodden franchises.

Eric Munson and Jeremy Bonderman could become this generation's answer to Kirk Gibson and Jack Morris.

And who knows, Nate Cornejo could learn his craft so well that he becomes a 20-game winner … or possibly a well-respected pitching coach.

By then, perhaps we'll have another team challenging the Tigers' record for losses.