Also there is the 1994 season, if we want to talk about historically bad. The 1994 baseball season was a bit of a gut punch. The 1993 season was the last season Portland had a Triple A team. So not only did 10 year old me have to process the world series getting canceled, we had just lost our Triple A team locally. I'll always have a soft spot for Dan Wilson, he was a great Mariner.
When the 1994 MLB season was halted by the players' strike on August 11, the AL West was extremely close. The season was never resumed, so these became the final standings. (Baseball Reference)
1994 American League West
Rank
Team
Record
Win %
GB
1
Texas Rangers
52–62
.456
—
2
Oakland Athletics
51–63
.447
1.0
3
Seattle Mariners
49–63
.438
2.0
4
California Angels
47–68
.409
5.5
(Baseball Reference)
So Texas technically finished first, despite being only 52–62. Oakland was just one game back, and Seattle two games back.
What's particularly interesting is that the Rangers had the worst run differential of the division (-84) and were actually outscored by 84 runs. Oakland was only -40 and Seattle -47. (Baseball Reference)
And this was a pretty strange year because the three-division format and wild card were being introduced for the first time. Had the season continued, Texas would have won the AL West and advanced to the postseason; the new wild-card system would also have put additional teams into the playoffs. Instead, the entire postseason was canceled. (Baseball Reference)
If you'd like, I can also show you what the AL playoff picture would have looked like on August 11, 1994—including the Yankees, White Sox, Indians, Rangers and wild card—and who was most likely to win the World Series.