Every organization has had it's dark days (or centuries, in the case of the Cubs). The Phillies had a 23-game losing streak in 1961, the Orioles gave up 30 runs in 2007, the Pirates had a drug scandal in the 80s and the White Sox threw the 1919 World Series. Even worse, the Pale Hose hired Hawk Harrelson as their GM for a brief time in 1986 (it wasn't that bad, he only fired Tony La Russa and Dave Dombrowski).
On May 18, 1912, the regular Tigers players went on strike in protest of Ty Cobb's suspension for going into the stands to attack a heckler.