BALTIMORE -- It was a matter of when, not if. 

Still, now that the Red Sox have surpassed the 90-loss threshold for the first time since 1966, it’s worth taking stock of just how remarkable a run the franchise has had over a stretch of nearly a half-century. 

The disappointment of this season has been amplified dramatically by the fact that spectacular failures have been so … foreign for the Red Sox since the Impossible Dream season launched the club into relevance and near-perpetual contention in 1967. 

Prior to that season, 90-loss seasons barely inspired a bat of an eye in New England. Indeed, the Sox suffered eight straight losing seasons from 1959-66, including seasons with 90, 100 and 90 losses (respectively) from 1964-66. 

But then, the Impossible Dream happened and the Red Sox essentially were done -- but for a few blips -- as a second-division team. Even though the Sox saw their run of years without a title stretch to a mind-boggling 85, they have enjoyed status as a near-perennial contender and have rarely subjected their players or backers to the kind of brutal season that has become familiar in nearly every other city with a major league team. 

The Padres, for instance, withstood 15 seasons of 90-plus losses from 1967-2011, most in the majors during that time. The Royals, Mets and Brewers/Pilots each had 14 90-loss seasons over those 45 seasons. Only the Dodgers (2 90-loss seasons), Yankees (3), Cardinals (3) and Reds (5) can claim anything that approximates the Sox’ allergy to 90-loss seasons over this span. 

Making that stretch all the more impressive is that, as a result of their success, the Sox have had to maintain their success without benefit of top picks in the draft. The annual June draft rewards teams that finished with the worst records; because the Sox have had few catastrophic seasons, they rarely have been positioned for a top 10 pick. 

Only once since 1968 (the first draft after the Sox stopped their cellar-dwelling ways) has Boston owned a top 10 pick in the draft. That came in 1993, when coming off a 73-89 record in 1992, the team had the No. 7 overall pick in the draft, a selection the team used to tab high school outfielder Trot Nixon. 

Of the teams that have existed prior to the 1990s expansion (which brought the Marlins and Rockies into existence in 1993 and the Rays and Diamondbacks to Major League Baseball in 1998), only the Sox (1), Yankees (4) and Cardinals (9) have had fewer than 10 picks among the top 10 in the draft. 

Now, the Sox have ensured that they will have a top-10 pick in 2013. That’s significant, since it means that the team cannot lose its first-round pick regardless of whether it signs a free agent this winter who receives a qualifying offer in free agency. 

That silver lining notwithstanding, this year, the Sox are enduring a season unlike any other they’ve experienced in decades. For those involved, it’s been a brutal experience to learn what life is like in other major league cities. 

“Every loss hurts. All 90 of them,” grimaced manager Bobby Valentine after his team fell, 6-3, to the Orioles on Sunday. 

While the Sox remained immune from the 269 instances of 90-loss seasons in baseball between 1967-2011, they can no longer make such a claim. But clearly, there is determination to avoid making it a habit.

“This is something that a lot of us have never experienced. I don’t know how organizations can let their teams do this year in and year out,” said Jon Lester. “It’s tough. It’s tough mentally. It’s tough physically. It’s tough to show up at the field every day with a positive attitude. … 

“This year is kind of like, one week you’ve got somebody coming up and not really hitting you hard, but hitting you. The next week, they come up and do the same thing. It builds throughout the whole season where finally it’s like, ‘Uncle.’

“I don’t ever want to go through this again.”