Nice work, Buccos

From 1993-2004 the Brewers and Pirates had one undesirable thing in common: their last winning season was in 1992. That season the Brewers finished four games out of the playoffs while the Bucs finished one out away from the World Series. It was the last hurray of relevance for either franchise, though between Sid Bream and 20 years of futility I think the Brewers' decent into irrelevance was much more palatable.

Putting together 20-consecutive losing seasons is a difficult feat to accomplish. So difficult, in fact, no other team in any major American sport has come close. Even more remarkable are the final two years of the streak. The Pirates were 53-47 at one point in 2011, only to finish with a 72-90 record and the following season they were an impossible-to-screw-up 64-50 on August 12, only to go 15-33 the rest of the way. To be a Pirates fan after last season was to feel total, pure despair; the type of hopelessness Brewers fans can relate to.

In 2005 the Brewers traveled to PNC Park for the final series of the season needing one win to snap a streak of 12-consecutive losing campaigns. The previous year the Brewers entered the All-Star Break with a winning record, only to have one of the most agonizingly awful second halves in the history of MLB. The cruel collapse made a .500 record in Milwaukee seem like an unattainable fantasy of mediocrity, the kind you only start dreaming of when Steve Woodard is the ace of your staff.

Trailing 5-0 headed into the 6th inning of the opener, the Crew reeled off six unanswered runs and held on for a 6-5 victory. Unfortunately a winning season would have to wait as the Bucs won the next two games, holding the Brewers to a feeble two runs the rest of the way. Even so, by finishing 81-81 (with an 84-78 Pythagorean W/L, thank you very much) the future outlook became much brighter. Now that respectability was established the thought of watching a good team became plausible. Baseball fandom is predicated on hope, and finishing .500 provided that.

This all leads me to the Pittsburgh Pirates snapping the season losing streak by beating the Brewers 4-3 tonight. I enjoy watching the Brewers win, and few things have been as enjoyable as watching them own the Pirates from 2007-2012. But taking a larger perspective on things, I also get great satisfaction watching a perennial loser become a contender, with bonus points if they're from a small market. Furthermore, with but a few choice exceptions I feel a sense of relief when another fan base is given a reprieve from the hopelessness Brewers Nation felt for so long.

So to the Pittsburgh Pirates, I tip my cap. Congratulations on the non-losing season and may win #82 be earned on Friday in St. Louis.