Century marked

There's been some suspense, days when you didn't think it would happen. Days of tension. Days of doubt. Days of thinking, "Ah, geez. So now they're gonna punk out on punking out?"

But God bless my cruddy Pittsburgh Pirates. When the chips were down, they lived right down to 'em.

With four days left in the season, the Cruds breached the magic 100-loss mark, and they did it in splendid Crud fashion. Not only did they lose No. 100 to the Cubs (who are splendid cruds themselves), they really lost.

Like, 9-0. At home. To a team that was stripped for parts earlier in the summer, a team that officially gave up on 2021 two months ago.

So now the Cruds record stands at 59-100, with three potential losses to go. They are officially the worst Pirates baseball team since 2010, when they lost 105 games. 

Only two other times in the last 67 seasons have the Cruds lost as many games as they will lose this year. Only two ... other ... times.

This is Cruddiness on an historic scale, and again calls into question the motives of owner Bob Nutting. He's turned one of the oldest continuous franchises in baseball -- the Pirates began playing in the National League as the Pittsburgh Alleghenys in 1882, just six years after Custer bought it at the Little Bighorn -- into a de facto farm team, and his own personal ATM. 

If there's any justice in the world, Honus Wagner and Roberto Clemente are haunting his dreams. Those of us with a sense of history can only hope the dreams are gruesome and recurring enough to compel Nutting to honor the club's proud legacy and sell it to someone who gives a damn.

Do it, Bob. Do it. Do it not just for Pittsburgh, but for baseball.