The Pittsburgh Pirates lost today, clinching a losing record this season.

That's a sentence the good folks of Pittsburgh have read all too often this time of year. Here's a new sentence, then: The Pirates just set a record for futility.

The Pirates clinched their 17th consecutive losing season, breaking the record set by the Philadelphia Phillies from 1933-48. And it's not just baseball: No NFL, NBA or NHL team ever has had 17 consecutive losing seasons.

The last time the Pirates had a winning season, in 1992, their left fielder was the NL MVP. Guy by the name of Barry Bonds, listed in the Pirates' media guide that year at 6-feet-1 and 185 pounds.

In Bonds' final season, in 2007, the San Francisco Giants' media guide listed him at 6-2 and 238 pounds.

-- Bill Shaikin