The Pirates were eliminated from the playoffs tonight, after the combination of losing to the Cubs and the Giants winning their game to deliver the final blow. This isn’t a new development. The Pirates have been hovering around .500 for most of the summer. They might end up south of .500, but they are basically a .500 team this year that was only in the race this long because none of the other Wild Card teams pulled away from the pack.
It has been a few years since the Pirates didn’t make the playoffs, or had a losing season.