With the Pittsburgh Pirates’ loss tonight to the St. Louis Cardinals, and the win by the Seattle Mariners, the Pirates’ “magic number” for the worst record in baseball is down to one.
If the Pirates win out, the best they can finish is 61-101. Seattle needs just one win to reach 61 wins on the season. If Seattle loses their remaining games, they would finish with a 60-102 record. The Pirates only need one loss to reach 102 losses. The Pirates own the tie breaker, since they had the worse record in 2009, so all they need to do is tie Seattle for the worst record in the majors to clinch the number one pick in 2011.
One more Seattle victory, or one more Pittsburgh loss and the 2011 number one pick will belong to the Pirates, which most likely means Anthony Rendon will be a Pirate. It’s been a long and disappointing season, but if Rendon lives up to his hype, that would be a very welcome silver lining.
