Pittsburgh Pirates Clinch 19th Straight Loser Season

Angry folks riot in the streets of Los Angeles after four police officers are acquitted for the brutal beating of Rodney King.

Sinéad O'Connor rips up a photo of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live in protest of alleged child abuse by the Catholic Church.

Bill Clinton is elected President of the United States.

Roseanne is the no. 1 show on television.

The year was 1992 and it was the last time the Pittsburgh Pirates enjoyed a winning season... some of you weren't even born yet.

Bruney Gets a Crappy Birthday Gift

With the hopes of earning $350,000 more than the Washington Nationals were willing to pay him, Brian Bruney let his unresolved salary case go to an arbitration hearing, and lost. On his birthday.

The 28-year-old former New York Yankees reliever, who once blamed an injured elbow on an 8-1/2 minute umpire review, was awarded $1.5 million Wednesday instead of his requested $1.85 million.

Bruney went 5-0 with a 3.92 ERA in 44 regular-season appearances for the Yankees last season, when he made $1.25 million.

Continue reading and comment on this story at SportsUntapped.

Get Your Boston Red Sox Runner-Up Apparel

Don't know what to get that sad Sox fan in your life? How about one of these to make them feel better?

[Baseball, You Know]

P.S. This marks BLB's 2,000th post in four seasons. Way to go, ladies.

Yay Rebuilding!

The Cleveland Indians have accomplished something their club hasn't done since 1979: they've lost ten straight games. Way to go, guys!

Squandering a 6-run lead to the Detroit Tigers which they held until the sixth inning Wednesday, the Tribe ended up losing 8-6 loss thanks in large part to Rafael Betancourt unraveling in the seventh for five runs and a Miguel Cabrera walkoff bomb in the ninth.

"I have never in my career been through this before," said skipper Eric Wedge. "I’m meeting with the team tomorrow to discuss the situation."

Uh oh.

[Tigers] | [Bleacher Report] | [Cleveland Indians Baseball Blog]

Barry Bonds Indicted

Ooooh, Scott Boras is going to be pissed! Barry Bonds has trumped any upcoming Alex Rodriguez announcement by going and getting himself indicted.

The indictment states "During the criminal investigation, evidence was obtained including positive tests for the presence of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing substances for Bonds and other athletes."

Should Bonds be convicted on all five counts listed in the indictment, he could go to prison for up to 30 years. While there are other unnamed athletes involved in the decision, Bond was the big fish.

I can't provide legal analysis and I won't even try. In the next few days, every lawyer under the sun is going to weigh in with an "expert" opinion. But I will say this. Pete Rose has been denied the Hall of Fame for betting on games. Betting FOR the team he was playing for. Shoeless Joe Jackson was banned, despite being acquitted by the grand jury for game fixing. If Bonds ends up in the Hall of Fame after this indictment, it will be an injustice. For the league, for the fans, and for the players who take this game seriously every day.

Bud Selig can do what he wants with the record. Asterisk it, erase it, let it stand. It's no longer about the record. It's about the responsibility of the league and those who govern it to keep the sanctity of the Hall and the game.

[Steroid Nation]