Who knew Pittsburgh was so important.

The last several years Pirates fans have suffered, oh how they have suffered. Even though they got a new stadium and hosted and All-Star game, they suffered now through many, many seasons of lackluster performance by their hometown heroes.

This year is different though - not so much because the Pirates are a great team - today their record is 61 wins and 86 losses and they are way, way back in their division. Still even with that record the Pirates have a lot to say about what happens at the end of the season this year. Not so much for their own fate but, for the fate of others.

Between now and the end of the season, a mere two weeks away, many of the teams who aspire to get to the post season will have the Pirates as an obstacle to get there. Should be a piece of cake, no? Well, at this point in September the Pirates have a record of 8 wins and 6 losses for the month. The Mets, Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Astros and Cincinnati all play the Pirates between now and the end of the season. While it’s a foregone conclusion for the Mets at this point, San Diego and the Dodgers are in a dog fight for the Western Division lead. Both teams have a fallback in the wildcard but, the Pirates playing tough could alter that in a big way. Cincinnati is a long shot in the wild card as well but, if either the Dodgers or the Padres go on a prolong losing streak (or Cincinnati gets hot) they have as much chance over the next two weeks as these other teams do.

So, let‘s hear it for the Pirates - doormat of the central they may have been for the last few years but, this year they can play the role of spoiler quite well!