I sure hope not...

And the Pirates start the right way by K'ing the first Reds batter!

Lol Obi, unite in rooting for the Pirates? The Pirates have no fans. They're a cute story. The bottom line is that neither of these teams is winning the World Series.

No, this year it will be the Cards for the NL and I hope Cleveland for the AL.

Pittsburgh is an up and coming team, but this isn't their year, and it's not Cincy's year either. It's Dodgers or Cardinals against the Sox or Tigers.

Lol... Cleveland still has to get in, and even if they do, yeah right. They have the best record in the majors against teams under .500 but against teams above .500 they are absolutely terrible. That's where their wins are coming from. They are a playoff team but unless something drastically changes they are certainly not getting far.

The Pirates have 4th best road attendance avg in majors. Better than the Red Sox.

Not that I'm a Pirates fan by any stretch, but let's not be silly. Pittsburgh is hardcore about sports.

As an Ohio resident I'm hoping for an Indians/Reds series, just to see what happens.

Much as I hate them--you don't think the Dodgers can do it in the NL, Draug?

And I have to root for a Cinderella team...it's been too long since we've had one...

And after all, I'm a Mets fan--I have to root for Amazin' Miracle teams. ;)

Too long since we've had a Cinderella team? Uhh, really? How about the Red Sox in '04? The Giants in 2010? The Cardinals in 2006 were the only team in the last decade not to win 90 games that won the World Series. How about the Giants last year in their comeback? I bet Draug remembers. We have Cinderella teams all the team, but you're never going to have a 65 win team making the playoffs, what do you expect?

"And I have to root for a Cinderella team...it's been too long since we've had one..."

You clearly don't watch baseball. Cardinals were a cindarella team a couple of years ago. Nobody thought they'd win.

Liriano's on tonight

The Sox in '04 I count as the last Cinderella (and one of my favorite baseball memories.) :)

The Giants in 2010 were a good team...but they just don't stick out as a true "Cinderella" to me...maybe David and Goliath is a better analogy here?

After all, the Sox felled the Goliath to end all Sports Goliaths, the New York Yankees, AND did it after they were down 3 games to 0.

The Giants were "just" a good team that went all the way .

And the 2006 Cardinals...I would like to forget. ;) (And beating the Mets and then the Tigers? Hardly in the same league as the Sox in '04 or what the Pirates would count for if they DID go all the way.)

Pirates win on the road and lose at home which is why the Reds will eliminate them tonight. Then the Reds will lose... I may be a Reds fan but I'm realistic.

I don't understand how Obi supports 90 million different clubs, half of whom hate each other.

And the Mets' gift to the Pirates pays off again...

Marlon Byrd, HR! 1-0 Pirates! :D

You know who was the team who won less than 90 games before the Cardinals was? Minnesota Twins baby ;)
It isn't like they have lost 96+ games 3 seasons straight...
Oh hey, where did Liriano cultivate his skillls, only to leave and become instantly amazing afterward like every other good player they have? The Twins. :(

2-0 on the Russell Martin HR!

And I support the Mets, 49ers, and Anaheim Ducks, Putin...how is that a million?

When the Mets are out of it, I usually root for the Red Sox and Angels (different league, so unless either meet the Mets in a WS--*again* in the Sox's case--I fail to see why I can't root them on when October rolls around and the Mets are done...or should I just stop watching baseball then altogether and skip the playoffs?)

I'm rooting for the Pirates this year because...well, special circumstances--21 years without playoffs, that's a good way to make you "the people's choice."

As for the other sports...

Well, aside from pulling for my family's teams (aside from the Raiders!) out of familial obligation, I'll pull for the Steelers because, hey, different conference, so again, unless we play in a Super Bowl, we're good...

These teams are stop-gaps for if the playoffs roll around and "my" team is already gone.

And over the 00s, that happened a LOT with the 49ers and Mets.

I...don't really have an alternate hockey team, Ducks all the way, really, and if they get eliminated, I'll play it by ear.

Also, how do the Mets hate the Red Sox or Angels, and how do the 49ers hate the Steelers?

"The Sox in '04 I count as the last Cinderella (and one of my favorite baseball memories.) :)"

Really, do you watch baseball AT ALL?

Yes, an absurd amount, actually...I have like over 150 games on DVD/iTunes/downloaded (shhh...no one tell MLB, I don't have expressed written consent for my copy of Game 2 of the 1969 World Series!) :p

But yeah...

2005--I guess you could argue the White Sox were a bit of a Cinderella, but more so because of their long WS drought than their having a team which surprised everyone or beating a Goliath to win...they were the favorites against the Astros after all, weren't they?

2006--I've already commented.

2007--I think most outside Denver took the Red Sox all the way

2008--The Phils had this all the way.

2009--The day the Yankees are a Cinderella are the day the Mets are 150-game winners.

2010--already said.

2011--...OK, they did just squeak in, and won in 7 after coming from behind twice in Game 6, so yeah, I'll amend my statement and call these guys the last "true" WS-winning Cinderellas.

2012--Don't think those Giants were Cindys, either.

Red Sox and Mets hate each other because they played each other in an epic world series where the Mets beat the Red Sox thanks to an error and everything which transpired after that. That was a very bitter memory for Red Sox fans, and probably the Mets greatest moment. Greatest moment since I've been alive anyway.

Steelers fans don't like the 49ers because they heave the lead in SB trophies, and don't want the 49ers to match it.

Mets fans hate the Angels because they're from LA. Screw LA. They stole the Dodgers from Brooklyn.

*2011 being the Cardinals, obviously

3-0 Pirates in the 3rd...it looks like this might just be their night...

Though a long way to go yet, and the Reds have the offense to come back in one inning.

I've actually MET Sox fans...and they LIKE Mets fans, Putin, at least the ones I've met.

Sure, we have '86 as a difference, but you know, cultures overcome their differences in time (we're not the Israel-Gaza of Baseball, after all) and what brings people together like a common ENEMY?

Mets and Sox fans BOTH unite when one or the other takes on the evil, evil Yankees...

So I can't say I put much stock in that statement. Maybe bo_sox hates the Mets, maybe not...but I've mostly seen either amiably or indifference...now, if someone BRINGS UP the 1986 World Series, then things might change, but as long as we keep that little plot point quiet, the story progresses nicely for the two of us against the chief evil in the Bronx.

The Steelers don't want us to catch them, but (except for Super Bowls) that's not really a cause for HATRED or dislike...they dislike the Cowboys far, far more.

And as for the Angels--

LA stole the Angels too, from Anaheim. (Sure, they were originally the LA Angels, then the California Angels, then the Anaheim Angels, then the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, but still.)

Mets fans hate LA and hate the Dodgers...but don't really care about the Angels all that much...after all, it's the Dodgers who abandoned them and LA who stole them...and the Angels are in the other division...so what do most Mets fans really care about the Angels, anyway?

I don't hate chronically shitty teams. It's a waste of energy.

There, see, Putin, we're not even worth the time to hate...

We always lose in the end, no matter how devoted our diehards may be...

Why, we're almost like the Ron Paul of the National League! :p

In other news, 4-1 Pittsburgh in the 4th.

Cueto was off big time. He couldn't throw a first-pitch strike and all of his fastballs were up. He didn't retire the leadoff hitter at all I don't think. That's not Johnny Cueto. Unfortunate that there won't be an epic pitching duel that this game could have been.

5-1.

Looks like Pittsburghers will have something to take their minds off the Steelers' 0-4 start.

LA/Anaheim... It's like saying Cincinnati/Dayton.

I think the fans really did get in Cueto's head. The only chance the Reds have is to find someone who can keep this cra from getting in their head.