RICHMOND, Va. -- Well, we’ve arrived at the end of Misery Month here at Cartoon Canon, and if any event takes the cake for the lowest moment in the history of Pittsburgh sports, it’s gotta be game 7 of the 1992 NLCS.
The Sid Bream game.
It was as devastating in the moment as it has proven to be in the decades since. 1992 was the last chance for that Pirates team, and we all knew it. To see them win a World Series, then watch everybody walk, would have been difficult enough. But to come up short, to not even make the Series, for a third straight year, by blowing a ninth-inning lead … it was a franchise killer. The team has been shambling around like a zombie for the last 30 years, but for all intents and purposes, the Pirates died that night in Atlanta.
The silver medal goes, of course, to the heartbreaker I covered last week, the David Volek game ... but the two events, occurring less than a year apart, really serve to illustrate the stirring dichotomy between the two franchises.
The Penguins faced far more dire financial circumstances in the following years, including bankruptcy and threats of relocation, yet refused to die ... and in fact, thrived. They would return to the playoffs for each of the next eight years, suffered a few years’ blip, then launched upon another playoff streak that is still going strong (not to mention those three Stanley Cups).
The Pirates, on the other hand, though more financially stable, have spent the intervening three decades mostly behaving as if they’re put out by having to field a major league baseball team, and would just as soon be put out of their misery. And unfortunately, there’s no end in sight.
WILL ARMSTRONG / FOR DKPS
Now, if you’re thinking that the artwork above looks a little different than usual, you are absolutely correct … as I am still so loath to even think about this terrible game, much less draw something based on it, I wrangled my friend and lifelong Braves fan Will Armstrong to illustrate it for me. I sure you’ll agree, he did a bangup job … and why wouldn’t he, considering he no doubt counts this horrible moment as one of the highlights of his baseball fandom! You can see more of his work on Instagram at @willarmstrongart, and I would encourage you to do so!
So, that’s it for Misery Month, and I gotta say ... good riddance. Bring on the NFL!
For prints and books, visit my site and/or the new DK Pittsburgh Sports HQ/shop at 224 Fifth Avenue, Downtown!