BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

It's September, and that means the pennant races are in the home stretch. The trade deadline has passed, the contenders' lineups are set and it's time to make a full charge to win that division and capture that wild card spot. Along the way they have to beat their rivals and crush the also-rans trying to play spoiler. And what happens when the spoilers gets spoiled by that surging playoff team? They are mathematically eliminated. We have two dead teams in the majors already, one in each league. Shed a tear and say a prayer for the dearly departed:

RIP 2008 Pittsburgh Pirates

They haven't had a winning season since Sid slid. Their elimination number for 2009 is already down to 112. They've also managed to lose 10 straight. Weep for the poor Pirates, their sails are tattered, the hull is breached and a Kraken is off the port bow.

RIP 2008 Seattle Mariners

Ichiro has pretty much been the only silver lining in this disastrous season. Their manager was run out of town after saddling the team with a horrible .350 win percentage two and a half months into the season. Erik Bedard broke down after half a season. Even King Felix is barely keeping his head above water while pitching well for this awful team. 2008 has not been kind to sailors. Another team sinks down to Davy Jones' locker.

Will be stone dead in a minute:

Washington Nationals: Elimination number = 1
Cincinnati Reds: Elimination number = 2
Baltimore Orioles: Elimination number = 5