With Opening Day less than a month away, the time has come to beat up on the Pirates again.

With the Steelers two years removed from a Super Bowl championship, the Penguins becoming viable Stanley Cup contenders and Pitt's basketball team an annual participant in the NCAATournament, the Pirates have become no more than Pittsburgh's punching bag and punch-line for jokes about their annual ineptitude.

It has been 15 consecutive losing seasons, after all.

Opening Day is supposed to signify new hope for a new season. It actually used to be that way around here.

No more.

The only thing for Pittsburgh baseball fans to look forward to this year is the New York Yankees coming to town.

In honor of the Pirates' 15 straight losing seasons — and the approaching season opener — here is my Pirates' No-Star Team of the past 15 years, comprising the team's worst Opening Day starters at each position during that time:

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Pitcher: Ron Villone (2002). He is still active in the big leagues and even has pitched for the Yankees, believe it or not. He beat out Paul Wagner (1996) for my vote. At least Wagner won a few games in a Pirates uniform.•

Catcher: Benito Santiago (2005). He was 40 years old and was released that May, for goodness sakes. Mark Parent (1995) can be his backup, with Humberto Cota (2006) as my third catcher.•

First Base: Mark Johnson (1997). The Pirates next slugging sensation who never was (fast forward to Brad Eldred). Rich Aude (1995) may be a better choice as a starter, but, honestly, I don't remember him.•

Second Base: Mike Benjamin (2000). A light-hitting reserve infielder who was never anything more. Pat Meares (2001) and Bobby Hill (2004) aren't bad picks, either.•

Shortstop: Lou Collier (1998). This guy, who was never really good at anything, actually stuck around baseball for years and was last seen with Milwaukee. Benjamin (1999) backs him up.•

Third Base: Chris Stynes (2004). Still don't know what the Pirates were thinking there. Rule Vselection Freddy Garcia (still developing, I suppose) gets the reserve nod.•

Left Field: Armando Rios (2002), he of the infamous Jason Schmidt-John Vander Wal-Ryan Vogelsong deal, gets a slight edge over Wil Cordero (2000), a free-agent bust.•

Center Field: Mike Kingery (1996). Speaking of free-agent busts, here's an oldie but goodie, backed up by Brant Brown (1999) and Chad Hermansen (2000).•

Right Field: Derek Bell (2001), the club's first right fielder at PNC Park who went into Operation Shutdown shortly afterward. He's backed up by Jeromy Burnitz (2006), who should have shut it down before he even got here.Hey, things aren't all bad here. Nobody in the 2008 Opening Day lineup would make this list.See?Things are looking up. Don't give up the ship.Play ball! Or at least try to.