When the spotlight shines on professional sports, Pittsburgh can’t be blamed for turning away.

First, it was the Super Bowl.

The greatest spectacle in all of sports was a lose-lose scenario for Pittsburgh fans, as the Baltimore Ravens took on the San Francisco 49ers. The black and gold faithful were either going to watch their arch rivals celebrate a championship or the 49ers were going to tie Pittsburgh with a sixth Super Bowl crown.

Ray Lewis ended up finishing his career on top, while Joe Flacco took home Super Bowl MVP honors. Yuck.

Next, it was the Stanley Cup Finals.

Hockey fans in Pittsburgh still had a bitter taste in their mouths after the Boston Bruins swept away the Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals. It was difficult for the city to take any enjoyment no matter how the series played out.

Now, the World Series is about to take center stage.

Once again, witnessing it unfold won’t be much fun for the city of Pittsburgh.

The St. Louis Cardinals are division rivals, edging the Pirates for a division crown before ousting them in a tense five-game series.

The Boston Red Sox are ... well, they’re the Boston Red Sox. It seems there is a strong contingent of Pittsburgh fans who would rather lose a limb than root for anything New England.

As a New Hampshire native, I’ll be rooting hard for the Red Sox — stop rolling your eyes — but any true baseball fan should be able to appreciate this season’s fall classic.

It’s a match-up of teams reaping the benefits of building from within.

The Red Sox wandered off the path to success by splurging on big-name free agents and were fortunate the L.A. Dodgers supplied a reset button with the blockbuster trade of 2012 involving Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford.

Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury were all drafted by the Sox in either the first or second round. Boston plucked top-notch prospects Xander Bogaerts and Jose Iglesias as amateur free agents, spinning the latter into Jake Peavy at the trade deadline.

St. Louis is the model franchise in baseball.

The Cardinals drafted the likes of Yadier Molina, Allen Craig, Matt Carpenter, Pete Kozma, Jon Jay and former Slippery Rock University standout Matt Adams, while former World Series MVP David Freese was the reward for trading Jim Edmonds back in 2007. NLCS MVP Michael Wacha is the latest in a long line of St. Louis pitching prospects to flourish.

The formula produced the two best records in MLB and it’s no coincident these franchises have combined for seven pennants and four World Series titles over the past 10 years.

They do it right.

Fortunately for Pittsburgh, general manager Neal Huntington is building the Pirates in the same manner — and the Buccos aren’t far behind.