And you thought being a Pittsburgh Pirates fan was difficult? Try being a Philadelphia Phillies fan.

In the next few weeks, the Phillies will lose their 10,000th game in team history. With the number of games baseball plays today (162) and for as old as the Phillies franchise is (dating back to 1883), it's obvious that a baseball team would be the first to do so.

And you thought it could have been Pittsburgh? Actually, the Pirates aren't even close.

The Pirates, who began play in 1887 — only four years later than their intrastate rival — just went over the 9,000-loss mark (9,039 after Sunday's loss to the Los Angeles Angels) this season.

I thought the number would have been a lot closer considering the Pirates are riding what looks to be a 15th consecutive losing season, but the Phillies look to be up at the top for years to come.

The Pirates are actually 1,172-1,019 all-time against the Phillies, a nice chunk of that 10,000, thanks to years of playing in the National League East.

Entering Monday, the Phillies were nine games away from the fateful plateau.

In 125 seasons, the Phillies have only one World Series championship (1980 over the Kansas City Royals). They have reached the World Series twice since then, but lost to the Baltimore Orioles in 1983 and the Toronto Blue Jays in 1993, the latter in which reliever Mitch Williams gave up a Series-ending homer to Joe Carter.

The Phillies also hit a rough stretch between 1921 and 1945 when they lost 100 games 12 times. They also posted a 23-game losing streak in 1961.

On the other hand, the Pirates have won five World Series crowns, but none since 1979.

Entering Friday, the Pirates are 515-689 since 2000 and have had losing records in eight of the 13 decades they have played although the 1910-19 teams had a .495 winning percentage, the 1940s teams were .493 and the 1990s were .498.

In their history the Pirates have won 9,351 games for a healthy .509 winning percentage.

Basically, unless you're a lifelong Phillies fan — and to be so, you have had to been born in the late 1880s — all these numbers won't mean a thing to you.

They shouldn't. While history is something to look back on, it's still a "what-have-you-done-for-me-lately" type of business.

The Pirates are languishing in a horrendous losing streak, not making the playoffs since that 1990-92 run with manager Jim Leyland and players like Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, Andy Van Slyke and Doug Drabek. Remember them?

The Phillies have only made the post-season once since the 1983 World Series, but they are playing .508 ball since 2000. They've been competitive and look to be for some time to come.

The Pirates can't say that yet and one can only hope thery can soon. Futility has a way of catching up to you when you're not paying attention — or at least playing well.

Just ask Philadelphia.