With the final out today at PNC Park -- a Lastings Milledge flyout that ended a 4-2 flattening by the Chicago Cubs -- the once-proud Pittsburgh Baseball Club recorded the annually anticipated 82nd loss and clinched a 17th consecutive losing season, the longest such streak in the history of North America's four major professional sports. There had been a tie at 16 with the 1933-48 Philadelphia Phillies.

Amid the constant drizzle, slight chill and an unhealthy representation of Cubs blue among the crowd of 14,673, the setting seemed sublime.

The cumulative record during these 17 years is 1,158-1,501, a .436 winning percentage. The best record came with the 79-83 edition in 1997, the "Freak Show" group embraced by the fan base because it contended with a $9 million payroll. The worst was 62-100 in 2001, though the current 54-82 group still can challenge that.

The NHL's Vancouver Canucks of 1976-91 and NBA's Kansas City/Sacramento Kings of 1983-98 each had streaks of 15 years. The NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers of 1983-96 went 14. The longest current streak in sports -- other than the Pirates' -- belongs to the Baltimore Orioles, who are one loss away from a 12th losing season.

"Obviously, I am disappointed," Pirates owner Bob Nutting said. "While everyone within the Pirates' organization is tied to the streak, the fact is that the last two years have been nothing like those of recent past. We have built a strong foundation by investing in our core operations, while aggressively acquiring and developing impact talent. This has put us in a position to not only break this cycle of finishing below .500 soon, but to begin a new cycle in which we can consistently compete."

Nutting expressed confidence in team president Frank Coonelly and general manager Neal Huntington.

"I have a tremendous amount of faith in our people and the process. I remain absolutely committed to seeing the evolution of the Pirates through. Our fans deserve it, everyone associated with the organization deserves it, and I expect it."

In what, remarkably, was the only historically significant game the Pirates have played at PNC Park since its 2001 opening, Chicago's Derrek Lee homered twice off the first two pitches he saw from rookie Daniel McCutchen, in the first and third innings, for a 3-0 lead.

Andy LaRoche's eighth home run, in the third, made it 3-1, and the teams traded runs in the fifth.

McCutchen's line in his PNC Park debut was four runs and nine hits over seven innings. He struck out five, walked two.