78 wins

Good morning. It is August 31st, 2013.

With last night's win, the Pirates are 78-56. Since 1992, the Pirates failed to win 78 games in the following seasons*: 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011.

There are no new years to cross of the list today, either, but we are in the final stretch of this countdown. That's because the only three seasons left (1997, 1999, and 2012) saw the Pirates win 79, 78, and 79 wins, respectively (remember; the season only gets added to the list when the Pirates surpass the win total from that season). That means that if the Pirates beat the Cardinals tonight, they will have matched their win total in every single one of the last 20 seasons by the end of August. That is how good these Pirates are. That is how bad those Pirates were. 

There are three seasons left on the countdown. There is so much work left to be done.