Must the World Series stop in every other big-league city before it returns to Pittsburgh?

As the graphic here shows, the October Classic, which begins anew in Boston tomorrow, has pinballed around the continent in the Pirates' 15 years of losing.

The twin Goliaths of the American League East, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, have won (bought) the AL pennant in eight of the past 12 seasons. Yet half the league's 14 franchises have flown it at least once since 1993.

There's even more flag-passing in the 16-team National League, where 10 cities have hosted the 14 Series since the Pirates' implosion. Three pennant winners -- the Florida Marlins (Miami), Arizona Diamondbacks (Phoenix) and this year's Colorado Rockies (Denver) -- didn't exist the last time the Pirates had a winning season in 1992.

It's getting tougher to blame the system and easier to blame the inept (or indifferent) Pirates organization each passing year. If you add cities that have been to the World Series since Pittsburgh last saw one in 1979, you can add Kansas City, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Baltimore, Minneapolis, Oakland and Cincinnati.

What baseball bragging rights does Pittsburgh have left?

Well, the Pirates won the Series in 1979. The Giants last won it in 1954, four seasons before they moved from New York to San Francisco. The Cleveland Indians reached the seventh game of the AL Championship Series this year, but haven't won the Series since 1948. The Chicago Cubs haven't won the Series since 1908, and haven't been in one since 1945.

Of the post-1960 expansion teams, the Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres have reached the Series since 1979, but didn't win it. The Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals (nee Montreal Expos) have never reached one.

Better a has-been than a never-was? Maybe, but the latter group keeps shrinking.