It happened at 9:59 p.m. Friday when Ronny Cedeno swung through a high fastball, but really, everyone could see it coming since, oh, mid-April.

Maybe even mid-March, given the spring follies in Florida.

With the final out at PNC Park -- a 7-2 slamming by the New York Mets, fueled in part by a questionable move by manager John Russell -- the long-ago proud Pittsburgh Baseball Club recorded its annually anticipated 82nd loss against a paltry 40 victories and clinched an 18th consecutive losing season. That extended the longest such streak in the history of North America's four major professional sports, the record having previously been the 16 of the 1933-48 Philadelphia Phillies.

The streak, the singular defining trait of this franchise, fair or not, now is older than most of the team's recent draft picks. If it were a living entity, it would be old enough to drive, to vote, even to serve in the Armed Forces.

Three more years, and it could drink away some of the pain.

Much of the active roster is new and some of it genuinely promising, notably rookies Pedro Alvarez, Jose Tabata and Neil Walker. But the result ... that just keeps getting worse:

*** This was the earliest on the calendar the Pirates achieved 82 in these 18 years, besting by a week the previous mark of Aug. 27, 2001. And that, of course, means they are on pace for the worst record in that span. The 2001 team, in christening PNC Park, went 62-100. This team is on pace for 53-109, a .327 winning percentage that would be the worst since 1953.

• The cumulative record over the losing streak is 1,206-1,600, a .429 winning percentage. The best individual record came with the 79-83 "Freak Show" group in 1997.

• The Pirates finished last 10 times -- and currently are last again in the Central Division -- and three other times next-to-last. They have spent a total of 82 days in first place -- an average of 10.5 days a year -- with 32 of those coming in 1997.

• The latest in any year that the Pirates topped .500 was Aug. 26, 1997, when they were 67-66. In this decade alone, the latest date was May 29, 2004. The current team was as good as 7-6 on April 20.

• In the same span, the Steelers and Penguins have combined for 24 playoff appearances in 34 possible seasons. The Steelers have won two Super Bowls, competed in another and reached seven AFC championship games. The Penguins have won one Stanley Cup, competed in another final and reached four Eastern Conference finals.

• 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 homing in on a 13th losing season and challenging the Pirates for Major League Baseball's worst current record.

From Sid Bream's slide to the 20-0 slaughter by the Brewers, only the names change.

All the time, actually.

The only name that has not changed on the baseball end, in all these years, is that of Jeff Banister, the bench coach in his 25th season with the Pirates, having served as a player, coach, minor-league manager and, until his recent promotion, the field coordinator.

He has spent most of his time in recent years surveying the system, so he has more of a feel for that than most, as well.

"It hurts. As a guy who wears the uniform proudly, it really does," Banister said of the franchise's losing streak being extended. "But I also look at it with a different set of eyes because of all the things I've been fortunate enough to see. The whole thing. The bigger picture of what we're about to do. So, for me, no, I don't like to see that record. And I know it hurts the fans, too. But there's another number I think everyone should focus on, and that's the number of years since our last world championship."

That, of course, came with the 1979 Family.

"If the things we're doing today are going to lead to that, then that's the most important thing. Ending the streak someday will be nice, but nobody here should be playing for second base."

Walker is a rookie, but he hardly is new to the streak, born and bred in the city.

"There's no getting around how important it is. It's always the elephant in the room," Walker said. "It's obviously frustrating. It's been that way for a long time as a fan and growing up here, and it's frustrating to be a part of it now. But we're all working toward that common goal of playing winning baseball here, and I think we're on the right track."

No one associated with the Pirates was more vocal on the matter than team president Frank Coonelly, who earlier Friday called the season "extremely disappointment," charged the team with "under-performing," and added, "Our performance this year been an embarrassment, to the city, to the Pittsburgh Pirates and to our fan base."

This game was no exception, and the portion of the crowd of 23,695 that came to cheer the Pirates made that vocally known with heavy booing, particularly for Russell.

Usually dependable Jeff Karstens was chased after 3 1/3 innings, seven runs and 11 hits, more than negating Ryan Doumit's second-inning home run, his 10th of the season. That forced Russell to go early to long reliever Sean Gallagher.

But, in the fourth, with New York ahead, 7-2, the Pirates put runners at second and third after two outs, and Russell still sent Gallagher to the plate. Even though the regular cleanup hitter, Garrett Jones, was available on the bench. So was Delwyn Young, one of the National League's most accomplished pinch-hitters. Even though both are left-handed batters and the Mets had a right-handed starter, Mike Pelfrey, on the mound. Even though it might have represented a last gasp to get back in the game.

The crowd, apparently viewing this as Russell conceding the game, booed even as Gallagher approached the box.

That multiplied when Gallagher grounded out.

Karstens is now 2-10 and has not won since June 19, joining Zach Duke, Paul Maholm and Ross Ohlendorf in the 10-loss club. Charlie Morton had nine before his early demotion.

What probably should concern the Pirates the most about his 82nd loss was the public reaction: At least a third of the crowd was made up of New York fans. And, unlike past years, there were no signs or banners commemorating the 82nd loss.

Must have seemed like just another game in just about any year.

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