The Royals and Pirates have been baseball's most futile franchises over the last 20 years. But unlike the Pirates, the Royals are in danger of once again missing the playoffs unless they can get hot in the final month.
If the Royals do miss the playoffs it will be their 28th consecutive season without playing in the postseason. The last time they reached the playoffs was when they won the World Series in 1985. They are currently 7.0 games back in both their division and the Wild Card race.
Meanwhile, the Pirates would be one of the National League's Wild Card teams if the season ended today. It would be their first playoff spot since losing their third consecutive NLCS in 1992.
Here are the 20 teams that did not make the playoffs in 2012 and how many consecutive seasons they have gone since last making the playoffs...
Data via Baseball-Reference.com