<div style="float: right; margin: 15px 0 20px 20px;"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2"><a href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/category/chart-of-the-day"> <img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/2237544b39b8324a71969a00/button-more-charts.gif" border="0" alt="button more charts" /></a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/chart-of-the-day"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/2237544b42b8324a7a969a00/button-chart-prev.gif" border="0" alt="button chart prev" /></a></td><td><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-pirates-as-and-rays-have-best-cost-per-win-in-mlb-2013-7"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/2237544b4db8324a85969a00/button-chart-next.gif" border="0" alt="button chart next" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p>The surprising Pirates have a 2.5 game lead in their division. But the only reason the Pirates have a lead at all is because they have been the luckiest team in baseball.</p>
<p>We compared every team's actual record to their expected record based on how many runs each team has scored and allowed. The chart below shows us all the teams that have either won at least 2.5 more games than expected (blue) or have lost at least 2.5 games more than expected.</p>
<p>The Tigers have been the unluckiest team and probably should be leading their division by more than two games. But we also see that the Pirates are lucky to have a 2.5 game lead over the Cardinals and a 6.0 game lead over the Reds.</p>
<p>Not only have the Pirates won 3.6 more games than expected, but the two teams directly behind them have been unlucky have won fewer games than expected. If each team played as expected, the Pirates would be in third place in their division, five games behind the Cards and three games behind the Reds...</p>
<p><div class="image-container" style="width:800px"><div class="image"><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/51fac8a36bb3f79163000012-900-675/1-1585.jpg?maxX=800" border="0" alt="Lucky teams in MLB" width="800" /><p class="source">Data via Baseball-Reference.com</p></div></div></p>
<p> </p>
<p>* <em>Win-loss records are not always the best indicator of how well a team is playing. To get a better sense, we can use run differential, or the difference between the number of runs scored and the number of runs given up. We can then use those numbers to calculate a record that is more reflective of how well that team played, using a formula called <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/about/faq.shtml">Pythagorean Win Percentage</a> which tells us how many games a team should have won.</em></p>

CHART: The Pirates Are The Luckiest Team In Baseball

<p><div class="image-container float_right"><div class="image"><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/522f6f1beab8eaa50c897f4e-800-601/pirates-7.jpg?maxX=480&amp;maxY=360" border="0" alt="Pirates" width="480" height="360" /><p class="source on-image">Fort Worth Star-Telegram</p></div></div>With 19 games left in the regular season the Pittsburgh Pirates are within a game of the St. Louis Cardinals and first place in the NL Central. As they make their last final push to win the NL Central in 2013, we look back on how things were in the world the last time the Pirates made the playoffs over 20 years ago during the 1992 season. </p>
<p>In 1992, the U.S saw its first year of peace in the world in almost a half century, the U.S put military and political conflicts behind it with the conclusion of the Persian Gulf War and Cold War in 1991, and George W. Bush was on the second to last year of his term as president.</p>
<p>In pop culture 1992 saw the emergence of the "Grunge" movement with heavy metal fans sporting <span>flannel shirts, combat boots, muted colors and an overall blue collar aesthetic.<br /></span></p>
<p>Among other cultural headlines throughout 1992 included: </p>
<p>Nirvana's album Nevermind<span> was number one on the US Billboard chart at the start of the year.</span></p>
<p><span><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/4e78dba069bedd652c000000-650-649/screen shot 2011-09-20 at 2.20.12 pm.png" border="0" alt="nirvana nevermind" /><br /></span></p>
<p>Disney's Aladdin was the top grossing movie of the year, earning over $500 million dollars internationally.</p>
<p><div class="image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/522f75baeab8ea7e19897f58-650-488/aladdin.jpg" border="0" alt="Aladdin" /><p class="source on-image">Youtube Screen Grab</p></div></div></div></p>
<p>Capcom's Street Fighter II on Super Nintendo was named the game of the year by Golden Joystick Awards.</p>
<p><div class="image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/522f76ba69bedd1b5fd85846-650-488/street-fighter-2.jpg" border="0" alt="Street Fighter" /><p class="source on-image">Youtube Screen Grab</p></div></div></div></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">After 30 thirty years as the host NBC's "The Tonight Show," 66 year-old Johnny Carson hosted for the last time and Jay Leno became the new host.<br /></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/522f776d69bedd8766d85840-650-488/johnny-carson-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Johnny Carson" /><p class="source on-image">Youtube Screen Grab</p></div></div></div><br /></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The summer of 1992 was headlined by the Olympics that were held in Barcelona, Spain. These Olympics featured the entrance of the "Dream Team" with the likes of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Karl Malone among other NBA All-Stars who joined forces to reclaim the gold medal in basketball. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/522f781beab8ea6220897f54-650-488/dream-team-2.jpg" border="0" alt="Dream Team" /><p class="source on-image">Youtube Screen Grab</p></div></div></div><br /></span></p>
<p>It's easy to see the Pirates last postseason berth seemed like a century ago with huge changes occurring in every aspect of society since. Twenty-three year old starting pitcher Gerritt Cole probably has no recollection of that time period. He and the rest of the Pirates organization hope they can finally put 1992 behind them and that they can write new history come October. </p>

What The World Was Like The Last Time The Pirates Made The Playoffs

<p>Baseball players are well known for practical jokes but rarely do they make their way on to the field of play. Well, for the Pirates, apparently anything is fair game on April Fool's Day.</p>
<p>As A.J. Burnett was preparing to start the fifth inning against the Cubs, he reached for the rosin bag behind the mound, only to have the bag used to dry a pitcher's hand explode in a puff of white smoke. The game was delayed for several minutes as Burnett needed to towel off the excess powder. Here's the GIF (<em>via Root Sports</em>)...<br /><br /></p>
<center><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8392/8610272479_eb454bf0f3_o.gif" border="0" style="width: 618px;" /></center>

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CHART: The Pirates Are The Luckiest Team In Baseball

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What The World Was Like The Last Time The Pirates Made The Playoffs

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