If a snapshot had been taken of the major league standings a week after the All-Star game, three of the divisions and the wild cards would have looked much as they do now: the Red Sox and the Yankees on each other’s back scrapping for the division title or the wild card, the Rangers ahead of the Angels, the Phillies comfortably ahead of the Braves, who similarly had a nice wild-card lead.

The other three divisions, however, had different looks: the Indians were tied for first with the Tigers, the Giants led the Diamondbacks by four and a half games and – this is why I chose July 19 for the snapshot – the Pirates were in first place, half a game ahead of the Brewers.

The Pirates provided the most perplexing pixels of the photo because no team that had endured a major league-record 18 successive losing seasons and didn’t appear to have made significant improvements had any business leading a division more than halfway through the season.

The Pirates certainly weren’t expected to maintain their position, and they haven’t. Instead, with a 15-33 record since their 51-44 mark that put them on top of the National League Central, they have made great strides on two fronts, both losing:

• They are zeroing in on their 19^th consecutive losing season, needing only 5 losses in their final 19 to clinch it.
• They are on the verge of securing their continued membership in an exclusive club of losers. Beginning with Thursday’s games, a combination of Pirates’ losses and Braves’ wins totaling four would eliminate the Pirates from post-season contention.

Since the wild-card era began in 1995, the Pirates are one of only four teams that haven’t reached the post-season. They share that ignominious distinction with the Royals, the Nationals (Expos) and the Blue Jays.

The Royals, with only 60 victories, have already been eliminated from having a shot at a playoff spot. The elimination number for the Blue Jays and the Nationals is six each. When their losses and wins by the Red Sox (for the Blue Jays) and the Braves (for the Nationals) reach six, they will be mathematically and officially out of the running for a post-season spot.

Not long before the wild-card era, the Blue Jays not only reached the post-season but they also won the World Series two years in a row. The team’s ownership, however, changed and so did the spending philosophy and the Blue Jays’ fortunes.

A change in ownership also turned around the Royals’ franchise. Under their founding owner, Ewing Kauffman, the Royals regularly reached the post-season and in 1980 went to and in 1985 won the World Series.

Kauffman and his pharmaceutical wealth, funded the Royals well beyond their means, and the fans loved him for it. David Glass, the current owner, has given the fans no reason to even like him. He doesn’t spend money even to be competitive. The Royals’ $36 million payroll this year is lowest in the majors and half of what it was last year.

The lone post-season appearance of the Expos/Nationals came in 1981, long before the term wild card was even uttered in baseball circles.

The Pirates are the lone member of the original 16 major league teams whose franchise has not played in a post-season division series.

The Pirates have a glorious history of World Series championships and league championship series appearances. However, in the wild-card era, the Pirates have been consistent losers.

That’s why it was so shocking to look at the standings the morning of July 20 and see the Pirates in first place with a 51-44 record.

The shock, however, wore off quickly. Just a week later the Pirates began a 10-game losing streak, dropping three games to the Phillies, four to the Cubs and three to the Padres, descending to their familiar below-.500 level during the losing streak.

The Brewers, meanwhile, easily overcame their half-game deficit to the Pirates, winning 33 of 46 games and taking a commanding 8 ½-game lead over the Cardinals.

But the Diamondbacks have executed the most impressive reversal since July 19. On that day Arizona was 4 ½ games behind the Giants. Now, however, the Diamondbacks are 7 games in front of San Francisco.

The Diamondbacks have achieved the turnaround with a 30-16 record to the Giants’ 18-27.

On our snapshot date the Tigers, on their way up, and the Indians, on their way down, were tied for first place in the American League Central with 51-45 records. The teams weren’t so cozy after their game on Wednesday.

Sweeping the second three-game series from the Indians in three weeks, the Tigers took a 9 ½ game lead over the Indians. Since they were tied, the Tigers had a 30-17 record, the Indians 19-25

The A.L. West race between the Rangers and the Angels remained unsettled. The Rangers held a 5-game lead July 19, but it was half that after Wednesday’s games.

The A.L. East was also unsettled. The top two teams had switched places, the Red Sox sliding from a game and a half advantage over the Yankees to a 2 ½-game deficit.

The difference in the two races, though, is the Yankees and the Red Sox will both make the playoffs, the runner-up as the wild card. The Rangers and the Angels don’t have that safety net. The Red Sox have a 7 ½-game lead over the Angels in the A.L. wild-card standings.

One of the interesting aspects of the makeup of this year’s playoffs will be that two of the eight teams will be playing in a division series for only the second time. The Tigers played only in 2006 and the Brewers in 2008.

The Yankees will play in their 16th division series, the Braves their 13th.