Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
The waiting is the hardest part.
That is if you a Philadelphia sports fan. As has been widely publicized, Philly hasn't had a sports champion since 1983 when the "Fo', Fo', and Fo'" Moses and Dr. J. Sixers swept the Magic and Kareem Lakers. (Actually, the Stars won the then-NFL rival USFL championship in 1984, but the media ignores them.)
That got me to wonder what is the current longest wait for a sports city. And by sports city, I mean only those with a team in each of the four major-league team sports. Forget LA. It may be the second-largest metro area in the country and the Angels might be bending their name over backwards to fit it in their title, but they can't keep a football team and no one really seems to care.
There are fourteen qualifying four-sport metro areas, and guess who has been waiting the longest for a ring?
| Four-team city | Last Champ | Wait |
| Philadelphia | 1983 | 21 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul | 1991 | 13 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose | 1994 | 10 |
| Atlanta | 1995 | 9 |
| Chicago | 1998 | 6 |
| Dallas-Ft. Worth | 1999 | 5 |
| Baltimore-Washington | 2000 | 4 |
| Denver | 2001 | 3 |
| Phoenix | 2001 | 3 |
| New York-New Jersey | 2003 | 1 |
| Miami | 2003 | 1 |
| Boston | 2004 | 0 |
| Detroit | 2004 | 0 |
Philly also has the most teams by a long shot to reach a final and lose in the intervening years:
| Four-team city | MLB | NBA | NFL | NHL | Total |
| Philadelphia | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Atlanta | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Chicago | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dallas-Ft. Worth | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Baltimore-Washington | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Denver | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Phoenix | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New York-New Jersey | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Miami | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Boston | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Detroit | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Philly also leads the pack in team-seasons since their last championship:
| Four-team city | MLB | NBA | NFL | NHL | Total |
| Philadelphia | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 84 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul | 13 | 13 | 13 | 6 | 45 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose | 20 | 10 | 20 | 10 | 60 |
| Atlanta | 9 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 31 |
| Chicago | 12 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 30 |
| Dallas-Ft. Worth | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 20 |
| Baltimore-Washington | 4 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 20 |
| Denver | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
| Phoenix | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
| New York-New Jersey | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| Miami | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Boston | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Detroit | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
And the Eagles looked like the best shot in a while. With the Phils embracing mediocrity, the Flyers on hiatus indefinitely, and the Sixers, along with the rest of the new Atlantic Division, scraping the Mendoza Line, it looks like it'll be at least another year of waiting. And Ray Davies thought he was tired of waiting.
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