ABSO-BUCIN-LUTELY! The Pittsburgh Pirates Are Back!

The Pittsburgh Pirates are back in the postseason.  Go ahead, think about that.  A few years ago, we didn’t think this could happen.  Night after night we would hammer away at our keyboard trying to make sense of it all.  Blogging hour after hour.  Making Photoshops.  Getting Kurt to add even more Photoshops for you.  Analyzing numbers.  Scratching our head, drinking beer, scratching our head and drinking even more beer.

Tonight we watched the Pittsburgh Pirates drink beer on live television.  Greg Brown was smoking a damn cigar.  What.  The. Hell?

We never saw it coming.

Guess what, they did.  The Pirates players believed.  And I am freaking thrilled about it and I will tell you why.

We got to enjoy it with somebody really special.  My father passed away very early in my life, and my older brother was essentially my Dad until he went to the U.S. Army at the age of 17.  I never really spoke to him much again for over seventeen years, he had some work to do.

I had a life to live including spending some time in the Army too.  I saw him briefly after the Gulf War, but that was the only time, for over 17 years until he returned to stand beside me on my wedding day.

Yeh, I know it’s odd.  The Smith Brothers are like that I guess.

But baseball has always been a big part of our lives.  Tonight my brother came home.  He’s a lifelong Army guy.  A man that loved the Pirates a long time ago.  He still does, but a number of things have become more important to him than our Buccos.

But talk about perfect timing.

It was fun, no it was something I will never forget.

The 2013 Pirates have made a name for themselves.  No longer will I have to tell my son about Willie Stargell and all of those Pirates of yesteryear.  No.  Those days are (mostly) over now.  Thanks to racking up a playoff berth, now my son Brody can start making his own memories.  Thanks to the 2013 Pirates and the countless responsible for their success, no longer does he have to listen to stories from his Dad.

The painful 90’s, the walkout protest, the repeated thumping of the Brewers,  the do-it-our-way front office, that’s all over now.  And you know what, no longer do I have to pay (as much) attention to my older brother’s stories about the Pirates from way back when either.

There are more important things happening and it’s called the present.  The Pittsburgh Pirates have started making memories again.

And I can’t stop smiling.

Thank you Pittsburgh Pirates.  Thank you so damn much.