92/G7 and 82

You may have noticed (but probably not) that I was tweetin over a few days last week my viewing of the NLCS Game 7 from 1992. Having been a college junior at the time, I pretty much didn't follow sports at the time. Truthfully my only real memory of baseball at the time was listening to the Twins and Jack Morris' 10 inning performance on the radio. Then after college, the strike killed my interest until Pedro came to Boston. So I downloaded the game off iTunes. My immediate reaction after the revulsion of the incessant Tomahawk Chop and Tim McCarver subsided, was that the Pirates looked like a team of destiny, having come back from 3-1 down, much like the '79 squad. With their ace ace on the mound, they were rolling thru 8. Then of course the wheels just came off in the 9th. Obvious second guessing is that Leyland left Drabek in too long, as the last couple innings he was showing signs of being gassed. The winning hit was a "rip your heart out, toss it in a blender moment" and sadly is the last winning team in Pirates history. The only thing I'm trying to accomplish by watching such agony is to try and feel where current fans are now. It's easy for me to sit back and say this is the year for 82, as '93-'07 are completely foreign to me. It won't make me a smarter fan, but it might make me more knowledgeable and sympathetic to those who have spent their fandom lives bleeding for another championship. Maybe this is the year they get closer to that goal, and maybe it's not. But every fan has to think it's possible, else why bother? They're getting closer, I can see and feel it. The talent level is deeper, the pitching staff is turning corners, and a "team" is developing, as The Great Purge should be just about over. And 3 days before pitchers and catchers report, no one can convince me they're not capable of being average (aka 82-80) until they play it out. Go Bucs! - BlogPress from my iPhone