A week or so ago, I went to my first Pirates game in at least 8 years. Since we all expected the Buccos to lose - they are, after all, the Pirates - imagine our surprise and delight when they actually played well and beat the Nats. It was a reminder of why I enjoyed attending MLB games back in the day, whether I lived in Pittsburgh or St. Louis (or traveled to Chicago for the late season series between the Cards and Cubs). The only bad part was that the game took an hour longer than necessary.