For a very long time, I've remembered October 12, 1992. Game 4 of the 1992 NLCS. The only Pittsburgh Pirates playoff game that I've ever attended. In fact, it was the only playoff game of any sort that I'd attended until Saturday, when I went to see the Penguins play the Hurricanes in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals in Raleigh.

It was every bit as much fun as you probably imagine it was. The Pens rolled over the 'Canes with Crosby and Malkin dominating the play and there were enough Penguins fans there that everyone had someone to celebrate and revel in the victory with in the stands. It's one of the things that makes being a Pittsburgh fan truly special; the ability to walk up to a random man in a Tom Barrasso jersey in an arena 500 miles from the Igloo, high-five him, and say, "You know, I always liked Kenny Wregget better," just to get the pseudo-shocked reaction that still comes 10 years after "Wregget vs. Barrasso" was any sort of meaningful debate.

That kind of fellowship isn't necessarily exclusive to the playoffs. After the Pirates/Orioles game at Camden Yards last year, there was plenty of mutual griping about the Pirates among the larger-than-expected Pittsburgh contingent on hand in Baltimore that night. Before the game started, some random man in a Pirate hat came up to me and asked me if I thought Freddy Sanchez was ever going to break out of his slump. My friends had to pull me away from the conversation with this guy, because we would've talked about the Pirates forever in the streets, even though we'd just met.

What's different is the way the games resonate. I still remember the feeling leaving Three Rivers after the Pirates lost Game 4 in '92. They'd fallen behind 3-1 in the series at that point and the series loss seemed inevitable. As we walked out of the park, I felt like I'd never be happy again. When the Pirates lost to Baltimore last year, I felt kind of like I feel after one of those times you stab yourself in the gum when you're brushing your teeth. It hurts a little bit, but then you move on with your day. On the opposite end of that, I was on an incredibly high leaving the RBC Centre on Saturday night. Every Pens' fan there was beaming; since last June we've all wanted a rematch with Detroit and after Saturday's win, it was finally starting to seem real. I got home on Saturday and I couldn't sleep. I watched SportsCenter twice. I paced around my apartment for like two hours. Conversely, the Pirates won an incredibly thrilling game on Sunday and I thought, "That's cool," and went in to lab.

The difference in the two experiences, though, is huge. As the game on Saturday slowly turned more and more in the Penguins' favor, the Hurricanes fans brought out what was clearly their favorite taunt. "BANDWAGON FANS!" they screamed at us, "DID YOU EVEN WATCH HOCKEY BEFORE 2006?!?" This was the ultimate pot/kettle moment coming from a fanbase that wasn't even filling their arena in February when it looked like they were going to miss the playoffs (I know; I was there), but the implication stings nonetheless. You couldn't hack it. Your team sucked, and you couldn't stick with them, and now your only back because they're good. There's nothing worse to be accused of as a fan.

But there's always some truth in accusations like that. It's never easy to care about a bad team the same way that you do about a good one because the lows are so endless and the highs are only high in relation to the depths that the team has plunged to. The one thing that we have to cling to as Pirate fans is that real highs seem like Mount Everest after you've been in the Grand Canyon. I talked to a decent amount of Penguin fans on Saturday and it seemed like every single conversation drew back to the same place. "I can't believe we're here when things were so bad just a few years ago." No matter who brought it up, the other person would nod and then everyone would start name-dropping Dick Tarnstrom and Ramzi Abid and other guys from those teams. The fans that stick with it through the dark times are always the ones rewarded the most when things turn around.

Ifyou'd like a shirt for WHYGAVS Night, I'm officially taking orders starting now. They're going to be black with gold lettering, like last year, and the front will look something like this:

They're also going to have the URL on the back so that I can turn you all into an army of walking billboards. If you'd like a shirt, please e-mail me by Friday with "WHYGAVS Night T-shirt" as the subject. Sizes are pretty standard (the shirts are usually Fruit of the Loom) and while I don't recall the exact cost from last year, they were somewhere around $10-$15 (closer to $10, I think).

Also, there may be a potential WHYGAVS Night conflict with a particular hockey team playing for a particular piece of large, old silverware. We will deal with this when/if it becomes an issue (I'm staring at you, Gary Bettman and you, NBC executives).

Sorry this recap is late; my internet went out last night just while I was trying to write it and do the Rewind for FanHouse. Not great timing.

I didn't get home unti around 11:30 last night and I was shocked to find the Pirates still playing. Apparently, last night's game had a little bit of everything but starting pitching. Freddy Sanchez rapped six hits and Jaramillo and Andy LaRoche added three apiece and the Pirates' bullpen (Tom Gorzelanny, Evan Meek, Jesse Chavez, John Grabow, Matt Capps, and Sean Burnett after Capps took a liner off the elbow) held strong while the Cubs' pen didn't, and that was the difference. I have to run to work now, but I have lots of other stuff to post this afternoon, so stay tuned.

The Buccos' kick off the second leg of their Chicago trip with the ever-so-rare night game at Wrigley. Hopefully, they can keep the momentum from the last two innings of their series on the South Side of the city rolling and forget about the first 25. Paul Maholm and Ryan Dempster are taking the mound at 8 tonight in bright red caps for Memorial Day.

Speaking of which, I hope you've all had a fantastic Memorial Day so far and celebrated those that've served this great country by grilling some meat and drinking some beer. In fact, I think I'm going to go do that myself.

I had this recap mostly written in my head after seven innings this afternoon. I'm sure you can figure out what it was going to say. "One run in 27 innings, three losses, interleague play sucks, wasted a decent start by Karstens again, blah blah blah." I recap every game, but all recaps are not created equal and the loss we seemed destined for today was certainly not one that was going to be particularly interesting.

Right around this point, Eric Hinske blasted a homer to right field. When that happened, I did the little shrug that Pirate fans do that means, "Meh. We've scored two runs in the first 26 innings of this series and we still need two more to win. I am not getting my hopes up." Of course, Jack Wilson homering off of Bobby Jenks with two outs is a more of a perception-changer. It was Jack's first homer since August 15th of last year and only his second since the start of the 2008 season. You can say what you want about the guy (I usually do), but he really picked his spot against Bobby Jenks today. That left the Bucs a Nyjer Morgan double and a Delwyn Young single away from somehow stealing a win from the White Sox today.

And it's great that the Pirates won, because there are some positives to take from this game. Morgan had a nice game with three hits and Freddy Sanchez broke out of his slump a bit with two. Craig Monroe and Eric Hinske both gave the Bucs two hits, which is a nicely highlights just how good the Pirates' bench has been this year, and the bullpen was great, shutting out the White Sox for 3 2/3 innings to keep things close enough for a dramatic comeback. Matt Capps was particularly impressive, striking out the side on just 15 pitches. Since the fiasco against the Rockies and the resulting bullpen session with Joe Kerrigan, he really looks a lot better.

This certainly wasn't a great series for the Bucs. The White Sox were reeling from their pounding at the Twins' hands last Thursday and the Pirates' offense helped their pitching staff reboot itself. Somehow, though, they scraped out a win, and that's a lot more than any of us were expecting after seven innings today.

First things first today; we have to score a run. After we score a run, then we can worry about whether or not we can actually win a baseball game. Of course, this is the game that we draw the worst pitching matchup of the series (for us) with Mark Buehrle and Jeff Karstens on the mound.

Our chances are not helped by the fact that John Russell is continuing along on his "I know my team is full of well-conditioned athletes in the prime of their lives, but I still think they need rest, dammit, and so we're going to follow up two straight shutouts by benching the best hitter on the team because ... I'm not sure why." Yeah, this is going to go well.

I'm going to the Penguins game in Raleigh tonight. I'm excited. I haven't been to a playoff game of any sort (besides high school sports) since Game 4 of the 1992 NLCS when John Smoltz crushed my seven-year-old heart. It probably goes without saying, but I am really, really excited. And that means I'll probably have no idea who even wins the Pirates game until I wake up tomorrow.

But the Pirates will play on anyways, with Ross Ohlendorf and Clayton Richard on the mound. Don't forget that they're starting at 7:05 even though they're in Chicago.

Sometimes, when the Pirates are playing terrible baseball teams like the Nationals, it's easy to forget that the Pirates are really not a very good team in their own right. It doesn't take much to be reminded of that, though. Getting two-hit by a club that lost by 19 runs just the day before is a nice quick reminder of that, though. It's an especially good reminder when the pitcher that throws the shutout at you has a 6.54 ERA after throwing eight shutout innings.

The shame in last night's loss is wasting another great outing from Zach Duke, who struck out seven in eight innings while holding the White Sox to two runs on six hits and two walks, using just 88 pitches to cruise through those eight innings. I see some rumblings about the umpire in the comments and John Russell was clearly frustrated by this loss, but then again he's the one that removed his starting third baseman from the lineup for reasons that only he understands.