America's Favorite Past Time

Magic lives at the ball field.

There is something about filing in through the gates and making your way to your seat, knowing that anything is possible in the next 9 innings.

A bad game the day before, a bad series the week before, a bad season the 21 years before, won't stand in the way of the pitcher and the batter as they face off or block the possibilities that lay between the mound and the plate.

Maybe this is why the Pittsburgh Pirates triumphant return to the postseason means so much to so many. While not on the diamond, Pittsburgh isn't a city starved for victories. We have had the beloved Penguins and celebrated Steelers leading us to triumph many times; and yet the city is embracing the baseball playoffs like the idea of winning is a foreign concept.

So what is it about Pirates baseball that can pack the Roberto Clemente bridge with fans who don't even hold a ticket, just a lawn chair and a whole lot of hope?

In a city known for hard work and dedication, this exciting adventure in the postseason represents what Pittsburgh is all about. We are the Steel City. And what is steel? It is iron and carbon.

Iron, the most common element, representing the every day men and women who make up the city. Carbon, when under pressure, forms a diamond, the hardest naturally occurring substance there is - because in Pittsburgh, we are tough.

So here we are, cheering on our Buccos who never crumbled over the criticism and pressure the last 21 years brought their way. They kept fighting. They persevered. And wow, what a gem they have given to this city in this 2013 season!

The Pirates have reminded us this year what dreaming is all about. We went from dreaming of a winning season, to dreaming of a postseason, to big dreams of a World Series. The loyal fans and even the bandwagon fans, are alive with energy as they wait for the Buccos to pull off the next victory, like a rabbit out of a hat.

And why not?

After all, magic lives at the ball field.