Baseball is Not Important

The two biggest stories in Pirate-land today had nothing to do with our sport of choice, baseball. I'm not big on the touchy-feely stuff, but today the Pirates got emotional and put their lives in perspective, and we should do the same.---First, the good news. Doug Mientkiewicz, of course, left the team briefly as his wife, Jodi, underwent heart surgery. She's OK and had a pacemaker installed, and has returned to her Pittsburgh home. Bucco fans everywhere were praying for the Mientkiewicz's, as evidenced [here], where 98 (and counting) fans showed their support via blog comment. Great to hear.---On a more somber note, the 18-year-old who stopped by to hang out with the Pirates in June, John Challis (of Freedom) passed away, ending his battle with cancer. John was inspirational to people all over the place, but when he met with the Bucs before a Yankee game in June, he told them to not worry about stats, but to have fun. He also said "Life's not about how many br...