The Road to 17: The Green Mile

But, oh God, sometimes the Green Mile seems so long. For a long time, I was the kid that used to tell everyone every spring that this year was the year that the Pirates would break their losing streak. I gave up on that a few years ago, when I finally realized each spring that bad teams don't magically turn in to good teams. As has been said ad nauseum this year, there's a difference between teams like last year's Rays, who were a good team that most people slept on because of their bad history, and this year's Pirates. And still, every single spring, I get excited when baseball starts. And when the Pirates roll through April at 12-11? Yep. I'm as excited as anyone. I can't help it. When I write, I try to ground myself in reality as much as possible and I tell myself things like, "This can't last, these guys aren't that good," because I know that's the truth, but there's always a little voice in my head that says, "Maybe this ye...