The true hope of this spring

If you haven't yet, take a second and read Chuck Finder's recap of yesterday's game against the Rays. This is the second paragraph: Pedro Alvarez crushed a ninth-inning, two-out, three-run, pinch-hit, home run that traveled somewhere between 440 feet and, were it not for the high center-field screen, the Atlantic Ocean. Andrew McCutchen made a diving catch in center field and had an extra-base hit where even he heard most of the 6,968 patrons in Charlotte Sports Park gasp audibly as he sped around second to stretch it into a triple. Jose Tabata had a sacrifice fly to score McCutchen, a double and a throw to home plate that nailed one of the major league's fastest baserunners, Carl Crawford, by an easy 6 feet. Ahhhhh. Drink that in for a second. Maybe it won't be today, and maybe it won't be tomorrow, but someday, the Pirates will be good again.