Some of my favorite childhood memories took place at Three Rivers Stadium. And not just when I was able to catch a Steelers game on the pullout bleachers, either. It was the Pirates games that I enjoyed – the summer evenings with my pops, brother and neighborhood friends where we’d catch batting practice, hoping to snag a ball from one of the players before the game started.

I loved the Pirates. As a naïve youngster, I didn’t know what small market teams were, nor did I fully comprehend why the team’s turnover each season was so high compared to other big league squads. I just knew I loved the Pirates.

I owned Pirates jerseys, and I wore Pirates hats before it became a thing. I rooted for them in September despite the team always being out of playoff contention at the All-Star break. I listened to them on the radio when I couldn’t watch them on television, and pretended to be Jay Bell – I played middle infield throughout little league because that’s what Jay Bell did, and Jay Bell was awesome.

But little did I know, young fans in nearly every other MLB city had no idea who Jay Bell was. They weren’t talking about Al Martin and Kevin Polcovich at the lunch table, and when October hit, many of them weren’t focused on the next season like I was.

That was the life of a young Pittsburgh Pirate fan in the ‘90s. The natural ignorance made the game so special – you liked going to the North Shore of Pittsburgh to watch a game because you liked the game. You liked watching your favorite players live and in person.

Little did I realize, I was missing out on something incredibly special.

Finally, last season, I was able to know what it felt like. After 21 miserable years, winning playoff games became a reality. The Pirates put together their first winning season since the Bush administration – the first Bush – and it was more than special for a Yinzer who grew up in the Steel City in the ‘90s. It was one of the few experiences in sports where saying “we did it” really meant we, the fans, helped make it happen.

For the first time in my adult life, the Pirates are entering an MLB season as winners. No, they’re not World Series Champions, and Yankees and Braves fans probably laugh at the fact that the 2013 baseball season in Pittsburgh meant so much to its fans. But it did. And the Pirates are looking to do even more in 2014.

Budding Stars

During one of the worst losing streaks imaginable, the Pirates seemed to always find a guy or two who could produce All-Star caliber numbers. They just could never put enough talent around those players to consistently win.

It looked like star center fielder home run in last year’s wild card win, enters the season as the Pirates starting catcher. He's an above-average player at the position, and posted 4.1 WAR in 2013. He’ll have to work on his K rate though, as it’s increased nearly each season he’s played since becoming a big leaguer in 2006. It also ranked as the 12th-highest among catchers with at least 300 plate appearances in 2013.

Though those positions are fairly set in stone, there are some question marks, specifically at first base and right field. You Gotta Believe, and was actually made by my high school's choral director (humble brag).

We’re all now over 20 years older since that song was released, but those three words continue to summarize the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. Except, rather than believing a 65-win team will all of a sudden be competitive as I did when I was growing up, the city is believing an already-competitive, 90-win team can take the next step and make a run at the World Series.

Luck will have to play a role. The team still has holes, and there's risk involved at the back-end of the rotation and even within the lineup itself. But in the spirit of regression, wouldn’t it be fitting to see the Pirates go from perennial losers to every-year winners?

There’s certainly a possibility for that to happen.