Oct. 06--PITTSBURGH -- The Cubs and Pirates have been playing each other since 1887, but the wild-card game Wednesday may be their biggest meeting in, well, ever.
Since the Cubs beat the Pirates on Gabby Hartnett's "Homer in the Gloamin' " near the end of the 1938 season, there really hasn't been a signature moment between the teams.
Older Cubs fans may remember Willie Stargell homering onto Sheffield Avenue off Phil Regan during the 1969 collapse, and the Cubs clinched division titles against the Pirates in 1984 and 2003.
But that's about it.
The Pirates were so bad for so long, failing to post a winning season from Barry Bonds' departure in 1993 until 2013, an entire generation never had a chance to witness an intense Cubs-Pirates game until a few weeks ago.
This is the third straight wild-card game for the Pirates, who have suggested fans stage a "blackout" Wednesday night at PNC Park, wearing all black.
"We have an advantage when we're out there because they pump us up," outfielder Andrew McCutchen said Sunday. "I know if I'm on the other side, I'm a little nervous."
Nice try. But it's doubtful Cubs starter Jake Arrieta, who faces Pirates ace Gerrit Cole, will be "a little nervous" about fans wearing black. This is, after all, a guy who has worn a onesie.
And let's remember the Pirates didn't take advantage of the crazed atmosphere in last year's wild-card game, losing 8-0 to Madison Bumgarner and the eventual champion Giants at PNC Park.
We've been waiting on Arrieta-Cole so long now, it seems wrong to have to wait one more day. But we do, so hold on and enjoy watching Arrieta troll Pirates fans on his Twitter account. On Monday night he tweeted at one: "Bring out all the reinforcements. I need it LOUD."
But while hating the Cardinals is the god-given right of every Cubs fan, it's almost impossible to dislike these Pirates, a hard-nosed team with a quiet superstar in McCutchen and an old-school manager in Clint Hurdle, who like Joe Maddon does not like to mince words.
When the teams played at Wrigley Field last week, Hurdle mocked the Cubs' sound system, which had been blasting away at unspeakable levels all season.
The city of Pittsburgh is somewhat anxious, knowing the Pirates haven't been able to break through since returning to the postseason.
In truth, Pittsburgh could be a second cousin of the South Side of Chicago, with its working-class neighborhoods and corner bars. It's full of hard-working people who love their sports teams and their libations, not necessarily in that order.
Many families here have relatives who once worked the steel mills, as my grandfather did in nearby Aliquippa before moving to another job at a steel mill on the South Side.
They have their own unique dialect and proudly call themselves "Yinzers." They've lived and died with the Pirates and Steelers, two franchises whose heroes reflected the toughness of the town. Stargell. Jack Ham. Jack Lambert. "Mean Joe" Greene. Dave Parker.
The Pirates' renaissance, after two decades of sub-.500 teams, has taken place in what many argue is the greatest of the retro ballparks.
Some even consider PNC Park as beautiful as Wrigley Field, with considerably shorter bathroom lines. Most fans sitting between the foul poles have a spectacular view of the downtown skyline and the Roberto Clemente Bridge. This is what U.S. Cellular Field could have been if someone with vision had designed it.
The area surrounding the ballpark has turned into a mini-Wrigleyville, with sports bars and restaurants and even an Andy Warhol Museum on the periphery. It was Warhol, a native Pittsburgher, who predicted in the 1960s that everyone would one day be famous for 15 minutes, not realizing former Cubs manager Rick Renteria would fall a few minutes shy.
Cubs fans have been waiting a lifetime, of course, which for many of them dwarfs the Pirates' 36-year championship drought.
But most here feel the wait is almost over, that the Pirates finally have the talent and pitching to win it all ... if they can only get past the Cubs.
psullivan@tribpub.com
