This was a classic in almost any sense.
We've seen some crazy ones before. A lot of those marked time from one largely forgettable, losing season to the next. This one, though, it came on the backdrop of the best pennant race Pittsburgh has seen in years in a crucial showdown with the team that just never loses.
On a sticky July night at PNC Park, the two best teams in the National League went toe-to-toe for five hours, Vic Carapazza became the most hated umpire in Pittsburgh since Jerry Meals, A.J. Burnett brought the agitated crowd to life with a home run, and the Pirates staged an eighth-inning rally and overcame two extra-inning threats by St.