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Classic Grind: A franchise officially reborn … one special night in an unlikely setting

Each Saturday during the ongoing apocalypse, I’ll revisit an older column that ran on this site, accompanied by a handful of current observations about it at the bottom.

This one ran Sept. 23, 2014:

ATLANTA -- "Atlanta ..." Jeff Banister breathes out, as if by way of a wistful sigh.

It's 6:32 p.m., about a half-hour to first pitch Tuesday at Turner Field, and the Pirates' bench coach is down at the far end of the visitors' dugout. He enjoys doing this before games, usually with the bill of the cap pulled down, immersed in the many intricacies the sport of his life might throw his way by sunset.