Ah, playoff baseball.

There was a time when we in these parts knew the thrill of baseball this late in the season.

I've been to my share of Pittsburgh Pirates games, both at PNC Park and Three Rivers Stadium and have been fortunate enough to see some dramatic moments.

I saw Jason Kendall hit for the cycle against St. Louis in 2000. Two years earlier, I saw Mark McGwire hit home run No. 53 on his way to a record-breaking 70 in a single season.

I went to several games from 2013-15 and saw how a playoff-bound team can re-energize the Steel City.

But one game sticks out over all others — Game 5 of the 1992 NLCS against Atlanta.

It was a Sunday night game and featured the Pirates trying to stave off elimination after falling behind 3-1 in the series.

A friend of mine had an extra ticket and called me up Saturday night to invite me. A chance to see my team in a playoff game, ride to and from Pittsburgh included....Yeah, I was up for that deal.

The stadium was packed and it didn't take long for the Pirates to give us reason to cheer, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning.

We were sitting in the upper level just to the left of the right field foul pole. Gold pom poms were given out to fans at the gate and with every big hit by Pittsburgh's bats, a sea of moving gold was in motion below us. And the noise! I could barely hear my friend who was sitting right next to me.

That is to this day my favorite memory from being at a sporting event and that includes numerous Steelers and Pitt football games and a Pirate win at Wrigley Field several years ago.

The four-run lead was more than enough for Bob Walk, who pitched a three-hit complete game in a 7-1 win.

In what proved to be his final game in Pittsburgh as a Pirate, Barry Bonds broke out of his three-year playoff slump with two hits, including a double to the right-center gap.

I didn't know how things would turn out once the series resumed in Atlanta two nights later. But for one night, my team was the talk of baseball with a dominating performance and I was there to see it. It was quite an experience for a 14-year-old, sports-obsessed kid.

Of course, heartbreak was looming. The Pirates crushed Atlanta in Game 6, with Bonds hitting his only playoff home run in a Pirates uniform. That set the stage for Francisco Cabrera and his series-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7.

Every young sports fan deserves to have moments he or she will never forget. For some, it's meeting their favorite player and maybe getting an autograph. Mine came on a chilly October evening 27 years ago in the upper deck at the long-since gone Three Rivers Stadium.

It was my team in a playoff game.

It was a win.

In a word, it was perfect.

Derek Pyda is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle