There are some Pirates who never really leave.
Even when the cheers fade. Even when the last pitch is thrown. Even when the box scores yellow with age. They stay – woven into the fabric of the franchise, into the heartbeat of the city, into the stories handed down from generation to generation.
Dave Giusti was one of those Pirates.
Giusti passed away at age 86 on Sunday, and with him goes one of the quiet pillars of the greatest era this franchise has ever known. Not a headliner. Not a marquee name. But absolutely indispensable – the kind of player every championship team needs and every fan learns to trust.