That set the right tone for celebrating their third postseason berth in as many seasons. It called for an acknowledgment of the accomplishment, but it wasn't the occasion for the kind of full-scale messy blowout they'd had in the previous two years.
It's difficult to prevail over the long regular season. One week from today, two thirds of MLB teams will be heading home for the winter.
But there also comes a time when a team outgrows celebrating just getting a wild card spot, much in the way kids mature beyond having their birthday parties at Chuck E. Cheese.
The Pirates still have their eyes on bigger goals, like clinching home field for a possible wild card game, and catching the St. Louis Cardinals for the Central Division title.
In that context, they handled the postseason clinching the right way. There was no need to cloud their vision by having sprayed champagne burn their eyes.
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--LOOK OUT
While the Pirates and Chicago Cubs wrap up their season series tonight with a possible wild card match-up looming, the rivalry between the two teams is only beginning.
The last time the Pirates and Cubs had winning records in the same season was 1972.
They should get used to butting heads again. The Cubs took a big step forward this year, joining the race in the difficult Central Division.
They figure to contend for a while. The Cubs changed when they hired Theo Epstein to lead their baseball operations. He's the guy who ended the long futility streak of the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox finally got past the New York Yankees, and they ended their championship drought with multiple titles.
Epstein has made some smart trades to add to a solid base of young talent with the Cubs. The franchise also has the resources to add premium free agents.
A lot of people think they'll land David Price this winter, backing a big money offer with the chance to reunite with Joe Maddon, his manager in Tampa Bay.
The Cubs haven't been in the World Series since 1945. There's a good chance that streak will be ending in the next few seasons.
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--COMMUNICATIONS BREAKDOWN
Linebacker Ryan Shazier had a huge game for the Steelers last Sunday, one he exited late with a shoulder injury.
Mike Tomlin dismissed it after the game as nothing major. On Tuesday, Tomlin's update was that Shazier's shoulder was not a significant problem. Yet when Friday rolled around, Shazier still hadn't practiced and he was ruled out of today's game in St. Louis.
What happened? It's unlikely Tomlin got bad information from his training staff. Was Shazier unable to play through an injury that wasn't considered serious?
In his time with the Steelers, Shazier has had problems staying on the field. Three weeks into the season, it's not a good sign to have him on the sidelines again.
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--REMEMBERING YOGI
The truth was that Yogi Berra wasn't especially funny. The obituaries that referenced his "wit" were eye-rolling material when he died last week at 90.
A lot of the quotes attributed to him were either fabricated or embellished by people who knew that the man with the squatty body, odd visage and funny name represented the perfect comic foil.
Berra went along with it, and even found a way to profit from it. He was doing commercials repeating some of the malapropisms that people thought he said.
Berra was a talented player who was part of the Yankees' dynasty in the 1950s and '60s. In real life, he was a true American success story, the son of Italian immigrants and an eighth grade dropout who became hugely successful parlaying his baseball fame into related endorsements and investment opportunities.
On top of all that, he was awarded a Purple Heart for his service in World War II.
There are a lot of reasons to fondly remember Yogi Berra beyond, "It ain't over 'til it's over."
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