TAMPA via BRADENTON, Fla. – Four hours before the Grapefruit League opener, a sense of anticipation gripped the Pirates clubhouse at McKechnie Field in Bradenton.

Then there was Pirates legend Bill Mazeroski, who sat in his jersey and underwear in front of his locker, a bewildered look on his face.

It seemed that Mazeroski hadn't been able to locate a pair of road gray pants in his locker. Finally, Maz started to put on his home whites before coach Gary Varsho intervened. “Lemme look into this, Maz,” he said. Sure enough, minutes later, Maz had a pair of grays in his hands.

Hey, you didn't think the talk about improved team chemistry was just that, did you?

If you want to be the best, then you have got to play the best, so a date with the defending champion New York Yankees wasn't bad for starters. It didn't take long to understand who wears the pants of the Yankees family after all these jeers. After the one hour drive to Tampa, our media contingent executed a left turn at Steinbrenner Drive en route to the media parking lot. Then we checked in at the media entrance to George M. Steinbrenner Field. I know this because GEORGE M. STEINBRENNER FIELD greeted us in supersized block letters from atop the scoreboard in left field.

George M. Steinbrenner Field is located about 20 miles south of George Steinbrenner High School in Lutz, Fla. The school opened last August, and already it has one of the better prep sports programs around. The Boss is prepared to pay another luxury tax, obviously.

The Pirates dropped a 6-3 decision on a walk-off homer -- it's never a good thing to get beat by somebody who wears number 98 -- but they had their moments.

Paul Maholm, Ross Ohlendorf, Brian Bass, D.J. Carrasco, Chris Jakubauskas, Jack Taschner and Jean Machi blanked the champs on one lonesome hit in seven innings. The defense was solid. In his debut at first base, Jeff Clement handled nine chances without a miscue.

The Pirates managed only three measly singles, none of whom was named Sabathia, Burnett, Vazquez or Rivera. Andrew McCutchen beat out an infield hit to lead off the game, moved to second base on an errant pick-off throw and . . . didn't move the rest of the inning.

Then again, as manager John Russell likes to say, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. There's a lot of baseball to played yet, and the Pirates will take it one leg at a time.