Oct. 14 1992 is a date that will live in infamy with Pirates fans.

Playoff baseball died in the Steel City for the next 20 years following the Pirates’ Game 7 loss to the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS, the third straight year in which the Buccos failed to advance past the conference championship.

A walk-off hit with two outs by Atlanta’s Francisco Cabrera near Barry Bonds in left field plated two runs, including the winning score by former Pirate Sid Bream.

Andy Van Slyke, Pittsburgh’s star center fielder who finished in the top-four of all of Major League Baseball in batting average, hits, doubles and total bases that season, sat stunned in disbelief as Braves players stormed home plate in celebration.

The Pirates would not have another winning season until 2013.

“I just knew it was over,” Van Slyke said before Thursday night’s Curve game, in which he threw a ceremonial first pitch and signed autographs for fans. “The run was over. Winning three years in a row was over. … I knew that winning championships was not something that was going to be part of the Pirates’ organization.”

The five-time Gold Glove winner would stick around for two more seasons in Three Rivers Stadium before finishing his career with single seasons the Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies.

Prior to his eight seasons in Pittsburgh, Van Slyke began his professional career playing four seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals. A trade in April of 1987 sent him from the perennial National League contending Cardinals to one of baseball’s struggling clubs.

“My mindset was that I was going from the penthouse to the outhouse,” Van Slyke said. “I (didn’t) want to go. I (didn’t) know who the manager was. I knew that they couldn’t draw a million people. They finished last three years in a row, so why would I want to go to Pittsburgh?”

Van Slyke had bounced around the infield in St. Louis and played all three outfield positions. It wasn’t until the Pittsburgh trade that he found his home in center field next to Bonds and began to blossom at the plate.

While initially not a fan of his new home in western Pennsylvania, Van Slyke credits the trade as career saving and the spark he needed for his three All-Star seasons and two Silver Slugger awards.

“I had a pretty bad attitude for about a month,” Van Slyke said. “I finally realized that it was the opportunity that I had always wanted to play every day. All of the sudden I really enjoyed playing baseball again and playing for the Pirates. … It changed my career around. It made me enjoy what I was doing more and helped an organization turn their misery around, as well.”

The weak throw from Bonds that allowed Bream to slide in for the winning run of the ’92 NLCS and effectively end the Pirates’ reign as an NL powerhouse was the last time Bonds would ever touch a ball in a Pittsburgh uniform.

While he no longer would be helping the Pirates accumulate wins, heading out to San Francisco after signing a lucrative free agent deal, the impact Bonds left on Van Slyke during their six seasons as teammates in the outfield was apparent.

“A lot of my success had to do with Barry,” Van Slyke said. “He didn’t swing the bat for me, but having him hit in front of me or behind me definitely had an impact. He was an impact player and a Hall of Fame player. He should be in (the Hall of Fame) as we speak.”

Bonds’ move to the Giants in favor of a big money contract served as a symbol of what would plague the Pirates’ organization for the next 20 losing years and continues to anger fans and Van Slyke alike today as the Pirates repeatedly have been unable to retain star players.

The Pirates and Van Slyke’s career may be forever remembered as always coming up just short, much like Van Slyke’s pitch in the dirt to begin Thursday’s Curve game. But the former major league star refuses to let any single moment define his career.

“I just played,” Van Slyke said. “No one moment should supersede another. It’s the total package that matters. It seemed to me that people just appreciated the total package.”