SINCE THIS column began in April 1967, I always knew that it would end someday.

Today is that someday.

It all began when I was sitting in the last row of the Grove City Junior High School auditorium, furtively listening as Bill Mazeroski took the last swing of the 1960 season. And I was hooked om the Bucs when my parents took my brother and me to a mid-July 1961 Pirates-Cubs afternoon game at Forbes Field.

In March 1967, editor Len Clarke allowed me to begin Extra Innings (so named by Teresa Spatara). I didn’t know how long it would last. But not long ago, a friend suggested that Extra Innings is among the longest — if not the longest —same-authored, same-topic regular sports column in the country.

Over the years I have gathered seats, a sign, and a spotlight that came from Forbes Field; Bucs’ memorabilia from green weenies and yearbooks to photographs with Willie Stargell, Roberto Clemente, Mazeroski, and others; and stacks of scorecards I needed for the same reason every kid had to have those old baseball cards that his mother threw away.

In 1967, each league had 10 teams, and three days after the season ended, each league’s top team began the best-of-seven World Series. (Clemente made $40,000 that year.)

The column’s just-completed, four-part series mentioned three people who have forged the present and shown us the future of what it means to be a Pirate fan:

A record breaker on nearly every mound appearance, Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes has shown why he earned Rookie of the Year honors, started two All-Star games, and (even when his record was 4-8 in July) was the heavy favorite to win the Cy Young award this season. His 5-1 record since then has the engraver etching S-K-E-N-E-S on that trophy.

General Manager Ben Cherington and owner Bob Nutting are the other people. Cherington’s six years of top draft picks, trades, and free agent signings have been abominable. And the failures of scouts, coaches, and others at every level of the organization during the past half-decade have left the entire Pirates brand in shambles, at best. And while other organizations have had some success despite even smaller budgets, Cherington has proved his inability to match their efforts.

As owner, Nutting is responsible for everything. As Harry S Truman’s Presidential desk sign reminds: “The Buck Stops Here.”

And the bucks from the Bucs do stop at Nutting’s desk on the way to his ever-increasing bank account that makes the franchise one of the most profitable in all of baseball.

Pirates fans must accept the reality that Nutting is all business. Period. He is the most successful member of the organization in achieving his goal — to make as much money as he can. Well-intentioned, disgruntled Pirates fans can boycott games, slap up billboards, and pay skywriters to urge Nutting to sell the team until the next time the Bucs win the Series, if anyone on the planet will live that long. But those actions have no effect whatsoever on Nutting.

None.

The fact is that Nutting would make a profit even if PNC Park never sold one ticket, hot dog, or beer or parked one car. Other money coming from local and national broadcasting rights, MLB revenue sharing, and on-field and on-uniform advertising subsidizes Nutting’s profit.

Nutting would have loved P.T. Barnum. When a dazzling player like Skenes comes along, the organization devises a timetable beyond the three years the team will pay about league minimum. He also carries a Pirates expiration date, when money dictates that the team must trade him to the highest bidder for prospects who at best will become the next carrot on a stick to lure fans, promising better days ahead. Witness Bubba Chandler. Witness Konner Griffin. Witness another cycle.

So the outlook for Pirates fans promises hope, but offers more of the same.

And many Pirates fans will accept that Ground Hog Day approach. However, for me, I’ve realized and adopted a different outlook for being a Pirate fan.

I accept that the team has no realistic goal to truly compete, active rooting is futile, and every not-so-often the team will have a successful, outlier season.

So for me, gone are daily poring over standings to see the team’s position in the wild card race, plotting the number of wins out of a six-game home stand or eight-game the team needs to get within sight of the playoffs, or staying up for West Coast games. This Pirates fan will plan a trip to PNC Park as a social aspect — to spend time with family or friends, enjoy a summer night watching the great sport of baseball, see the game’s great players, and grab a ball park hot dog at the most scenic setting in MLB.

Winning or losing the game makes no difference. It’s a social activity like a visit to a museum, movie theater, zoo, or other point of interest.

As a columnist whose perspective has been from a “fan’s” point of view, it’s hard to imagine any interest in my feedback from a social outing.

So it seems like the right time to end my final column.

I have so appreciated your comments to me — positive or negative — and perhaps you might see some thoughts from time to time.

Until then, thanks for reading.