It was such a heartwarming scene, I had to watch it several times.
The Pirates’ Andrew McCutchen hit his 300th home run on Sunday in a 9-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
A father who was there with his son (if I had to guess, I would say the boy is around 10), were the lucky ones who got the baseball. Of course, milestones balls such as that one are usually given to the player, or end up in Cooperstown, but not without a price There’s generally an exchange between player and fan, and a lot of times some haggling is involved.
Not in this instance, however. All the young boy wanted to do was make sure “Cutch” got the ball. He did, and the Pirates star who is now in the twilight of his career, made it more than worthwhile for father and son. He chatted with them, gave the boy a hug, signed a bat and took pictures.
Some people have a way about them, and McCutchen is one of them.
It’s not a totally uncommon scene but given what a player that has meant as much to a city as McCutchen has to Pittsburgh does it, it just means a little more. When he was traded to the Giants back in 2018 (Bryan Reynolds was part of that trade), most people assumed that was the last they would see of McCutchen in Pittsburgh, except when he was playing them as a member of the visiting team.
Not only has he made his way back to the Pirates after stops with the Giants, Yankees, Phillies and Brewers, but Western Pennsylvania has a special place in the heart of the McCutchen family.
Even after he departed in 2018, McCutchen and his wife, Maria, were still frequent visitors to the city, maintaining a residence in Western Pennsylvania. Maria, of course, has local roots as well. Maria hails from DuBois and is a graduate of DuBois Central Catholic High School and Slippery Rock University.
“So much has happened here in this city,” McCutchen told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review in 2019 during a visit to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. “I met my wife here. I got married here. Had kids here and we’re raising a family. So, this is where me and my wife decided to live.”
McCutchen was the leader of a baseball revival in Pittsburgh during a three-year stretch in 2013, 2014 and 2015, earning 2013 National League MVP honors and helping the Pirates to playoff appearances in each of those seasons.
They haven’t been back since.
Now, McCutchen is in the twilight of his career. A player who will certainly garner Hall of Fame discussion, he plays the role of elder statesman, serving as a designated hitter and ushering what he hopes will be a new era of competitive baseball in Pittsburgh.
While far from a guarantee this group does bear some resemblance to the one that McCutchen was a leader of. They have some of their young core — Reynolds, Ke’Bryan Hayes and Mitch Keller — locked into long-term contracts, much like that team did with McCutchen, Starling Marte and Neil Walker.
The development of other young offensive players on this current team, namely O’Neil Cruz, Henry Davis and Jack Suwinski, will go a long way toward determining their success both this season and beyond.
The biggest difference with this group may be the starting pitching. The Pirates acquired Francisco Liriano and A.J. Burnett, veterans, to help anchor their rotation along with Gerrit Cole. And while this management group has done similar things (Martin Perez, Marco Gonzales), the real difference could be the young guys with front of the rotation stuff.
Jared Jones is just 22 and already looks the part of a top tier starter, with a fastball that runs up to 100 MPH and 25-2 strikeout to walk ratio in his first three big league games. The 28-year-old Keller will serve as the anchor, but there’s even more excitement in the plethora of young arms in the upper levels of their minor league system, headlined, of course, by Paul Skenes, the 2023 No. 1 overall pick in the MLB draft, who has the potential to be one of the best pitchers in baseball sooner rather than later. Expect him up in May, if not long after that.
Wouldn’t it be neat if McCutchen, the catalyst behind the revival a decade ago, was part of a new one at the very end of his career?
One thing is for certain. He’s handling this new role with the same grace, class and genuine love for the city as he did a decade ago. And for that he will be a Pittsburgh sports icon today, tomorrow and forever.
