Pirates fans and players greeted Andrew McCutchen with a lengthy standing ovation when the former Pittsburgh star made his first return to PNC Park as a member of the Giants.
Pittsburgh fans welcome back Andrew McCutchen 👏 pic.twitter.com/CiaCryypbd
— Sporting News (@sportingnews) May 11, 2018
The 2013 NL MVP, who revitalized the struggling Pirates franchise during nine seasons with the Bucs, was traded to the Giants in the offseason. The two teams started a three-game series Friday. McCutchen told reporters earlier in the day he got emotional when he ran into a Pirates videographer heading into the clubhouse. The Pirates played tribute videos featuring McCutchen's highlights before his first at-bat and when he first took the field.
"People have asked, 'How you going to feel? What's it going to be like?' I don't know until I'm there and until I'm in the moment," McCutchen said earlier Friday (via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review).
"If I cry, I cry. Big whoop. You're supposed to. And I if I don't, I don't."
The Giants’ Andrew McCutchen enters the visitors clubhouse at PNC Park today after arriving for tonight’s game against the #Pirates. pic.twitter.com/psEE0rC3ww
— Christopher Horner (@Hornerfoto1) May 11, 2018
McCutchen had said he wanted to finish his career in Pittsburgh, but the Pirates traded him to the Giants in January for Kyle Crick, minor league outfielder Bryan Reynolds and $500,000 in international bonus pool space. While the Pirates made the move for economic reasons, many fans were not happy. They still love "Cutch," and the 31-year-old outfielder still has a special place in his heart for the city.
Pirates players will have their own emotions to deal with when facing McCutchen. Chad Kuhl, who's set to start Saturday against the Giants, said he'll never forget his first encounter with the five-time All-Star, at spring training in 2014.
"He might have said, 'Hey,' and I was just kind of star-struck," Kuhl said (via MLB.com). "I walked right by him and almost froze. I was just star-struck. I was like, 'Holy crap, that was Andrew McCutchen.' I had that star-struck moment first time seeing him."
This will be a homecoming for McCutchen in more ways than one — he and his family still have a home in Pittsburgh. He's able to stay at home with his wife, Maria, and five-month-old son Steel Stefan McCutchen on this "road trip."
"We love our house. Ain't nothing going to change that. That's our home, man," McCutchen said.