LOS ANGELES — Christopher, Elijah and Roger McCreary keep in mind seeing the clip first start to flow into on social media.
On May 30, 2015, following a Pirates win over the Padres in San Diego, Andrew McCutchen jogged over to the lone Pirates followers within the left-field bleachers, a pair of children and their father. McCutchen handed the then-13-year-old Christopher his batting gloves, prompting Christopher to yell out, “I love you, man!” Elijah, 9 years previous on the time, fist-bumped the five-time All-Star. Roger watched the interplay unfold with an ear-to-ear smile.
The clip went viral, certainly one of many defining moments from McCutchen’s first run in Pittsburgh. Eight years later, forward of the Pirates’ 5-2 loss at Dodger Stadium on Monday, the McCreary household, in the end, had the chance to formally reunite with McCutchen.
“I didn’t think all that was going to happen,” Elijah mentioned. “It brought tears to my eyes.”
The McCreary household’s love for the Pirates begins with Roger, 63, who grew to become a fan when his mentor, the late Danny Brown, introduced him to see the black and gold in 1969 at Dodger Stadium. One of Roger’s first reminiscences was witnessing Roberto Clemente throw a ball from proper subject to dwelling plate on the fly, and he’s caught with the Pirates as his crew since. When Roger and his spouse, Stephanie, had Christopher and Elijah, there was no query as to which crew the boys would characterize.
“It was a prerequisite that they had to become Pirate fans,” Roger laughed.
Roger had been taking Christopher, who turns 21 subsequent week, and Elijah, now 17, to Pirates video games in Southern California effectively earlier than their interplay with McCutchen. The yellow jersey that Christopher wore that night time was the identical jersey that Roger wore to Dodger Stadium three-and-a-half a long time prior. Christopher, Elijah and Roger had been simply comfortable to see a win that night time in San Diego. McCutchen’s gesture turned an awesome night time into an unforgettable one.
“So many emotions were going through my head,” Christopher mentioned. “I love the Pirates, so I was happy that we won. To top it off, I see Andrew McCutchen running up to us. He gave us the gloves. I’m the one that says, ‘I love you, man,’ in the yellow jersey. I was very, very emotional. It was a great moment. I loved it and I’ll never forget it.”
“I remember I was throwing my fist up,” Elijah mentioned. “We were trying to get the Jolly Roger up. I remember a San Diego fan tapped us and we turned around and we see [McCutchen] running towards us. … We were cheering the rest of the night. I couldn’t go to sleep that night.”
Roger recollects that after the clip went viral, Elijah started insisting that he was a star and that he would wish safety.
“I don’t know what people would want from him, but that’s what I remember from it,” Roger mentioned.
The McCrearys deliberate on making their first journey to Pittsburgh to satisfy with McCutchen throughout his first stint with the crew, however these plans had been shelved when the Pirates traded him to the Giants. But the household’s respect for McCutchen didn’t fade as he wore completely different colours. When the Giants got here to Los Angeles, Christopher, Elijah and Roger made a visit to Dodger Stadium, carrying Pirates jerseys and Giants hats. When McCutchen re-signed with the Pirates this offseason, all of the reminiscences got here flooding again.
“I’m a diehard Pirate fan, but I’m definitely a diehard Cutch fan,” Christopher mentioned. “Over the years when he was gone, I kept up with him. Probably the only other player that’s not a Pirate that I kept up with really heavy. When he came back, I was so excited. I was really happy. I knew the first thing people were going to say was, ‘Oh, this is a farewell tour.’ I thought in my mind, ‘This is not a farewell tour. He’s going to help this ballclub win.’ Sure enough, the next day, he said it’s not a farewell tour. … It really meant a lot to me. It showed me who he is as a player and kind of proved everything that I knew.”
Prior to the Pirates arriving in Los Angeles this time round, Roger received involved with AT&T SportsNet’s Robby Incmikoski, who had helped coordinate the McCreary household’s journey to Pittsburgh earlier than plans fell by. Roger requested if it might be potential to reunite with McCutchen. Incmikoski did the household one higher.
“You don’t realize the impact you can have on people just by something small that doesn’t seem like much to you,” McCutchen mentioned. “Being able to realize what that may have done for them in the moment and maybe for them in the future, it’s really cool.”
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