Instead, reality got in the way.<\/p>\n
He split 2018 between the Giants and the Yankees. Then came three years with the Phillies and one with the Brewers.<\/p>\n
But McCutchen never sold his home in the Pittsburgh suburbs. He stayed in the city where he met his wife, a former member of the Pirates\u2019 spirit squad, and saw his children born. His oldest is named Steel. Even when his career took him elsewhere, McCutchen did charity work in the city.<\/p>\n
Before the 2023 season, when McCutchen was a free agent, his wife encouraged him to reach out to Pirates owner Bob Nutting. McCutchen, still in some ways the reserved son of a minister, was unsure. He finally sent the text. And when the Pirates soon offered that first $5 million deal, McCutchen did the only thing that felt right. He came back.<\/p>\n
Then he did it again.<\/p>\n
And again.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this stage and this point in my career, you don\u2019t want to be a guy who bounces around going from place to place, team to team, trying to learn new organizations,\u201d McCutchen said Wednesday. \u201cYou\u2019re having to uproot your family. For me, that\u2019s not something that I really want to be doing and I haven\u2019t wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The initial return of this prodigal Pittsburgh son was a neat story that came with deeper, more complex realizations.<\/p>\n
At his locker in Detroit\u2019s visiting clubhouse last week, McCutchen leaned back in a black leather chair. Talked in a soft voice. Admitted he floated through so many seasons, either unaware or maybe unwilling to acknowledge the finitude of his career.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of those things. \u2026 You don\u2019t realize time and how time works,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like I\u2019ve been doing it at this point for 16 years, but a lot of those 16 years, it didn\u2019t seem like time was changing. It seemed like time was kind of in the same place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, here in the twilight, on a Pirates team facing another frustrating summer, realities are finally setting in.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve gotten older, but I kinda feel the same,\u201d he said, stroking his jawline. \u201cSure, facial features and things change. It\u2019s not really older. You just get more tired, that\u2019s the way I look at it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s one of the few who make it this far. In a time where aging players are increasingly devalued, McCutchen is one of only 12 players age 38 or older on an MLB roster. Eight of those players are pitchers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can all look at the numbers, right?\u201d McCutchen said. \u201cThere ain\u2019t many 38-year-olds playing right now, especially position players. I\u2019m in a unique spot to be able to still have an opportunity to play. I\u2019m just trying to hold up my end of the bargain.\u201d<\/p>\n
In this game, time and numbers go hand-in-hand. Play as long as McCutchen, and you\u2019ll see your name in surreal places.<\/p>\n
\u201cShoot,\u201d Pirates manager Don Kelly said, \u201che passed Roberto Clemente the other night.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the game where McCutchen tied Clemente for third on the Pirates\u2019 all-time home run list, he tried to play off the accomplishment with nonchalance. He joked about taking so long to hit his fifth homer of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlayed long enough to have the opportunity,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n
On June 11, McCutchen belted a ball over the left-center field wall at PNC Park. He passed Clemente with his 241st home run as a Pirate. He now trails only Willie Stargell (475) and Ralph Kiner (301) in franchise history. In Pirates record books, McCutchen also ranks 10th in runs, ninth in hits, seventh in doubles and RBIs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be cool to see what the numbers would be if I was here my whole career,\u201d McCutchen said a few days later. \u201cInstead of top 10 we\u2019re talking top five, top three in a lot of categories.\u201d<\/p>\n
Truth is it might have taken a team like the Pirates \u2014 constricted by ownership, still incentivized to sell tickets and ultimately willing to devote an aging hitter to a near-full-time DH role \u2014 for this reunion to happen and sustain. But all those factors aside, there is intrinsic value in McCutchen\u2019s second act here in the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it does (matter)\u201d said Kelly, who once played with McCutchen in Triple A. \u201cTo provide the leadership and experience that he does has been invaluable for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
People in Pittsburgh have tattoos of McCutchen on their bodies. Pittsburgh Magazine named him 2023\u2019s Pittsburgher of the Year. The dreadlocks are long gone and the speed that once made him must-see TV has diminished. But when new players come to the Pirates, they often talk of that pinch-themselves scene, meeting McCutchen for the first time.<\/p>\n
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McCutchen is both elder statesman and beloved teammate in the Pirates clubhouse. (Luke Hales \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a fan moment first,\u201d Pirates catcher Henry Davis said. \u201cIt\u2019s been pretty special to see a player you watched growing up still doing it, and obviously you can learn a lot just by how he goes about his business.\u201d<\/p>\n
When McCutchen first entered the league, it was easy to look at the likes of Willie Mays and Rickey Henderson, these legends who played so long, and figure he could be just like them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I want to play 20 years, I\u2019ll play 20 years,\u201d McCutchen said. \u201cI can play until 42. That\u2019s the way I looked at it.\u201d<\/p>\n
But those players are all-time greats for a reason. Not everyone makes it 20-plus seasons. Especially in today\u2019s game, veteran position players are a rarer breed than ever.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems kind of like a thing of the past,\u201d McCutchen said. \u201cA guy playing 20 years? Yeah, right.\u201d<\/p>\n
McCutchen\u2019s return to the Pirates two years ago is when \u2014 perhaps for the first time \u2014 he really felt like a veteran, when the truths of time finally started to hit.<\/p>\n
He was back in a place that was supposed to be familiar.<\/p>\n
But all his old teammates? Gone.<\/p>\n
His old manager, Clint Hurdle? Gone.<\/p>\n
The old front office? Gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know anybody,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
McCutchen had lasted long enough to see a franchise go through an entire cycle, building, peaking, tearing down, starting over again.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s probably one of the bigger moments of my career where I was like, \u2018Yeah, I have been around for a long time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Now on a last-place team with a 32-48 record entering play Wednesday \u2014 a rebuild turned into an arrested development, with fans increasingly angered at Nutting\u2019s tight-pocket ownership \u2014 McCutchen is a steady presence in a year of chaos. The Pirates started 12-26, then fired manager Derek Shelton and replaced him with Kelly. They\u2019ve endured controversies, covering a sign honoring Clemente with an advertisement for an alcoholic beverage<\/a> and dumping personalized bricks fans purchased years ago at a recycling facility. Tragically, a fan fell 20 feet from the stands onto the field while celebrating a McCutchen double.<\/p>\n In the midst of all the turmoil, the team has been playing better since Kelly took over as manager. But even with a superstar in Paul Skenes, an icon in McCutchen and a fascinating unicorn in Oneil Cruz, no one is counting on the Pirates as some comeback story. This is still the franchise that hasn\u2019t signed a free agent to a multiyear deal since 2016.<\/p>\n For a short time last August, the Pirates were playing meaningful baseball. McCutchen seemed energized<\/a>. Now they\u2019re back in the cellar.<\/p>\n If McCutchen has any real thoughts on the state of the franchise, he kept them to himself. \u201cWhen I go out on the field I try to just be as consistent as I can,\u201d McCutchen said. \u201cI don\u2019t try to think much past that. Try not to think too deep into whatever is going on or whatnot.\u201d<\/p>\n
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