Jim Sankey: Extra Innings: No Pirate like Cutch in 50 years
Apr. 16—Bill Mazeroski is there. Roberto Clemente is in. Willie Stargell makes three.
It's amazing that the Pittsburgh Pirates had to wait 50 years to find the complement to complete this quartet of modern-day players nearly universally admired, respected and loved. And they may have been better people than they were ballplayers.
The first three were easy; they all played together, their careers overlapping three decades.
The fourth wasn't even born until four years after Stargell retired.
While we longtime Bucco fans had these three stalwarts as heroes, only Andrew McCutchen provides that type of Pirates standout in more than 30 years. If you can think of anyone, you'll be the first. I'd even say you can go back 50-plus years without finding an equal to McCutchen.
McCutchen the ballplayer and McCutchen the man elated Pirates fans as they watched Cutch become just the 160th player in MLB history to hit 300 career home runs, albeit after a long dry spell.
After belting out 10 home runs through June 2023, many expected the popular outfielder to sock his 300th perhaps before the All-Star break. But McCutchen batted .115 in July and .212 in August and endured a 27-game homerless stretch between July 1 and Aug. 19. A season-ending injury on Sept. 4 pushed back the feat until this season.
But before Sunday, Cutch had hit only one home run (on Aug. 22).
"[Milestones are] by far the thing I don't want to talk about," said the 37-year-old who might join the other three legends one day with his own ballpark statue. "I don't even want to know about it. I won't turn on MLB Network because I don't want to see it on the ticker. I'm that type of person. I don't even look at the schedule. I don't know what time the games are. I don't know who's on the mound. That's just the way that I treat things, because I just try to be where my feet are."
But it is difficult for fans to ignore McCutchen's milestones, since he has a bunch of them.
Just last season McCutchen captured several career conquests: his 1,000th walk, 2,000th hit and 400th double. Joey Votto, Freddie Freeman and Jose Altuve are the only three active players who have more hits than McCutchen.
His earlier milestone home runs both came against Milwaukee: number 100 in 2013 and number 200 in 2017.
Most impressive is the list of the other 12 players in history to have 2,000 hits, 400 doubles, 45 triples, 300 home runs and 200 stolen bases: McCutchen joins Carlos Beltran, Barry Bonds, Joe Carter and Steve Finley and Hall of Famers George Brett, Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Reggie Jackson, Willie Mays, Dave Winfield, Frank Robinson and Larry Walker.
McCutchen also became the 99th player with at least 2,000 hits and 300 home runs; and he, Votto and Freeman are the active players to accomplish the feat.
McCutchen has hit 216 of his 300 career home runs as a member of the Pirates. The only three players to hit more home runs in the organization's history are Stargell (475), Ralph Kiner (301) and Clemente (240).
Over the years McCutchen has taken deep 225 pitchers and has homered in 29 different ballparks, with 98 taters coming at PNC Park.
Still, McCutchen said number 300 was always in the back of his mind.
"I know it's been weighing on him," said manager Derek Shelton. "Anytime you're right at a milestone, and again he had an abrupt spring training going back and forth, but even for great players like him, it's probably like, 'All right, now I can breathe a little bit.'"
Shelton's talk of "going back and forth" refers to Cutch's unorthodox spring training, being cautious after his Achilles injury last fall. He also missed time due to the flu that ran rampant through Bradenton, Fla. And he missed more time when his fourth child was born.
Teammate Jack Suwinski summed up the feeling in the dugout for the Trib.
"Seeing Cutch do that, it was pretty special," he said. "I think everyone was pumped to be a part of it."
Many believe McCutchen's un-Cutch-like start with a .161 batting average while playing only in eight of the team's first 16 games will improve with historic homer in the record books.
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JIM SANKEY is the Pittsburgh Pirates columnist for Allied News. His work appears weekly during the baseball season.
JIM SANKEY is the Pittsburgh Pirates columnist for Allied News. His work appears weekly during the baseball season.
