Andrew McCutchen has spent his little free time at home dining at The Oven Pizza Co. in Wexford and taking his son, Steel, to the doctor's office for a regular check-up.
"He didn't cry," McCutchen said Friday afternoon, smiling to a conference room full of reporters at PNC Park, “So, that was good to see." Then, McCutchen said goodbye to his son and his wife, Maria, to head to work for a day both he and the city's baseball fans have been waiting for.
McCutchen, traded by the Pirates in January after nine seasons playing center field at PNC Park, is back in Pittsburgh with the Giants to face his former team this weekend. He dropped off his belongings in the visitors clubhouse, addressed reporters for nearly 20 minutes and began preparing for it as if it were any other game.
It's not any other game, though. He'll step into the batter's box shortly after first pitch at 7:05 p.m., a tribute video will be shown and he'll receive a standing ovation from fans who cheered for him from the moment he made his major-league debut in April 2009.
McCutchen isn't sure if he'll be able to hold back tears like his son did hours earlier.
"I live in the moment," McCutchen said. "I’m not going to be the guy who says, ‘Don’t get too emotional.’ No, whatever emotions I have are the emotions I’m supposed to have. And for a good reason. ... I won’t know until I’m there and in the moment. If I cry, I cry. Big whoop. That’s what you’re supposed to do. If I don’t, I don’t."
McCutchen, the former face of the Pirates' franchise, was traded to the Giants in exchange for reliever Kyle Crick, minor-league outfielder Bryan Reynolds and international slot money on Jan. 15.
The 31-year-old former National League MVP was under contract through 2018 with a salary of $14.75 million, and Neal Huntington told reporters hours after the trade that signing McCutchen to another long-term extension for a price “he deserved” would damage the club’s ability to consistently contend.
"He’s one of those players that as a manager you feel privileged to be a small part of his career," Clint Hurdle said. "You watch the growth of the man. You watch the growth of the player. You watch the maturation process take place as well. … The man off the field is a very special and significant guy. The player on the field is a special and significant Pirate as well. He’ll be an iconic Pirate forever. "
The trade was scrutinized by fans and people around the industry. The Pirates did not spend a dollar in free agency, but the acquisition of Corey Dickerson to play left field has them with 21 wins and 16 losses entering the series. McCutchen, meanwhile, is batting .250/.377/.379 with three home runs and 14 RBIs in 36 games.
His average dipped below the Mendoza line after the Giants' 25th game; however, he's batting .384 with nine walks over his last 10 games. McCutchen's new team is 19-19, sitting 5 1/2 games back of the first-place Diamondbacks in the National League West Division, and he was the hero in their most memorable win to date.
McCutchen went 6 for 7, including a three-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the 14th inning, to lift the Giants to a 5-4 win over the Dodgers at AT&T Park on April 7.
"That’s part of the reason they traded for me; I feel like they believe they were going to get a player who in big situations can be able to step up and come through," McCutchen said. "To be able to do that was awesome, more of the fact I won a lot of fans over for that because it was a rivalry. ... It took me back to 14 innings here against the Cardinals."
McCutchen was referring to his two-run walk-off homer in the 14th inning of a 5-4 win over the Cardinals on July 12, 2015. That victory on the eve of the All-Star break brought the Pirates to within 2 1/2 games of first place and was perhaps the most memorable game of a 95-win regular season.
It will likely be one of many memories displayed during a tribute video to McCutchen during the first inning Friday night. "I'm excited to see the video, man. He deserves it," Josh Harrison said at his locker stall.
It will be a snapshot of all he accomplished during his time in Pittsburgh, from his single to center field in his first major-league at-bat in April 2009 to his first career grand slam last September. McCutchen admitted there was some nostalgia being back at his former ballpark. His return, though, did not cause him to reflect on all he accomplished during his time in Pittsburgh:
"I don’t look at anything like a closed book," McCutchen said. "I just look at it as another chapter. I’m still making the book right now."
Drafted 11th overall in 2005 by Dave Littlefield and Ed Creech, McCutchen batted .291/.379/.487 with 203 home runs and 725 RBI in his nine seasons with the club. He was named the National League MVP in 2013 and led the Pirates to three consecutive playoff appearances.
The Pirates won 62 games in his rookie season in 2009, followed by 53 in 2010, 70 in 2011, 79 in 2012 and finally, in 2013, the franchise's first winning season in 21 years, as they finished with a 94-68 record to earn a spot in the NL Wild Card game.
With the help of McCutchen's two hits, the Pirates defeated the Reds to earn a spot in the NL Division Series, where they lost to the Cardinals in five games. He never advanced past the Wild Card game again.
The Pirates lost that game in 2014 and 2015 before missing the playoffs the past two seasons. It was an unfitting ending to his time in Pittsburgh; however, he is credited by the fans, his former manager and former teammates with bringing playoff baseball back to the city.
"It’s cool," McCutchen said. "I just look at myself as being a part of it. A lot of people may say I was the guy, but this is a team sport and I can’t do it on my own. There were a lot of people who were a part of that. That’s the way I look at it, but at the same time it was humbling to hear that from other people. When they think of me, that’s one of the things they think about. It is something that’s a great feeling to hear that and to be one of the things I'm remembered by."
McCutchen is playing right field and batting second for the Giants, and he planned to spend time talking to fans on the field before first pitch. Then, when his first game back at PNC Park is over, he'll head home to his family. At the conclusion of the series, they'll head back to the West Coast.
This isn't McCutchen's farewell to Pittsburgh, though.
"This is my home," McCutchen said. "Me and my wife got married and made the decision a long time ago — this is where we’re going to live, regardless of baseball. This is where our house is, this is where we’re going to spend the offseason and all that. We love it here."
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Andrew McCutchen returns to Pittsburgh, PNC Park, May 11, 2018 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS