WASHINGTON -- Drew Maggi's Saturday morning started with him officially being optioned back to Class-AA Altoona. However, since the Pirates were set to play a doubleheader against the Nationals at Nationals Park, he was able to stay as the 27th player.
One more day to try to get that first hit.
Maggi's story has been one of the most popular across Major League Baseball this week. A 33-year-old rookie, he was promoted to the majors on Sunday and made his major-league debut Wednesday night after 13 years of minor-league ball.
And while he's heading back to Altoona, he's going back with a big-league batting average.
With the Pirates comfortably ahead in the seventh inning en route to their 16-1 win in game two, Derek Shelton opted to get Ke'Bryan Hayes off his feet in the seventh inning, since he started both games. Maggi got another chance to swing the bat, and on the seventh pitch of his at-bat against Hobie Harris, with the contingent of Pirates fans on the road chanting "Maggi! Maggi!" he caught a splitter up and shot it right through to center for a clean single and an RBI in following Jason Delay's triple:
"I saw it go right through the middle. It’s so vivid in my mind right now," Maggi said. "I was just happy that I got it done. Got that weight lifted off my shoulders."
If there was one group of people celebrating more than the Pirates' fans in attendance, it was the bench:
The Pirates dugout reacting to Drew Maggi’s first hit is beautiful.pic.twitter.com/8AaW0d66V7
— Baseball (@mlbelites_) April 30, 2023
"I think I was as excited as if we were in a one-run game," Shelton said. "Everybody in that dugout has played baseball for a long time. They know what he’s put into it. The fact that he got a hit was really cool."
At the risk of falling for the sportswriter clichés, Maggi's week has been storybook. With that knock -- and a subsequent double into the left-field corner in the ninth -- it had a happy ending.
"To think about everything that has happened this last week ... I was in Altoona, where we probably had 100 fans at a game," Maggi said. "I was getting called ‘coach’ and ‘grandpa.’ I think I got into it with a few fans. To go from that a week ago to this, I can’t even explain. Everything that has gone on, I can’t really describe how I feel about it. It’s been amazing."
Maggi is heading back to Altoona Sunday, that first-hit ball in hand until he can think of a good place to keep it safe. But for someone who has grinded through 1,155 minor-league games to get to this point, returning to his friends in Altoona is still exciting.
"It’s gonna be a riot down there with everything that has happened," Maggi said. "I’m excited to still be playing."
There is a fairly decent chance that this call up will be Maggi's only real chance in the majors. If that's the case, the destination was worth the journey.
"It's just special," Maggi said. "My parents got to watch me play a big-league game. My brothers, all my friends. All the people, all the thanks I’ve gotten from old teammates, the real grinders of baseball. I’ll look back on it as a lot of it was for them. For me, you can do anything. It’s crazy to think that, in a week, you can change. I never gave up and believed that I could do this. But now that it’s happened, it has solidified that belief. It’s been a special week for me. I’ll never forget it."