Pirates

Pittsburgh Pirates Social Media Round-Up: An Old Guy, A New Guy and A Salty Guy

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Alan Draper
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Sports Editor
6 min read

The Pittsburgh Pirates Welcome Back Neil Walker and Greet Jameson Taillon in a Very Busy Week

The Pirates had an eventful week – from the reunion with Neil Walker, to the much-anticipated call-up of pitcher Jameson Taillon to the less-than-24-hour-road trip to Coors Field, the Buccos have been on a roller-coaster. And it shows online…

It was the moment that everyone was waiting for, probably some almost dreading – June 6, the day former second-baseman and the beloved Pittsburgh Kid Neil Walker returned to PNC Park – wearing a Mets uniform. It seemed as if Mother Nature felt the need to prolong the drama – or perhaps she herself was weeping at the thought of Walker not being a Pirate…whatever the case, it poured buckets of rain, eventually forcing officials to postpone the game.

But the time eventually did come the next day in Game one of a double-header and Neil Walker received a warm welcome from the crowd, and a classy, as expected, Welcome Home from the Pirates:

His former teammates were there to welcome him with open arms and car doors…

As quickly as the drama from the Return of Walker subsided, a new storyline cropped up for the team – the major league debut of righty Jameson Taillon. We covered all of the call-up day events in a special Social Media Round-up: Taillon Time Editon but he still had to actually PITCH, too.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BGcljaYFHOd/?taken-by=j_taillon19

Taillon’s buddies from the triple-A Indianapolis Indians were there in spirit, trying to catch the game from Columbus, where they were playing a five-game series against the Clippers.

At least, those with MLB.com subscriptions were able to tune-in:

His new teammates welcomed him as well, with one veteran working extra hard in the game to help the rookie out by buying him some extra time after giving up a homer:

https://twitter.com/fugimaster24/status/740938521972756480

(Here’s the moment caught on camera)

And who was there to help ensure that Taillon had a few souvenirs of his first time on an MLB bump? Pirates Clubhouse manager Scott Bonnett, of course.

I sure hope one of the veterans gave Jameson advice on the going rate for tipping major league clubbies.

After the loss to the Mets, the guys were scheduled to head out to Colorado for a one-game make-up of the April sleet-out versus the Rockies. Colorado boy Mark Melancon, though, wanted to be sure they could get the game in, so he made a special request of the Rockies. They wouldn’t make him any promises:

And Because it’s the Cup, Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle changed the travel dress code for that one-game road trip to Colorado, allowing the players to dress casually – with one caveat: They had to wear a Penguins jersey to support the Pens’ push to nab the Stanley Cup, at home, in Game 5 against the San Jose Sharks.

This caused a bit of consternation to one of the new guys on the team, David Freese – a life-long St. Louis Blues fan. Read about here.

But everyone gladly complied – some even sending out good vibes to the Penguins:

And while we all know how that game turned out, closer Melancon was still hopeful boarding the plane back to the Burgh Thursday night.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BGdMev9y4bW/?taken-by=mark_melancon_

Centerfielder Andrew McCutchen continued his pseudo-salty antics on Twitter and it continues to be pure

fire

Cutch sat for the June 5 game against the Angels and the trolls were out in force. He worked his magic, though, with hilarious results (his wife even got in on the action).

(The tweeter in this next exchange actually deleted the Tweet Cutch reacted to – but suffice it to say it said something about being sat down by your coach and not hitting well)

And this guy:

actually changed his twitter profile pic after this retort from Cutch:

#SaltyCutch is the BEST Cutch!

Speaking of salt…Gregory Polanco‘s mama is in the Burgh for the summer, and man is that home cookin’ paying off for him!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BGQMLodJovD/?taken-by=gpolanco25

And while we’re on the topic of coffee, it’s a little late, but Cole Figueroa seems to be a bit of a bean-a-holic and left a free coffee (and autograph, natch) for a random Pirates fan recently at Constellation Coffee in Lawrenceville (a favorite spot of third baseman Jung Ho Kang as well).

https://twitter.com/Cole_Figueroa/status/735163794058514432

FINALLY – just because it’s always important to remember what baseball really is all about, here’s catcher Francisco Cervelli making a young boy’s night and Gregory Polanco putting a smile on a little girl’s face:

In the Media

Ryan Vogelsong is back at PNC, getting some work in after surgery last week to repair facial fractures from that scary pitch to the face on May 23. Check out Bill Brink’s story on his injury, surgery and recovery in the Post Gazette .

And check out this update from Voggy’s wife, Nicole.

(Please note that we here at Pirates breakdown have a policy of not following players’ wives and family on social media because it’s creepy and blurs the privacy line. But in this case, the above tweet was retweeted by the Pirates organization. Ditto for the retweet by Cutch’s wife, Maria, he retweeted that one.)

That’s what’s happening in the Pirates’ social media world this week – the Bucs take on the Cards tonight at 7:05 p.m. – have a great weekend and #LetsGoBucs

Thanks for checking us out here at Pirates Breakdown. Make sure to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook for the best Pirates coverage all year long!

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Alan Draper

Alan is a vastly experienced sports and gambling writer who is the Chief Editor of The Sports Daily.
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Alan Draper

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Alan is a vastly experienced sports and gambling writer who is the Chief Editor of The Sports Daily.
View All Posts By Alan Draper
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