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We have finally reached the point in the offseason where the Pittsburgh Pirates news is light. Aside from a few deals with minor league free agents, the club hasn’t announced any major signings and the Andrew McCutchen trade news has ceased. Because of this, I decided to take some time on this Monday morning to reflect on last weekend’s PirateFest event and the experience I had with my family.
Throughout the last few years, going to PirateFest has become somewhat of a tradition. This year I was joined by my girlfriend, Bri, and my 9-year old brother, Nathan.
On two occasions, Nathan has attended the annual event with me and has loved each of the experiences. Last weekend gave the always energetic little man an opportunity to take batting practice from Pirates bullpen coach Euclides Rojas, play games to win prizes, interact with players, and even witness his older brother compete in a pierogi eating contest (and no I didn’t even come close to winning).
Every single event brought Nathan a ton of joy. However, there was one instance that brought him a bit of disappointment followed by even more joy in the days that followed.
During the end of the Q&A session with Pirates players, Nathan asked me if he could go up and ask a question. I asked him about his question and who he would direct it to.
He thought about asking the pitchers about the fastest pitch they’ve ever thrown and even considered asking McCutchen about his reaction to winning the Most Valuable Player award in 2013. I told him both questions seemed well thought out and he ran in line with the rest of the fans.
Every once in awhile, I’d look back at the line and he’d give me an enthusiastic thumbs up. As the minutes went by and the line began to shrink, Nathan was next in line when we heard “This will be the last question.” I could instantly see the disappointment on the little man’s face. He was bummed and there was no doubt about it.
He instantly forgot about it when he realized the other things that were going on in the venue, but he had a chance to redeem himself shortly after when we met Pirates pitcher Trevor Williams.
When we saw him, I told Nathan that he was a young pitcher for the Pirates. He asked me if he could ask him a question, so he did. He asked “What’s your fastest pitch?” and like you would assume, Trevor said his fastball.
Nathan thanked Trevor for his time and we moved along. However, if you remember, that’s not the question he wanted to ask. He meant to ask about his fastest pitch ever and felt bad that he messed up the question.
So, in the days that followed, I took to twitter. I tweeted at Williams and explained the situation before I got this tweet back on Thursday with an answer to the question Nathan wanted an answer to.
@JNegron_13 tell him 98 mph!
— Trevor Williams (@MeLlamoTrevor) December 15, 2016
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I showed Nathan the reply from Williams and he was speechless. He couldn’t stop smiling and thought it was incredibly cool that he finally get an answer to the question. As his older brother, I also couldn’t help but appreciate the response. It was something so simple, but it made a big impact.
Throughout the whole day of PirateFest, Nathan was on cloud nine. Witnessing this brought me nothing but joy. During the season, he’s always playing baseball and has grown such an appreciation for the game and the role models he witnesses take the field.
PirateFest really allowed his love for the game to grow. It’s become a remarkable tradition of ours and I’m looking forward to doing it once again next year.
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