Photo of Jason celebrating the homer – from MLB.com
When I first started blogging, I wrote about my affection for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 1979 Pirates/Orioles World Series was the first World Series I got to watch on my own. I remember being in the sixth grade and begging my parents to let me stay up and, amazingly, they did. I was the only girl in my class watching the World Series that year, and I was the only kid rooting for the Pirates. One look at Willie Stargell that first night and I chose my team.
🙂
So the Pirates are always buzzing around in the back of my mind. Hell, they gave us Tim Wakefield and Bronson Arroyo, how could I NOT like them? I’ve watched Jason Bay for a few years and had him in the “good player, fan favorite, won’t ever leave the team he’s on unless he’s booted” list. He just always seemed like a down-to-earth, good guy who enjoyed playing in Pittsburgh even though the team didn’t do well.
After reading the various message board writings of Pirates fans, it’s obvious that most of them are still lamenting this trade. I’ve received a few emails from Pirates fans that say things like “take care of our Jay Bay” and “you guys got a good one”. So that, along with his hot start for the Sox, makes me feel even better than I already did about this trade. I think they’re right, we got a good one.
Because I don’t watch nearly as many Pirates games as I do other teams, it was serendipitous that I watched the Pirates/Rays game on June 28th of this year. It went into extra innings and in the 13th inning, with two outs and a 2-2 count, Jason hit one out of the park. The Pirates announcer screaming “Jay Bay! Jay Bay! Jay Bay!” is something that stayed with me for days. And every time I thought about it, I smiled. I was genuinely happy for Bay, the Pirates and their fans. And if you watch the celebration (and the announcers’ reaction to it) it’s as if they never had the opportunity to do that before Bay.
So, in honor of looking to the future, I look to the past one last time and give you Jason Bay, making many, many Pirates fans (and one Red Sox fan!) happy on a hot night in June.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q-yresZCJk&hl=en&fs=1]
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