Forgive the Pirates for having a rather somber clubhouse more often than not this month. That’s why the last three days have been special for the Pirates. Not only have they been getting wins, but they’ve been doing so in spectacular fashion.
“Our starters gave us quality starts, and our offense came through with big hits and scoring runs,” said catcher Chris Stewart. “That’s our typical type of baseball we like to play. The goal is to keep that momentum going and play (like that) the rest of the season.”
Part of that has been just enjoying the game and all that surrounds it. Saturday night, the Pirates came away with a 6-1 win that was powered by three separate home runs.
And the team’s mood has seemingly improved.
While the media was talking Saturday with manager Clint Hurdle, loud cheers could be heard over the manager’s postgame press conference. The clubhouse was laughing and yelling in approval of Maverick Mercer, Jordy Mercer’s son, hitting home runs in the clubhouse and immediately flipping his bat upon contact.
If the Pirates want the rest of their season to be successful, Stewart feels this needs to continue. It’s this kind of fun that fuels the team’s success.
“We have tons of little kids running in the clubhouse, and that keeps us loose and puts everything into perspective for us,” Stewart said. “It’s not just focusing on baseball 24/7, we’re all family out there, and it’s great to bring the kids in here and taking our minds off baseball every once in a while. We’re not dwelling on things that are going wrong, we’re coming in each day working hard and having fun. The ‘fun’ part has been what we’ve been lacking the past couple of months, and when we are loose, have fun and play Pirates baseball, we play a lot better.”
Image credit: Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo
