The Pittsburgh sports love was on full display Sunday afternoon at PNC Park. Andrew McCutchen notched the 2000th hit of his career today against the New York Mets, ripping a single into left field in his first at-bat. After joining the exclusive 2k club, the Pirates played a video message of Ben Roethlisberger, Sidney Crosby, and Neil Walker congratulating Cutch on the milestone.
That video was then played on AT&T Sportsnet after the second inning. Here it is.
Here’s what Ben had to say.
“Cutch. My brother. Congratulations, man, on 2000 hits. What an amazing accomplishment. Just proof of your hard work and dedication to your craft in your sport. I couldn’t be prouder of you, man. You played this game at a very high level for a long time. It’s so much fun to watch you play. One of the coolest things is you were able to do this and hit this feat while in a Pirates’ uniform. Just wouldn’t seem right to see you accomplish this in anything other than the black and gold. Proud of you, my brother. Congratulations.”
The Pirates’ tweeted the milestone moment, leading to an ovation from the crowd as McCutchen tipped his hat to the Pirates’ faithful.
His 2000th hit came against the same opponent he notched his first hit off of, the New York Mets, showing his career has come full circle.
Pittsburgh re-signed McCutchen in the offseason, bringing him back to the city after being drafted by the Pirates and playing for the big league club from 2009 to 2017. Even at 36 years old, Cutch has had a strong season, heading into the game getting on base at a .379 clip with a 122 WRC+ entering today’s matchup. After his single, he drew a walk in the bottom of the third inning, something he’s done routinely to lead to his high OBP.
Under his leadership, the Pirates are competing for first place in the NL Central. Heading into Sunday, they were tied at the top with the Milwaukee Brewers. As of this writing, they’re scoreless against the Mets. But no matter the outcome, Sunday is a day Pirates fans won’t forget.
