Former Pirates star Jason Bay back at PNC Park
During the unofficial Dark Ages of modern Pittsburgh Pirates, arguably the best player to never play for a winning Pirates team during their 20-season streak of losing records was Jason Bay.
And Bay was back at PNC Park on Friday.
A recent inductee into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, Bay was a guest on the field during Pirates batting practice in advance of their game against the San Diego Padres.
Jason Bay enters Baseball Hall of Fame https://t.co/l4XUlVd1lY
— Trail Times (@TrailDailyTimes) June 14, 2019
During a mid-game inning break, Bay was showed on the video board next to the message, “Welcome back Jason Bay.” Some fans applauded.
Over parts of six season with the Pirates, Bay had a .890 OPS. Despite his relatively short tenure with the club, Bay’s 139 home runs rank ninth all-time for the Pirates.
Bay, a 40-year-old native of Trail, British Columbia, retired from baseball after the 2013 season.
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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