'I want to win!': Ready for a reunion, Andrew McCutchen saw something special in Pirates

Andrew McCutchen strutted into the news conference wearing a bright blue suit and an even bigger smile, stunned to see so many people awaiting an arrival for a reunion he always anticipated.

Pittsburgh Pirates employees crowded the back of the PNC Park conference room and applauded McCutchen’s entrance on Friday afternoon, hours after he signed a one-year, $5 million contract to return to the team that drafted him, where he became a five-time All-Star and 2013 NL MVP and led the Pirates to three consecutive postseason appearances after a two-decade drought from winning baseball.

Where McCutchen couldn’t initially find the words to describe his feelings for the welcome party — euphoric later came to mind — he wasn’t at a loss when asked what he hopes to accomplish in this encore with a young Pirates team coming off back-to-back 100-loss seasons.

“I want to win!” McCutchen shouted, to a room full of laughter. “Real plain and simple, I want to win. But, specifically, I want to win here. I know what it feels like to win here. I know what it feels like to lose here, too. I think I can be able to be that voice in that clubhouse to those guys, to my teammates, and let them know what it feels like, what it is like, and for them to know that it’s not like it was 30 years ago.”

Asked what he hopes to accomplish in his return to the Pirates, Andrew McCutchen shouts, “I want to win!” Here’s the rest of his response: pic.twitter.com/MV70yFbU76

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) January 20, 2023

For the followers of a franchise that won three World Series championships between 1960 and ’79 but hasn’t won a playoff series since, McCutchen represents the last vestige of Pirates playoff baseball. The younger generation of fans gravitated toward McCutchen’s magnetic personality and breathtaking plays, only to have their hearts broken when he was traded to San Francisco in 2018.

In introducing McCutchen, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington thanked him “for the faith that you’re showing in us to come back here and be part of what we’re building.”

Cherington shared that when he arrived at PNC Park earlier Friday, he saw McCutchen on a television screen wearing the colors of an opponent.

“We really can’t wait to see you in black and gold,” Cherington said. “There was a picture of you dancing in the dugout with a different uniform. We’re looking forward to seeing that dancing here.”

Now 36, McCutchen offered that he had always held out hope for a return to Pittsburgh and vowed that “this isn’t a one-and-done” season for him. He emphasized the recency of his success as a Pirate — it was within the last decade — and how special the city is to him, especially when the Pirates are winning. He wants to share that message with his new teammates, who noted their lack of veteran leadership.

“I just want to be that voice, be that voice in that clubhouse and be that player on the field, get the job done and take it day by day,” McCutchen said. “I’ve always said that, and I’ll continue to say that. That’s what I want to do. It’s not a specific thing. If we win, all the personal accolades and all that stuff is going to take care of itself. It just comes by playing, by winning and doing what you do.”

McCutchen is on the cusp of career milestones, needing 52 hits to reach 2,000, 17 walks for 1,000, eight doubles for 400 and 13 home runs for 300, yet downplayed their importance while dismissing any notion that this reunion is simply to serve as a victory lap in his 15th season.

“I’m not here as a spokesperson or as a spokesman for the Pittsburgh Pirates,” McCutchen said. “I’m not here on a farewell tour. I’m here to play. I’m here to help this ballclub win. That’s first and foremost. That’s what I want people to know.”

The Pirates have had only one winning season since 2013 and are coming off a 62-100 campaign that marked the first back-to-back 100-loss seasons since suffering three consecutive from 1952-54. That’s nothing new to McCutchen, who recalled enduring his share of losing with the Pirates. They went 62-99 in his rookie season in 2009, 57-105 in his first full season in the majors in 2010 and had second-half collapses the following two seasons before winning 94 games in 2013.

Since being traded to San Francisco, McCutchen has played for the Giants, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers. He’s no longer an everyday position player — although Cherington said he expects McCutchen to split his duties between designated hitter and playing in the outfield — let alone an All-Star.

Even so, McCutchen believes he can be part of something special with the Pirates.

He knows what it’s like to win but also to miss the playoffs on teams with winning records. The Brewers finished 86-76 last year but missed the wild card by one game to the NL champion Philadelphia Phillies, and McCutchen offered that their eight losses in 19 games against the Pirates last season might have contributed to the difference.

“There is something I saw in this ballclub, specifically last year,” McCutchen said. “I got to come in and play against the Pittsburgh Pirates a few times and looking from the other end, being on the Milwaukee Brewers, I’m like, ‘Man, this team is special. There’s something special about this club.’

“They were beating us. They’re part of the reason we didn’t make it to the playoffs last year. It’s a special ballclub. So to be able to come back and help in any way that I can, I’m looking forward to it. And I’m looking forward to just being back in front of these fans in Pittsburgh and making this place that I’ve always called home be my home on the field in the ballpark again.”