Kevin Gorman's Take 5: Pirates CF Jarrod Dyson makes powerful, provocative statement

The Zoom interview with Jarrod Dyson wavered from candid to cliche as the Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder touched on a number of baseball-related topics and showed his jovial and jaded sides.

A serious question to Dyson, however, received a serious response.

And it was as powerful as it was provocative.

When asked if playing in a socially charged climate amid a global pandemic and civil rights movement will take on greater meaning, the 35-year-old Dyson said he doesn’t need reminders that racism exists.

“What I want to say is man, for that, we try our best in being an African American,” Dyson said. “You know, I’m from Mississippi, where I done seen a lot of racist stuff going on. But, at the same time, I’ve got to live life. I can’t, you know, go home every night worried about why they act like that. Why someone would want to be racist toward me at the same time I got to still tell my child how to go about his life the right way and not be racist toward nobody no matter how they are towards you.

“Honestly, you know, we get tired of seeing it as a whole, African Americans, we do. And I don’t think it’s so much we can do. I think it’s more so the people that’s being racist need to do more than us. We can march. We can hold signs all day, but I can’t change you. You’re going to have to change you. So whoever is going to be racist in the world, you know they need to go home and look themselves in the mirror and realize they ain’t in this world by themselves. That’s how I look at it.”

Dyson won a World Series with the Kansas City Royals and played one season in Seattle and two in Arizona before signing a one-year deal with the Pirates in February. He has found a brotherhood in baseball with players of different races and nationalities.

“I don’t want to be in a world with just black people,” Dyson said. “I want to be in a world with all races, and I look at everybody the same. Because I have a lot of good white friends and Latin friends that I consider as brothers to me. And I’m not going to stop treating them the same way I treat them because, you know, people want to be racist towards black people. My friends my friends. My family my family. I love all. I don’t hate no one. I just wish people would change themselves instead of waiting for us to push an agenda across to make them change.

“You know if you’re racist or not. I don’t have to tell you that. You wake up, you know what’s on your mind. You know how you view other people, and you know how you view yourself and your own kind. So I love all.”

Humbled and honored to have #HOF jerseys signed by Carew and Maz hanging on the the wall, not to mention a photo with 2 @Twins and 2 @Pirates legends. Maz, Tony O, Rod and @TheRealSangy35. #LetsGoBucs https://t.co/nTAcBwF1LH

— Derek Shelton (@derekshelton) July 15, 2020

1. Not an option: Dyson showed his humorous side when he said he never considered opting out of this season because of covid-19 concerns.

“Nah. I wasn’t thinking about opting out,” Dyson said. “I need my money. I seen that we had to be out here. I ain’t gonna leave it on the table if I can go get it. Baseball is something I love to do anyway.”

That was to be expected from Dyson, especially after saying in his first interview at spring training at Pirate City that he signed with the 93-loss Pirates because they were his only major-league option.

“Ain’t too much out there right now, you know,” Dyson said. “You’d love to explore. But at the same time, you take what you can. Take the good with the bad and roll with it. Make the most of it.”

In preparing for the 2020 season, new Pirates CF Jarrod Dyson met with reporters and explained why having Summer Camp at PNC Park is beneficial for him. -RI pic.twitter.com/oR5UeXvP1d

— AT&T SportsNet™ PIT (@ATTSportsNetPIT) July 14, 2020

2. Round tripper: With only 21 career home runs in 10 seasons, Dyson is hardly a power hitter. He is listed at 5-foot-9, 165 pounds, which might be generous. But after striking out three times in Monday’s intrasquad game, he hit one over the fence at PNC Park.

“I got lucky, man,” said Dyson, who hit a career-best seven home runs last season. “I just get lucky sometimes. That’s all. Sometimes you get a good pitch, and you don’t miss it and good things happen. I don’t look forward to hitting a bunch of ‘em, but I look forward to hitting a few and doing my thing.”

Pirates play-by-play announcer Joe Block brought up an interesting statistic: Of Dyson’s 21 home runs, all of them have come against right-handed pitchers.

In 445 plate appearances and 387 at-bats against lefties, Dyson has 90 hits, including 11 doubles and three triples, and has drawn 38 walks and been hit by seven pitches.

No homers.

“I don’t think I’ve ever hit one off a lefty, man,” said Dyson, who bats left. “I barely played on lefties. Yeah, it’s been a while, but I’m looking forward to when I do. I’m gonna enjoy it.”

JARROD DYSON WALK-OFF HOME RUN.

He had just 15 career home runs entering the night.

For comparison, he has 221 career stolen bases.pic.twitter.com/7zD5VK9IK9

— Sporting News MLB (@sn_mlb) April 10, 2019

3. First things first: Dyson has worn No. 1 with the Royals, Mariners and Diamondbacks, and it has special meaning to him.

“I like No. 1. You’re the first to do something,” Dyson said. “That’s how I look at it. No. 1, I thought that fit me pretty good. Unfortunately it’s retired, but it’s retired for a good cause so I can’t say much about that. I’ve just got to take whatever number they give me and roll with it.”

The Pirates retired No. 1 in honor of popular manager Billy Meyer, who holds the dubious distinction of playing for and managing two of the worst teams in baseball history. Meyer was a catcher for the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics (36-117) and manager for the 1952 Pirates (42-112).

Dyson is wearing No. 6, which belonged to his predecessor in center field, Starling Marte.

“I don’t care about the number, you know?” Dyson said. “I just worry about the performance and just doing the right thing for the logo on the front, making sure I respect that as well, and also the name on the back.”

One step closer. pic.twitter.com/kaZnQ9mRZF

— Pirates (@Pirates) July 14, 2020

4. For starters: Joe Musgrove said on Instagram Live that he is scheduled to start six innings in the exhibition game against Cleveland on Saturday night at PNC Park.

Shelton said he isn’t ready to name an Opening Day starter or reveal who will start the other two exhibition games without consulting pitching coach Oscar Marin.

“I don’t have any of those picked,” Shelton said. “The Opening Day starter, no. The other two games, Oscar would have to tell me who’s throwing. I think he’s still kind of working through who’s going to throw in that. That’s the day that lines up for Joe right now. But whatever Oscar wants to set up, we’ll set up and go through it that way.”

If we’re doing the math, Musgrove also lines up to pitch in the season opener July 24 at St. Louis.

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Get to know @Nick_Gonzales13. pic.twitter.com/8Je8FxWmlQ

— Pirates (@Pirates) June 25, 2020

5. Good for Gonzales: When pitcher Hector Noesi opted out of the season for family reasons, the Pirates decided not to immediately fill his spot on the 60-man roster.

When they did, it was with 2020 first-round pick Nick Gonzales. The former New Mexico State shortstop arrived at the alternate training site in Altoona on Tuesday and took his test for covid-19. He’s awaiting the results before he can practice.

The Pirates signed Gonzales to a $5.4 million bonus late last month but declined to include him on the 40-man roster for training camp at PNC Park or to the group training at their Double-A affiliate at Altoona’s Peoples Natural Gas Field.

This move keeps Gonzales from being idle all summer, and it’s one that his father Mike said has Nick “very excited to get going.”