Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton turned his special glasses around, looking through them inside out as he stood on the infield grass and stared skyward at the solar eclipse Monday afternoon at PNC Park.
Pirates players, coaches and front office personnel watched the eclipse in wonder before batting practice before their game against the Detroit Tigers.
“Yeah, I feel like Bill Nye the Science Guy now,” Shelton said. “I went into it not thinking much about it, but it was pretty cool once I put the glasses on. It was pretty neat to see.”
Pirates players Mitch Keller, Andrew McCutchen, Marco Gonzales, Jared Jones and Jack Suwinski and manager Derek Shelton taking in solar eclipse. pic.twitter.com/8XGVp2g3NF
— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) April 8, 2024
Shelton said his son, Jackson, took a trip to Texas to see the eclipse and sent a video of the totality, “which was pretty weird to see because the whole screen went black.”
Pirates outfielder Jack Suwinski sat on a bench in the home dugout with pitchers Marco Gonzales and Jared Jones to see the eclipse, all three wearing the special glasses to protect their eyes. Suwinski took a moment to lift his glasses up, just to see the ballpark without them as it got dim at 3:17 p.m.
“Having it at the park with the guys is pretty cool,” Suwinski said. “It’s just not something you see every day. I looked through (the glasses). I wish it would’ve got 100%, but it was weird. It gets real dark, then kind of cold, then boom, the sun.”
Pirates outfielder Connor Joe said the solar eclipse was the talk of the clubhouse, but he didn’t spend any time studying for the event. Joe didn’t head onto the field until after the eclipse began.
“I was happy they had some glasses for us so we could look at it,” Joe said. “It started at 3:17, and I came out here at 3:20 so I missed the most optimal time but it was a little bit eerie when I walked out here. It was dark and still light out. It was weird, kind of trippy.”
