Between Growing Kids, Weddings & More, Pirates Had Busy Off-Season
BRADENTON, Fla. (KDKA) -- The language of baseball is universal, but inside the Pittsburgh Pirates' clubhouse you never know what you're going to hear.
There's plenty of Spanish, some Italian influence, and now, South African has been added to the mix.
Yes, they play baseball in South Africa. Infielder Gift Ngoepe will start the season at AAA Indianapolis, his brother, Victor, is playing in the Gulf Coast League. Both are quite an adjustment.
"In South Africa, we only play once a week and we practice twice a week," Ngoepe said.
Speaking of life adjustments, Gerrit and Amy Cole came to Spring Training as a married couple for the first time. The pair said their vows in Newport Beach, California, last November.
"We've been together for a while now, so she's kind of used to the routine, we just kind of made it official, I guess," said Cole.
Their nuptials mean, whenever the Pirates take on the San Francisco Giants, Cole will be playing against his brother-in-law, Brandon Crawford.
Meanwhile, infielder John Jaso's dreadlock hairstyle just keeps growing. He's tying them back now.
"That kind of helps. It started to whip me in the eye when I was swinging the bat, so we tamed it down a little bit," he said.
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Want to see Josh Harrison's beaming smile? Well, just mention little Mia Jade Harrison, who just turned 3.
"She's good, she's grown," he says. "Princess Mia is keeping daddy busy."
Jordy Mercer's two boys, Maverick and Maddon are also a handful.
"Four and 1, they're doing great and they are up here with me and lovin' life," said Mercer. "They're into baseball as you can imagine, it's awesome."