'Continue to grind:' Drew Maggi records first major league hits after 13 years
WASHINGTON (KDKA) - As the Pittsburgh Pirates cruised to a doubleheader victory on Saturday night, beating the Nationals by a combined score of 23-4, one player in the lineup in game two finally got the moment he had been dreaming of since he was a child.
In the seventh inning, 33-year-old Drew Maggi, who made his first major league start just days ago, stepped to the plate.
Nationals pitcher Hobie Harris worked Maggi to a 2-2 count and with the next pitch, Maggi put the ball into center field - an RBI single - and Maggi's tour of firsts continued.
After 13 years in the minor leagues, Drew Maggi finally had a major league hit.
"Not trying to do too much, it was like the perfect hit too, cause I saw it go right through the middle and it's so vivid in my mind right now," he said. "I was so happy I got it done, got that weight lifted off my shoulders."
Prior to Saturday's doubleheader, the Pirates made several roster moves, including optioning Maggi back to Double-A Altoona. But since the club was playing two in Washington, Maggi was designated as the 27th man, so he would stay for the day before heading back to the minor leagues.
"I know, of all people, that this can end very quickly," Maggi said "Who knows where it goes from here? Maybe I never get back up here and that was it. That was going through my head the whole day, so it was kind of like, 'You know what? I'm swinging. I'm going out hacking.'"
That's exactly what he did.
Just two innings later in the ninth, Maggi stepped to the plate again.
This time, he'd send a line drive into left field for his first career extra-base hit, getting to second base for a big-league double.
"My parents got to watch me play a big-league game; my brothers, all my friends," Maggi said. "It's crazy to think that in a week you can kind of change…because obviously I never gave up and I believed always that I could do this."
He believed and the fans acknowledged that commitment and belief because as Yinzers are so apt to do, Nationals Park was full of Pittsburgh fans and he received a chant he could possibly only dream of once game two was finished.
His name was chanted by fans as he walked back into the dugout to continue the life he knows - the grind of baseball.
"It's going to be cool to do down there and see them, and just continue to grind in the bushes," Maggi said. It'll be fun to see them and it's going to be a riot down there with everything that's happened."
Should Drew Maggi never play a Major League Baseball game again doesn't matter, for a few days in late April, he captivated a city, a fanbase, and an entire sport.
Those are the moments that only sports can provide.
