MVP! MVP! MVP!

By John Franco

No, this is not an article about Drew Sutton, even though he hit a walk-off home run tonight to give the Pirates an 8-7 win, and has energized the club by hitting .440 (11-for-25) since joining the Pirates. It’s not an article about how the Pirates are 8 games over .500 for the first time since 1992. It’s not an article about how the Pirates would be in the playoffs if the season ended today.  It’s not even an article on AJ Burnett, who shook off a poor outing tonight to greet Sutton with a pie to the face after he crossed the plate, and whose contributions to the Pirates clubhouse are too valuable to measure.

This is an article about Andrew McCutchen.

For most of today, it didn’t seem like it was going to be a good day for the Pirates. Jose Tabata was finally sent down to Triple-A to straighten himself out. Burnett, riding a hot streak and hoping to make the night as good as the day was bad, had the team in a 4-0 hole after four innings.

Things got better in the bottom of the 4th, when Cutch hit a laser beam to right field for a 2-run homer. He would eventually add another 3-hit night to his amazing season and score another run when Garrett Jones hit a 2-run shot of his own, but the 4th inning was what stood out to me. After McCutchen’s home run, the PNC Park crowd serenaded him with well-deserved chants of “MVP! MVP! MVP!” I was at the game, and I haven’t seen a crowd at PNC Park that energized since Freddy Sanchez was chasing a batting title in the final days of the 2006 season.

I could write about how McCutchen has taken his game to the next level this year, in a season where the Pirates are chasing a 1992 team that featured another superstar taking his game to the next level. You might remember that guy, even if he wasn’t always as skinny as he was in 1992. The statistical similarities are there, but this is a night for fun, not numbers. Cutch certainly does have the numbers, but he also has the fun. His speed, his infectiously positive attitude, and the flair he brings to the game have been just as important to this year’s team as the numbers he has posted.

That skinny guy stayed at that MVP level for a very long time, even though the Pirates didn’t lock him up long term. The Pirates did lock up McCutchen, and if he plays like an MVP for the length of the contract, not only will the Pirates have a lot of fun nights like tonight, but maybe we can stop talking about that other guy.