This story was excerpted from Alex Stumpf¡¯s Pirates Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
PITTSBURGH -- A Rookie of the Year Award wasn¡¯t on Jason Bay's mind as he prepared for the 2004 season. He was just trying to get back to playing condition after an offseason surgery on his right shoulder.
Bay spent six weeks in extended spring camp that year. When he could play, he could barely throw the ball to second base. The Pirates didn¡¯t care. They needed a hitter. As it turns out, he was one of the best young hitters in the game.
¡°I¡¯m just trying to get my feet wet and stick around in the league,¡± Bay said. ¡°I started slowly coming up with some traction. The other guy that was in consideration was Khalil Greene, the shortstop who was my Minor League roommate [with the Padres]. So we had this little 'ha-ha' rivalry going on. About halfway through that year, it was like, ¡®If I can stay healthy, I might be able to do this.¡¯¡±
Bay was able to finish the job that year. He clubbed 26 homers, drove in 82 runs and became the first Pirate to win the NL Rookie of the Year Award. His six-year Pirates tenure had a pair of All-Star appearances (2005 and '06), NL MVP votes in those two seasons and enough round-trippers to put him in the top 10 in franchise history, but his greatest claim to fame was that for two decades, he held that distinction as the only Pirate to win Rookie of the Year.
Now he has company.
Paul Skenes¡¯ historic 2024 campaign came with plenty of honors and distinctions, including winning the NL Rookie of the Year Award as well.
There¡¯s no ill will in knowing he has to share his spot. He had a suspicion it was going to happen when Skenes got the nod to start the All-Star Game.
Instead, Bay was flooded with memories from that ¡®04 campaign as Friday approached, where he took part in a celebration of Skenes¡¯ rookie campaign. Skenes received a trophy as the Baseball Digest Rookie of the Year award, and Bay presented him a framed home plate from PNC Park.
¡°That was 20 years ago. I had kind of forgotten about that stuff,¡± Bay said. ¡°With this coming up and the family rehashing a lot of stuff, it's been very special for me to relive it.
¡°Paul, he's going to have a great career. It¡¯s been super fun to follow.¡±
The two award winners got to spend some time together Friday and pose in front of the murals in PNC Park¡¯s tunnels commemorating their Rookie of the Year campaigns, new this winter. Their interaction was brief, but Bay got a pretty accurate read on the pitcher.
¡°It was just a quick meet-and-greet,¡± Bay said. ¡°He¡¯s a very formal guy. I got him to loosen up a little bit when we were on the field and chat him up a bit off the cuff, in not so much a serious setting. I could tell that he¡¯s definitely an intense guy.¡±
Bay sized Skenes up pretty well as a person, but what about as a pitcher? He quickly shot down the idea of if he wished he could have faced him, and it¡¯s not because he¡¯s pumping 100 mph fastballs. It¡¯s all the breaking and offspeed stuff that separates Skenes.
¡°When you got him throwing these slurvy things and 100-plus, you¡¯re basically just guessing to a spot and hope you run into one,¡± Bay said. ¡°I think that¡¯s the only way he¡¯s going to get beat, if eventually a couple guys run into spots and they don¡¯t score more than two.¡±
OK, how about if it isn¡¯t against Skenes? Are there any more homers in that bat?
¡°I might, but I don¡¯t know,¡± Bay said. ¡°My back might not.¡±