The visual reminders were easy for Gerrit Cole to spot on Tuesday.
If it wasn’t his jersey hanging next to those of Jameson Taillon and Clay Holmes in the Yankees clubhouse, it could have been the security lines snaking around PNC Park, bottlenecks of people reminiscent of Cole’s MLB debut on June 11, 2013, when new security procedures caused eager fans to get to their seats late.
That night and plenty more from his Pirates tenure was on Cole’s mind as he returned to town with the Yankees. Although Cole isn’t pitching in this two-game series — again, something he discussed — playing in Pittsburgh had Cole clearly emotional at the end of a 22-minute pregame media scrum.
“I just really haven’t been back to kind of soak it all up and think about it and how this feels,” Cole said. “It’s pretty cool. I’ve got to take care of Boston in a couple days, but I do wish to pitch here at some point again. That’ll be really exciting.”
Cole has pitched against the Pirates before — June 25, 2019, at Houston’s Minute Maid Park — but has not started here. That was supposed to happen before the Yankees were rained out Friday in Cleveland and played a doubleheader Saturday.
The first overall pick in 2011, Cole has certainly reflected some on his time with the Pirates over the years, a story you know well by now. Pitched five years in Pittsburgh, went 59-42 with a 3.50 ERA, best year was 2015 when he went 19-8 with a 2.60 ERA in 32 starts, striking out 202 and finishing fourth in NL Cy Young award voting.
After the January 2018 trade that sent him to Houston, Cole became otherworldly with the Astros, finishing in the top five in Cy Young voting both years and absolutely dominating during the 2019 postseason. That led to a record $324 million contract before the 2020 season and a third MLB stop in New York.
What happened to Cole after leaving Pittsburgh has long been a topic of conversation, the same as it is for Taillon, Holmes, Tyler Glasnow, Charlie Morton and others. Cole acknowledged he’s throwing fewer fastballs than he used to, but also seemed to bristle when asked about players instantly getting better when they leave Pittsburgh.
“I’m not really interested in getting into the back-and-forth about immediate success when we left because we were working really hard to be the best we could here, and I don’t want to take away from that,” Cole said. “We were good players here, and we were good players when we left.
“A lot of the experiences we had, things the organization taught us — some we disliked and some we liked — shaped a lot of us to have successful, long careers and flourish not only here but somewhere else, as well. So there’s probably some credit due in that regard.”
The bulk of what Cole talked about was nostalgic. He told a story of early on during his Pirates career observing Bill Mazeroski, Manny Sanguillen and Bill Virdon wearing some sort of “white, old-school underwear” and sitting on buckets at Pirate City.
The experience not only stuck with Cole but means something to him even now, as he chases a World Series ring with the Yankees.
“I miss that dynamic,” Cole said. “We kind of have it in New York. It’s been different since COVID. This will be our first old-timers day this year that I’ve been here. No spring training is quite like that scene I described, where those guys are involved with how you’re prepping for the season. I don’t know if that’ll happen anywhere ever again.”
Aside from listening to Cole speak with such reverence about Mazeroski — who threw out a ceremonial first pitch — it was also neat to hear Cole talk about the Pirates’ last playoff teams.
How much he was helped by guys like AJ Burnett, Francisco Liriano and Charlie Morton. The value of Russell Martin behind the plate. Or what players like Jordy Mercer, Josh Harrison and Tony Watson meant alongside more obvious names such as Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte and Neil Walker.
What those teams did clearly meant something to Cole, who took time to answer every question and deliver thoughtful, thorough responses to each, the whole thing clearly important to him.
“Watching those guys work, some of them at the tail end of their careers, kind of laid the ground work for a lot of the processes that I have and how I go about my business,” Cole said. “Some special times, for sure.”
Cole was also part of the Yankees contingent that stopped by the Roberto Clemente Museum on Monday, a trip organized by Taillon. Much like walking around the city with his wife, Amy, and son (Caden), Cole enjoyed seeing a bunch of familiar sights.
Only this time he got to see the wonderment through his current teammates’ eyes.
“[Executive director and curator] Duane [Rieder] does such a phenomenal job,” Cole said. “Any time you can share what Roberto was all about with some players who are new and maybe haven’t been quite as exposed to the story, that’s part of the legacy of him. It’s kind of like his house, and he’s coming up and hosting you.”
Perhaps the most fascinating door into Cole’s mind was this: Asked if there was one thing about his Pittsburgh career that he’d want to change, Cole didn’t answer that he wished his development was different or anything like that.
He bemoaned the slider he threw Kyle Schwarber in the 2015 wild card game, a pitch that obviously contributed to a loss, some unfulfilled expectations and the eventually disbanding of that group. It was the perfect example of prioritizing his teammates and winning over his own situation.
“I just wish we would have gotten out of the wild card one more time,” Cole said. “We played so much good baseball in what was one of the tougher divisions at that time.
“I know I left it all out there every time I played, and my teammates did, too. I think that’s why we have the kind of special relationship that we still do where we all keep in touch. It’s pretty unique.”
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: July 5, 2022, 11:08 p.m.