The drive from People Natural Gas Field in Altoona to PNC Park in Pittsburgh covers roughly 100 miles and should take anywhere from 100 minutes to two hours depending on traffic. For Drew Maggi, it was a little longer than that.
OK, a lot longer.
A 15th-round draft pick of the Pirates in 2010, the 33-year-old Maggi has played 1,154 minor league games — including two separate stints in Altoona — before making his MLB debut, which he’s expected to do soon after the Pirates recalled him on Sunday morning.
“It was a good little ride,” Maggi said of his trip from Altoona to Pittsburgh. “I was staring out the window like, ‘Get me there, get me there, before something happens.’ ”
The magical story of Drew Maggi was understandably the talk of the Pirates clubhouse before the final game of a four-game set against the Reds at PNC Park.
Rich Hill sat in his chair, smiling and remarking to reporters who entered just how amazing it is to see — no small thing coming from the oldest player in MLB.
Andrew McCutchen hugged Maggi and later said Pirates players would be lobbying manager Derek Shelton to put Maggi in a game as soon as possible, which didn’t happen the only other time Maggi was on a major league roster (September 2021 with the Twins).
“He’s stuck with it and kept going,” McCutchen said of Maggi, who’s in his 13th minor league season. “You can’t help but commend someone who has done what he has. He has a goal in mind. It’s being here, playing here. Really cool to be able to see him be in this position.”
Not only is Maggi’s journey incredible, but it’s ironic after he spent the first half of his career in the Pirates’ minor league system, rising as high as Double-A Altoona before he was released in March 2015.
From there, Maggi had minor league stints with the Angels, Dodgers, Indians, Twins and Phillies before he was traded to the Pirates last season — and even that was nuts.
Triple-A Lehigh Valley manager Anthony Contreras called Maggi late one night and asked him to come back to the field late one night. Maggi thought he was being released. When he arrived, Contreras told Maggi he was being traded to the Pirates and assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis.
Ironically, Maggi had played with Indians manager Miguel Perez in Altoona. Gary Green, Indy’s bench coach at the time, was a field coordinator in Pittsburgh’s system when Maggi was here the first time.
“That was a little weird, honestly,” Maggi said. “When you leave a team, especially for how long I was gone, you kind of cross that team off the list a little bit. But it ended up being really cool for me.”
It also helped that Maggi had a relationship with Shelton from their time in Minnesota.
Shelton has talked since spring training about valuing Maggi’s versatility while praising him for being a great teammate. Essentially someone who requires no maintenance and is liked by everyone. A total pro.
Maggi was a productive minor league player last season and re-signed with the Pirates this winter to reprise that role, trusting they would give him a regular role and maybe — just maybe — allow him to realize his his dream of making it to the major leagues.
The biggest step came this spring, when for about half of Grapefruit League play, Maggi was unquestionably the Pirates’ hottest hitter. Appearing in a team-high 26 games, he hit .344 with a 1.105 OPS, compiling two doubles, three home runs and nine RBIs.
Despite a journey that has included no wife or kids, just a simple focus on baseball, competing with his buddies and chasing an MLB dream, Maggi seemed to finally put himself on the cusp of a major league callup.
“I knew it was possible,” Maggi said. “But I’ve thought that a lot of times. I’ve had some good seasons where I’d feel ready. I’d feel like that was the year, but it just didn’t happen.
“I did think that I had a really good spring. Got to know the guys. Shelty was awesome to me. I thought there might be a chance, but I didn’t know it was gonna happen this early.”
Maggi arrived in Pittsburgh around 7 o’clock Saturday night. On the drive here, Maggi — who had a car service, per usual when the Pirates recall a player — said he literally and figuratively scrolling through old photos and memories, many with members of his family in various minor league cities.
Maggi tried to return as many calls or texts as possible, but he couldn’t keep up. There was also arranging travel from Phoenix, Ariz., for his parents, Craig and Sara, and one of his brothers, Beau.
One of the things Maggi did was reflect back to a visit he made to PNC Park shortly after he was drafted. He walked around the field with Sara and remembered telling her that he could see himself playing here one day.
“Kinda full circle, being with the Pirates 10 years go, then going through my journey with different organizations,” Maggi said. “It’s come full circle. [Sunday], I finally get to walk back out on the field. It’s special.”
After the drive to Altoona was complete, Maggi checked into his hotel (the Fairmont) and spent the night staring out of his window at PNC Park, reflecting more on his journey — the bus trips, games spent in empty stadiums, the times he questioned his own sanity — and realized how close it now felt.
Whenever Maggi tried to fall asleep, well … that didn’t go terribly well. He might need a couple of extra cups of coffee on Sunday.
“A lot of staring at the ceiling, thinking about different moments,” Maggi said. “You know how crazy it is.”
Actually, Drew, most don’t.
The trip for Maggi from Altoona took just two hours by car but really spanned a professional lifetime, exemplifying incredible dedication and a pure love of the game.
During a quieter conversation after the cameras turned off, Maggi described a deal he made with himself long ago: Regardless of how this played out, Maggi never wanted to be one of those older, bitter players who hated baseball because he never got a chance.
No matter his age or level, Maggi was going to evolve as a player and never fall out of love with his favorite sport. So on Sunday, it doesn’t really matter if Maggi gets a hit or the Pirates beat the Reds. He already will have won.
“I know 13 years is really hard,” Maggi said. “There were a lot of ups and downs, a lot of different people, injuries, stuff happening and never knowing if your days are numbered. But being here, it feels right. This was supposed to happen.”
Around the horn
The Pirates recalled Maggi because Bryan Reynolds went on the bereavement list. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Pirates transferred Ji-Man Choi to the 60-day IL.
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: April 23, 2023, 2:50 p.m.
