Pirates Star Was Nearly Two-Sport Athlete In College
Life nearly took a very different turn for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Andrew McCutchen.
McCutchen went on Mookie Betts' podcast on Bleacher Report, On Base With Mookie Betts. In the episode, the Pirates star revealed that he had an offer from the University of Miami to play football and baseball on a full-ride scholarship. McCutchen said he hadn't played football since his sophomore season after he suffered a torn ACL in his sophomore year of high school playing the sport.
McCutchen said he considered the offer from Miami but eventually decided to stick with baseball knowing that was a strong chance he'd be drafted in the first round of the MLB Draft. That eventually came to fruition when the Pirates drafted him with the No. 11 overall pick in the first round of the 2005 MLB Draft out of Fort Meade High School in FL.
"I get a phone call from the head coach for our high school football team," McCutchen said. "He calls me [and] he goes, 'Hey, congratulations. Miami called [and] they want to give you an offer. They want to offer you. I'm like, 'What?' [He said] they you want to give a full ride to play football. And I sat there and I'm like I ain't played football in two years. I was kind of in shock, and I was like, 'Nah, man, I'm getting drafted.'"
Had McCutchen not been taken in the first round of the MLB Draft, he said he would have gone to college and likely would have tried to play football and baseball collegiately. McCutchen had signed a Letter of Intent to play at the University of Florida before he was drafted by Pittsburgh.
Drafting McCutchen has proven to be one of the Pirates' best decisions in franchise history. McCutchen, 38, has amassed a 42.7 Wins Above Replacement and has batted .284/.375/.475 with 235 home runs and 818 RBIs over his 11 seasons in Pittsburgh. McCutchen ranks among the franchise's all-time great players, ranking in the top 10 in Wins Above Replacement, games played, at-bats, home runs, RBIs, hits, doubles and total bases.
McCutchen is also a former MVP, five-time All-Star, four-time Silver Slugger, Gold Glove winner, and winner of the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award in 2015. The Pirates legend is set to return for a 12th season with the franchise after agreeing to a one-year, $5 million deal on Monday.
