Pirates reliever David Bednar is from Mars, Pa., a fact that became very apparent to Derek Shelton and Ben Cherington from the first sentence Bednar ever said to them:
“How yinz doing today?”
On Thursday, he pitched at PNC Park for the first time, and his entrance music was just as pure-Pittsburgh as he is: Renegade by Styx.
"It’s always kind of been in the back of my mind to use it as a walkout," Bednar said after the game. "As soon as I got traded, I was like, ‘You know what? It’s automatic.’ At Steelers games it always gets everybody fired up. So I figured, ‘Why not?’ "
Renegade is the Steelers defense’s anthem, and to Bednar’s credit, he lived up to the hype that music demands, retiring his only batter faced on one pitch.
Shelton, still new to Pittsburgh, said he does know "100% the significance of Renegade," and loved the reaction the hometown kid got for playing it.
“I think that it’s cool that he did it,” Shelton said. “What’s going to be really cool is when this place is packed and he comes into a game. They’re going to go ballistic.”
Bednar came over to the Pirates from the Padres this offseason in the Joe Musgrove trade. He earned a spot on the opening day roster by not allowing a run over his 10 spring training appearances. So far he has allowed two runs over 3 ⅓ innings in the regular season.
Bednar had a large home cheering crowd waiting for him when he entered the eighth inning, consisting of his cousins and his girlfriend’s family.
"Just really special," Bednar said. "You really can’t put it into words hearing them go crazy. Their section was really cool. I’m just really happy they were able to share it with me."
