What Pirates’ Andrew Heaney Didn’t Love About Milestone Moment

Andrew Heaney, a bit to his chagrin, was the center of attention Thursday afternoon at PNC Park.

The finale of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ four-game series with the Washington Nationals marked Heaney reaching 10 years of Major League Baseball service time. The 33-year-old rose to the occasion by pitching 7 1/3 scoreless innings in which he only allowed five hits and struck out four. The standout performance helped the Bucs secure a 1-0 victory as well as a series triumph over the visiting Nats.

But before Heaney took the hill for the matinee matchup, he was celebrated by family members, teammates and other members of the organization. While those gestures undoubtedly were warranted, they weren’t exactly coveted by the veteran southpaw.

“I don’t love attention, to be honest,” Heaney told reporters, per MLB.com. “The fact that everybody had to come in here and sit in here in the morning and watch video of me talk, listen to me talk, I’m just like, ‘Oh God, these guys just want to play a baseball game.’

“The fact that people have been so nice, and everybody here has just been so understanding of, you know, it’s a big deal.”

While Heaney clearly doesn’t love the spotlight, he allowed himself to be “proud” of a special achievement that so few big leaguers accomplish. But now that the special day has come and gone, Heaney and the Pirates can go back to focusing on winning baseball games.

Pittsburgh’s next opportunity to do so will be Friday when it kicks off a three-game home series against the Cleveland Guardians.