As Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander Derek Holland warmed up on the mound Wednesday night against the Chicago Cubs, a familiar tune played over the loudspeakers at PNC Park. Everyone knows the words to “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” the theme song to Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

But hearing them at a baseball game was a new twist.

Holland said he wanted to pay “a big tribute” to a Pittsburgh institution and did so by wearing custom-designed sky-blue spikes with the show’s logo painted on his right shoe and a portrait of Fred Rogers on his left while pitching five innings of relief in an 8-2 loss to the Cubs.

“Not only did he kill Mister Rogers cleats, he came out to Mister Rogers (theme song), which I didn’t realize he had the cleats on until after he came out and I heard the song,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “If anybody’s going to come out to Mister Rogers, it’s going to be Holland. I think there’s so much history and so much culture here, you want to embrace. You want to be part of what’s going on in Pittsburgh, so I think it’s really cool.”

That’s exactly what Holland wanted to do.

#Pirates pitcher Derek Holland wears special shoes to pay tribute to Mister Rogers during tonight’s game against the Cubs at PNC Park. pic.twitter.com/2qr6PRdeDI

— Christopher Horner (@Hornerfoto1) September 3, 2020

“I have a big thing with just trying to do things related to the city or what sticks out,” Holland said late last month. “I try to change the style with the shoe game. I feel like we should be able to market ourselves with our shoes, have some fun with that.”

“I think it’s something cool to do for the young guys watching the game. It’s about having your own swag, your own personality, being you. Having the shoes, that’s a big thing with a lot of guys in this game, including me. I’m a big shoe guy, so it’s kinda cool to market yourself with that.”

@dutchoven45 always likes to rep his team’s city. Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood was produced in Pittsburgh, and Fred Rogers grew up just outside of the city. #customcleats #brkicks #complexkicks #mrrogers #mrrogersneighborhood #wontyoubemyneighbor #pittsburgh #mlbbaseball pic.twitter.com/uYWPGfBEJx

— Jordan Custom Kicks (@mikejordan_art) September 2, 2020

Holland collaborates with artist Michael Jordan — and was quick to clarify that it’s not the NBA great — to design shoes he can showcase while pitching. Holland has worn a “Pirates of the Caribbean” design, has a pair to honor one of his favorite television series, “Peaky Blinders,” one with a Batman/Iron Man design and plans to wear a surprise pair with a Pirates theme.

“I’m not the artist. I just give ideas,” Holland said. “I say, ‘This is what I’m looking for.’ ”

He should have worn navy blue Sperry Topsiders.

— Gary Mihoces (@ByGaryMihoces) September 3, 2020

The Jordan Custom Kicks cleats aren’t just a stylistic expression for the quirky Holland, who goes by the nickname Dutch Oven. Last month, he drew national attention for putting four cardboard cutouts of his friend, the actor Rob Schneider, at the ballpark.

#Pirates left-hander Derek Holland had cardboard cutouts of actor and comedian Rob Schneider strategically placed around PNC Park on Tuesday, with shots from movies like "Benchwarmers," "The Hot Chick" and "50 First Dates."https://t.co/2MbflgY7aj

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) August 19, 2020

Holland also is attempting to bring attention to good causes with the cleats, and said he plans to wear a pair of cleats to draw publicity for “a little girl that is going through cancer treatments.” He hopes the attention the cleats draw can benefit his 60 Feet 6 Foundation to fight leukemia, which he calls his “off-the-field passion.”

“I had no idea how it would change me,” reads a Holland quote on its website, 60feet6.org. “These kids have taught me how to live.”

Holland started the foundation in honor of Briggs Berry, an 18-year-old with a rare immune deficiency disorder known as X-Linked Hyper IGM Syndrome whom Holland befriended while playing for the Texas Rangers.

Berry was named 2012 volunteer of the year at Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, where he was also a patient, and was named Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Champion Child for the state the following year.

Before Berry died in 2014, Holland wore a pair of cleats with “Briggs” inscribed in silver for a game at Kansas City. Holland started drawing “Briggs” in the dirt on the mound before the first pitch of every game. Holland presented the cleats to Berry’s family.

“It was actually really, really cool and emotional for me to not only wear those cleats but when they showed them they never really saw them. They just saw them on TV. And I surprised the family with them and my foundation,” Holland said. “There’s no words that can actually say how cool that feeling was and to see the reaction that I got. It’s bigger than baseball, to be able to put his story out there and talk about the foundation is huge. To be able to use the cleats as an example is something that’s important to me, as well.”

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