Pirates' Andrew McCutchen channels 'the power of the furries' again

Andrew McCutchen tweeting the word “Furries” is like his own version of the bat signal.

Whenever Anthrocon is in Pittsburgh, McCutchen’s bat seems to be magnetized to the baseball.

So when the Pittsburgh Pirates showed someone in an elaborate “fursuit” before McCutchen came to bat in the fourth inning Friday night, it should have come as no surprise that he homered off the left-field foul pole.

“I don’t know, man. The power of the furries,” McCutchen said. “The power of Anthrocon. Something about it, I guess. They’re here. … Can’t explain it, man.”

McCutchen channeled the energy of the furries during Friday’s 8-7 win over the Brewers, going 3 for 5 and collecting three RBIs with the backdrop of the annual Anthrocon convention returning to David L. Lawrence Convention Center for the weekend.

This year’s gathering is expected to attract upwards of 13,000 people and — conveniently for McCutchen — coincides with the Pirates’ homestand at PNC Park against San Diego and Milwaukee.

In two games after the furries arrived, McCutchen went 5 for 9 at the plate with two doubles, a home run, three RBIs and three runs scored.

The Pirates faced an early 4-0 hole Friday but in the bottom of the fourth, McCutchen led off.

Moments later, after the PNC Park jumbotron featured a fursuit-wearing Anthrocon attendee on-screen, McCutchen ripped a solo home run, his 10th of the year, giving the Pirates their first run of the evening.

We will never get tired of watching this. pic.twitter.com/obgCjVWGK6

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 1, 2023

Later, in the bottom of the ninth, he blasted an RBI double off the center-field wall and scored when Carlos Santana ended the game with a walk-off, two-run homer.

McCutchen’s Friday night performance is far from the first time he’s had a stellar performance that ran parallel to the furries being in Pittsburgh.

In fact, Foolish Baseball took the time to compile the hard statistics.

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Before Thursday, since 2014, McCutchen had played 15 games “in the vicinity” of the furries, producing a .419 batting average, .479 on-base percentage and three home runs.

McCutchen himself first appeared to take notice of the furries’ presence in Pittsburgh years ago, during his original stint with the Pirates.

In July of 2014, McCutchen simply tweeted out, “Furries.”

Nearly five years later, while a member of the Phillies, McCutchen tweeted the exact same thing: “Furries.”

By that point, the interesting correlation between the furries’ convention in Pittsburgh and McCutchen putting up robust offensive numbers was becoming apparent.

On June 29, McCutchen produced his semiannual furries tweet, racking up more than six thousand retweets and 25,000 favorites.

Furries

— Andrew McCutchen (@TheCUTCH22) June 29, 2023

Unsurprisingly, big-time offensive production followed.

That night vs. San Diego, McCutchen went 2 for 4 with a double in the Pirates’ 5-4 win, helping the club to a sweep over the Padres.

The furries are in Pittsburgh through this weekend, during which time the Pirates have two more games against Milwaukee.

Said Pirates manager Derek Shelton: “Maybe we should just have a year-round convention.”