Could ex-Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli someday become the most interesting manager in baseball?

Posted by Reinaldo Massengill on Saturday, May 4, 2024

In the late 2010s, nobody filled the Pirates clubhouse with more joie de vivre than Francisco Cervelli. The veteran catcher was outgoing, animated, debonaire and sometimes even a little mysterious. His social media was filled with photos of poolside hijinks and sunsets at the beach. One offseason, he jetted to Italy to watch Juventus play — Cervelli is a rabid fan of the Serie A club — and snacked on caviar and champagne at a pre-match tailgate party.

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We scribes who covered the team back then respectfully referred to Cervelli as The Most Interesting Man in Baseball.

On Tuesday, Cervelli, who was in town for an event at the Roberto Clemente Museum, returned to PNC Park for the first time since the Pirates released him in August 2019. The following afternoon, he leaned against the dugout railing during batting practice and exchanged hugs and fist bumps with old friends. We chatted for a while, and I eventually fessed up about his secret nickname.

Cervelli paused for a moment and smiled. “Well, my beard is getting white now, so I think I’m going to be in the Dos Equis commercials.”

After suffering multiple concussions over his 13 years in the majors, Cervelli, 35, retired after the 2020 season. Tuesday was the first time he stepped inside a ballpark since he walked away from the game.

“It’s a process,” Cervelli said. “You retire and you hate baseball for a little bit, then you start missing it again. I’ve been doing family time a lot. Traveling a lot. Doing things that I’d never done. It’s been really good, man. Waking up with no pain in my body or my head. I miss the adrenaline, I miss the fans. I don’t miss baseball, but I miss that. After the game, getting together with your teammates, I miss that.”

Cervelli watched the Pirates play the Tigers from a private suite on Tuesday and also spent a couple of innings gazing at the purple-hued twilight city skyline from the ballpark’s rooftop press box. Standing on the field during BP, he got a little misty-eyed — no surprise from a guy whose walk-up music was “That’s Amore!” — while describing his emotions.

“When you step on the field, the dirt and grass — that smell is the best smell of my life,” Cervelli said. “I saw the game for the first time from up there (points to broadcast booth) and, man, it was impressive. Baseball is in my blood. What can I say?”

Francisco Cervelli, left, caught up with former Pirates coach and current Tigers first-base coach Kimera Bartee on Wednesday. (Rob Biertempfel / The Athletic)

That is why I don’t entirely believe Cervelli’s claim that he doesn’t miss baseball. He wants back in. He’s left messages with MLB Network, casting about for a broadcasting gig. So far, he’s gotten no nibbles. (Hmm … Hey, AT&T SportsNet, wouldn’t it be boffo to have Neil Walker and Cervelli in your studio for pre- and postgame shows next summer? You’re welcome.)

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“I think I’m going to come back in baseball at some point,” Cervelli said, “I would love to do TV, and at some point I would love to be a manager. I think I’d be a good manager.”

Of course Cervelli wants to become the most interesting manager in the majors. After all, he was a catcher, and those guys often have the ingredients — tons of know-how, gut feel and relatability — to succeed as skippers. From their perch behind the plate, the whole game — every play, every position — is spread out before them. It’s a unique and valuable perspective.

“I think (catchers) are very smart,” Cervelli said. “Not pitchers, though. Can you see AJ Burnett managing? No way, because he was a pitcher.”

Cervelli laughed, making it clear the joke was not meant to be malicious. Burnett and Cervelli were batterymates with the Yankees from 2009 to 2011 and again with the Pirates in 2015. Although their personalities contrasted sharply — Cervelli was sugar to Burnett’s salt — they clicked on the field.

“That’s a testament to Cervy,” said Chris Stewart, who was Cervelli’s occasional backup in New York and Pittsburgh. “Burnett, obviously, was an extremely strong person himself. So for Cervelli to connect with AJ, that says something about him and his personality, his ability to adapt to get along with whoever’s out there on the mound.”

When Cervelli announced his retirement 11 months ago, I dialed up Stewart to chat about his former teammate. They first met when Stewart joined the Yankees in 2012. “He’s definitely one of a kind,” Stewart said. “Always smiling, always joking around and having fun, a lot of energy in the clubhouse and in the dugout.”

Cervelli had a flair for the dramatic, too. When a pitcher threw high and tight, Cervelli would drop like it was an air raid. When Cervelli was nicked by a foul tip — which happened a lot — he’d roll in the dirt. “I liked to kid him that he played baseball like he was a soccer player,” Stewart said. “I’d be in the dugout like, ‘Is he really hurt or does he just need a break and wants the trainer to come out and give him a breather?’ I’d be stretching like crazy, not knowing if I was going in or if it’s just Cervelli being Cervelli.”

Francisco Cervelli reacts after being hit by a pitch in 2019. (Charles LeClaire / USA Today)

The Pirates were getting ready to put together a 98-win season when Cervelli arrived in 2015. He played in a career-high 130 games and batted .295/.370/.401, which a year later helped him land a three-year, $32 million extension. That 2015 season had a sour ending, though, as the Pirates were bounced in the National League wild-card game.

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After that, the Pirates collapsed. Ownership cut payroll in 2016, and management began turning over the roster. In 2019, discord erupted in the clubhouse, and eventually most of the front office and coaching staff were sacked. This is the Pirates’ fifth losing season in the past six years.

“In 2015, we had some guys, then in ’16 we didn’t,” Cervelli said. “They didn’t come back, guys who were very important to the clubhouse, especially Neil Walker and Pedro Álvarez. It was a big hit for us because Walker was a fan favorite and we all loved that guy. Pedro was a guy who could fix the game in one swing. For us to adapt to the (changes) was very tough. I got hurt a lot. It was frustrating. One guy gets frustrated, then another guy gets frustrated and it becomes a clubhouse problem. It was messy sometimes.”

The game has changed quite a bit since 2008, when Cervelli made his big-league debut. Not all of it is for the better. Cervelli doesn’t like the ubiquitous all-of-nothing style of homers and strikeouts, and the dearth of long, grinding at-bats. He frowned when someone mentioned robo umps.

“If I was still playing, I would be 100 percent against that,” Cervelli said. “We have replay. That’s it. No more. Sports need human errors. Baseball is fun even when the manager and umpire fight. It’s not a real fight. It’s the moment. It’s adrenaline. They see each other outside and say, ‘Hey, my friend! How are you?’ That’s part of baseball.”

(Top photo of Francisco Cervelli in 2019: Douglas DeFelice / USA Today)

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