Little Leaguers Help Pirates' Paul Skenes Rekindle Love for Baseball
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PITTSBURGH — Paul Skenes is one of the most recognizables figures in baseball, but it's not always easy for the Pittsburgh Pirates ace to remember how much he loves the game.
Skenes got a chance to do just that when he met with local Little Leaguers on June 8, where he played catch with them and signed autographs as well.
He went to Vestal Field in McCandless Township, about 12 miles north of PNC Park, and spent time with the Ingomar Franklin Park Little League (IFPLL)
It wasn't something that Skenes planned at all, as he was just drawn to a baseball field while driving, which turned into something far more special than he anticipated.
“I was driving down the road and I saw a baseball field and I was bored, so went down and wanted to watch some baseball," Skenes said. "I guess I’m not very good at staying incognito. Should’ve worn some sunglasses and a fake mustache. Yeah just went down and went to one of the little league fields.”
Skenes Gets Back to the Basics
Skenes holds himself accountable for many things and also a great deal of responsibility on and off the field.
He is the ace for the Pirates, the star of their rotation and a key component of a franchise building a winning culture and trying to get back to the postseason.
Skenes is also one of the best pitchers in baseball, coming off of winning the 2025 National League Cy Young Award, and also a member of the MLBPA eight-member subcommittee, ahead of an impending lockout when the CBA expires on Dec. 1.
He remembers his time growing up in southern California and meeting his hero, Los Angeles Angels pitcher Garrett Anderson and just how much that meant to him.
Skenes spending time with those Little Leaguers reminded him of what it's like being around someone you're in awe of, but also that baseball matters much more than just the work put in on the field.
“Yeah it’s really important," Skenes said. "I think everybody kind of goes through it. Not necessarily why I stopped. I went to watch some baseball, but you got to remember it’s just a game. There’s a lot of things that make it a business. It’s work, it’s a job for us, for sure, on some days more than others, but you got to remember you love the game and why you started playing it in the first place. So it was good for me to visit them because of that.”
The moment for Skenes was just off chance, but it was one that reminded him of why baseball is America's past time, especially when watching children play it in its purest form.
Far away from the salaries, labor bargaining, pressure of a whole city and franchise that's not won in so long, Skenes saw the true beauty of the sport that led to him to this very point today.
“...We’ve all played those sandlot fields when we were nine," Skenes said. "The kids were nine years old. There was a 10u team, an 11u team I think there too, a 13u team came by after, but yeah the game looks different when it’s 200 foot fences and there are no ads out there, no fans out there, just playing for the love of the game.”
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Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.