The origins of the Bucs’ home run celebration

This story was excerpted from Justice delos Santos’ Pirates Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

We are in a golden age of home run celebrations, and the Pirates aren’t missing out on the opportunity to add their own unique flair.

Earlier this week, the Pirates unveiled a cutlass that’s given to any player who homers, a prop whose origins date back to the early 2010s.

“It’s always nice to celebrate our successes because this game is hard enough,” said Andrew McCutchen. “So, to be able to find ways to have fun, it’s something you need in this game. So, celebrate. Celebrate as much as you can.”

Introducing an actual cutlass is the evolution of the team’s base-hit celebration; whenever someone singled or doubled, they pulled out an imaginary sword. The invisible sword was nice, but the team decided they needed something real.

Any player could’ve easily purchased a prop online, but the cutlass that the team uses comes from the Pittsburgh Pirate Queen Banshee & Queen’s Consort Scriv’ner, a married couple who reside in section 132 and has come to games dressed as pirates for nine years.

The night before the home opener, Banshee and Scriv’ner, who prefer to remain anonymous, attended Allegheny City Brewing’s event to promote a beer named after Mitch Keller: Kellerbier. They met Keller at the event, and Keller immediately recognized the duo.

“I said something like, ’No, you couldn’t possibly know who I am,’” Banshee recalled. “He’s like, ’No, I know you. We all know you. We love you.’ Scriv'ner had to stop me from running out.”

During conversation, Keller asked where he could get a sword. Banshee said Keller could find one online or at the Pittsburgh Renaissance Fair, but also offered Scriv’ner’s personal sword, one that he’s had for a decade. As Banshee recalled, Keller got “this look on his face.”

“You can see the wheels are turning,” Banshee said.

Later that night, Banshee and Scriv’ner posted a photo of the sword, mentioning Keller so that he would see it. Banshee told Keller via DM that if he wanted the sword, it was his.

At the home opener, Scriv’ner spotted Keller as he was walking off the field and waved him over. Banshee and Scriv’ner not only gave Keller and David Bednar the sword, but silver electrical tape in case the sword needed repairs.

The existence of the sword first became publicized when Jack Suwinski homered on April 11, but the first person to wield the cutlass was, appropriately enough, McCutchen, who hit an opposite-field home run in the ninth inning of the Pirates' 11-5 loss to the White Sox on April 8. On the broadcast, Banshee and Scriv’ner caught the few frames in which McCutchen debuted the cutlass, Banshee noting she almost couldn’t function due to her excitement. McCutchen being the first player to use the sword was a full-circle moment for Banshee and Scriv’ner, who saw McCutchen hit a walk-off home run on one of their first dates.

Following his start on April 11, Keller said that he hopes that Banshee and Scriv’ner feel that they’re part of the team because of their contribution. When Banshee and Scriv’ner were asked how it felt for Keller to say they were a part of the team, neither could properly find the words to encapsulate their appreciation.

“Honestly, speechless,” Banshee said. “I can’t put into words what I actually feel with that right now.”

“I don’t have the perfect word for it,” Scriv’ner said. “I’d have to write a paragraph and dig through the thesaurus for a couple hours to figure out the right words.”

The Pirates have a fake cutlass, sure, but would they ever unveil a real one?

“Yeah, as long as you guys don’t report it,” Ji Man Choi said through interpreter Daniel Park.