Bay Back Home

GVB: Jason, first of all, welcome back to town. I talked to you last time on the conference call with all the writers and stuff, and I guess it's still sinking in.

Bay: Yeah, it's been a lot different with me being in Seattle. When it happened I just did all the interviews. Now it's quieted down. This is the first time I've been back since it happened and I've kind of taken note of the places I've visited and the people I met. I signed some autographs and stuff like that, seeing what the Pirates have done, it really brings it to light, what I've accomplished.

GVB: I started the thing with the two rookies from the same town in the two major sports. I guess I started a firestorm. But it is kind of unique I think.

Bay: Definitely. I'm actually surprised at how many times it has happened, being that a lot of them were from a long time ago and I wasn't even aware of them. I thought maybe it had never happened and Jimmy had shown me that it had happened, just not in a while. It's definitely better for the Pirates, Steelers, and the city of Pittsburgh.

GVB: The thing that's interesting, I think, about it is that most of the other times it happened, it was in a real, real major media market like Los Angeles or Chicago or something like that. A town this size, this is unique.

Bay: Right. Like I said, the fans are definitely looking for some positives and I think this is really good for the city of Pittsburgh.

GVB: Are you pretty aware of what Big Ben's been doing?

Bay: Definitely. You see it everywhere. He's been leading the team and they've been doing it lots of different ways. They're fun to watch.

GVB: I talked to him about you and he was definitely aware of what you've been doing, too. That has to make you feel good.

Bay: Yeah, it does. We're on two totally different schedules as far as playing and stuff like that. I like to follow football and I'm sure some of those guys like to follow baseball, too, so it's pretty neat.

GVB: A quick comment on what's been going on in the off-season. You've obviously been following some of the things the team's been doing. Do you like some of the things that are going on?

Bay: I really do. I think we're getting to a point now where Dave's finally getting to what he wants to do. Losing Jason (Kendall) was definitely huge but when you have a $30-35 million payroll and one making a third of that, it's very tough. I think that with the return we got for him, two guys, in essence, after we traded (Damian) Rhodes and got (Matt) Lawton, that's probably going to make us a better team.

GVB: You have a young core coming back, too. That hasn't happened in a while. There's good chemistry, I think, on this team.

Bay: I think Lloyd made the comment to someone at the end of the season that this is probably the first year since he's been that he's going to Spring Training with more-or-less a lineup than trying to fill some holes. He's got more-or-less what he wants to see and that's exciting.

GVB: Jason, I appreciate the time.

Bay: No problem.