Two years after their first FaceTime conversation, O’Neal Crews of the Pittsburgh Pirates was finally able to meet his namesake, New York Yankees announcer Paul O’Neal.
Cruz and O’Neal finally met in person before the Pirates’ 9-4 victory over the Yankees on Saturday.
“I feel really happy,” Cruz told YES Network through translator and Pirates coach Stephen Morales. “I’m glad to finally meet him.”
The last time the Pirates played at Yankee Stadium in 2022, O’Neal was not part of the YES Network call-up. Instead, the two had a video chat, and O’Neal, who played 17 years in the majors with the Yankees and Cincinnati Reds, sent him an autographed jersey as a gift.
“When you hear about Yankees fans naming their kids, it’s a real honor,” O’Neal told YES on Saturday. “I found out he was born in 1998. It was a great year for us (the Yankees won the World Series).
Cruz is grateful to his father, Rafael, for giving him his first name. Rafael Cruz spent parts of three seasons in the Texas Rangers organization in the mid-1980s, and his favorite player at the time was O’Neal. So when our son was born in 1998, we had a clear choice of a second name for him.
“Ever since I was a kid in my hometown, everyone thought my name came from Shaquille O’Neal,” O’Neal Cruz told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2022. Ta. , that’s another guy, my dad’s favorite baseball player. ” To this day, I haven’t looked into it in detail, but I need to know the full story. ”
Cruz hasn’t had much success against O’Neal’s old team in his young career. The Pirates shortstop/center fielder has 1-for-11 at bats against the Yankees since reaching the majors in 2021.
But 2024 was a breakout year for Cruz offensively, with 21 home runs, 34 doubles and 76 RBIs, numbers that impressed the man he is named after.
“He’s not a little guy,” O’Neill said. “I’m very impressed with the way he looks and clearly he has a bright future.”