Wild Pitches with Jason Bay

Pirates slugger discusses growing up in Canada and more
By Ben Platt / MLB.com

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Welcome to Wild Pitches, where your favorite players take time to chat about something other than baseball. The questions will, hopefully, provide you with a glimpse of the person behind the ballplayer, and maybe a few laughs, too.

Entering his third full season in the Major Leagues, Jason Bay has established himself and one of the best all-around players in baseball. The 28-year-old outfielder from British Columbia, Canada first gained some notoriety in 2003, when he and Padres teammate Oliver Perez were traded from San Diego to the Pirates for Brian Giles. The trade has been beneficial for both teams, especially for Bay, who beat out his best friend, Padres shortstop Khalil Greene, for the 2004 Rookie of the Year award with a .282 batting average, 26 home runs and 82 RBIs. He picked up where he left off in 2005, batting .306 with 32 home runs and 101 RBIs. This season, Bay has already made his second straight trip to the All-Star Game where he represented the Pirates at their home field at PNC Park. Though he lives year round in the United States; his home country of Canada is never far from his heart.

Canada is ...

Home; that's where I grew up. Canadians are very patriotic people and I'm no different. Everyone from Canada has a flag somewhere, maybe a backpack or somewhere in their apartment; wherever it might be. No matter where you are you have that kind of bond, even on the baseball field, the other Canadian players you don't even know or have never played with, you may see them and they always greet you warmly; it's like a brotherhood whether you know them or not.

When I was a kid ...

I played hockey; I am Canadian and I'm still disappointed that the Edmonton Oilers lost in the Stanley Cup finals; it's a big deal and Canadians get excited about things like that. Hockey is our big sport. I lived in a small town with about 8,000 people and it was hockey in the winter and baseball in the summer for me. There really wasn't anything else for me to do growing up. It was a lot easier to play hockey; there were a lot of teams and rinks around.

Playing baseball in Idaho as a kid ...

Was totally normal for me; I didn't know anything different. People would ask me about playing high school baseball, which we didn't have; we had America Legion teams during the summer and Idaho and Washington were our closest competition, so we played and it was a great platform for me to get noticed; I went to a junior college in Idaho and from there I went to Gonzaga University, so it was just normal for me, but, looking back, it was not the most direct route that most people would take.

I may not be the best athlete in my own family ...

My sister Lauren is a very good left-handed softball pitcher. People ask me all the time if I've ever faced her; they want to know all the juicy facts and I have nothing to tell them, because I've never faced her. I don't want to face her; there's really no reason to. The fun thing is that she gets to talk about me and I get to talk about her and rather than talking about ourselves, I think that's more fun for us.

An average offseason day for me ...

My wife Kristen and I live in Phoenix during the offseason. When the season ends there's a lot of resting to start with and there's a Starbucks right near our house, so I'll grab a coffee for my wife and I and I'll grab a newspaper and read it by the pool and maybe run some errands. I've become somewhat of a "Johnny Homeowner" during the offseason and I get to do stuff around the house that I normally don't get to do during the season like pressure-washing the pool deck; most people think that would be mundane, but I like doing the chores. My wife and I like to cook, just the two of us and we'll start cooking dinner at night and we'll enjoy a glass of wine; we're also really into wine during the offseason, that's a big hobby of ours. Kristen is also six-months pregnant, so our offseason is going to be a little different this year and we're really looking forward to it.

The wine collecting ...

Is fun; I don't have a true collection per-se; I know a little bit about wine, but I'm no connoisseur. I can't hold it up and tell you the hint of this or that. I know what we like and again, it's more about being normal during the offseason and having a glass of wine or having people over to entertain. It's something fun to do. I'm no die-hard or wine snob. I just enjoy trying everything. When we get a bigger house one day, I'd definitely like to get a 5000 bottle wine cellar and really start collecting the stuff I really like. Right now it's just a hobby, down the road it may actually be a collection.

My TV shows are ...

"CSI;" Miami, Las Vegas, they're both great. We watch "Law & Order," anything on HBO; we have the full HBO package and my wife will get mad at me because I keep the TV on HBO all the time; it doesn't matter what movie or series on, I'll watch it. I also like the HD packages, so I'll look at the High Definition channels; so even if it's a caterpillar on a leaf, if it's in High-Def, I'll watch it.

My iPod has ...

About 10,000 songs on it. I have the 60-Gig version and I just throw everything on it. I have a lot of 80's rock, Monster Ballad type stuff, 38 Special, Skid Row, some ballad songs and other stuff, but I'm an 80's music kind of guy.

When I'm done playing ball ...

Hopefully, I won't have to do anything. If you play long enough things take care of themselves. I'll really look forward to just being a normal dad; with Kristen being pregnant and us wanting more kids, I hope we have the luxury that playing baseball provides is that when you're done and everything works out like you want it to, you get to spend that you didn't get to spend early with your kids and that's a big thing for me; whether it's coaching a team or dropping your daughter off at some recital. Like I said before; I take great joy out of everyday things I don't get to do during the season.

Ben Platt is a national correspondent for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.