Two years after their first conversation over FaceTime, Oneil Cruz of the Pittsburgh Pirates finally got to meet his namesake, New York Yankees broadcaster Paul O’Neill.
Prior to the Pirates 9-4 win over the Yankees on Saturday, Cruz and O’Neill finally met in person.
“I feel really happy,” Cruz said to YES Network via interpreter and Pirates coach Stephen Morales. “It’s my pleasure to finally meet him.”
When the Pirates last played at Yankee Stadium in 2022, O’Neill wasn’t on the call for YES Network. Instead, the pair videochatted and O’Neill, who played 17 years in the majors with the Yankees and Cincinnati Reds, sent a signed jersey as a gift.
“When you hear these stories about Yankees fans naming their children, it’s quite an honor, really,” O’Neill said to YES on Saturday. “I saw he was born in 1998. It was a wonderful year for us [Yankees won the World Series].
Cruz can thank his father, Rafael, for 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’Neill. So when his son was born in 1998, he had an obvious choice for a first name.
“In my hometown, ever since I was a child, everyone used to assume my name came from Shaquille O’Neal,” Oneil Cruz told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2022. “I’d have to correct them and said, ‘No, it’s another guy, my dad’s favorite ballplayer.’ To this day, I haven’t really dug in to find out, but I need to get the full story.”
Cruz hasn’t had much success against O’Neill’s old team in his young career. The Pirates’ shortstop/centerfield is 1-for-11 versus the Yankees since he came up to the majors in 2021.
But 2024 has shown to be a breakout year offensively for Cruz with 21 home runs, 71 runs and 76 RBI — numbers that have impressed the man he’s named after.
“He’s not a little guy,” O’Neill said. “I’m pretty impressed with the way he looks, and obviously he’s got a bright future.”