Two hugs will be on Bednar's mind this Mother's Day

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

PITTSBURGH -- Sometimes, you just need a hug from your mom. Out of the countless ones Sue Bednar has given her eldest son, David, two really hit home.

The first came in 2016, after being away from his family for the longest stretch of his career. David was in the Cape Cod League when he was selected by the Padres in the 35th round of the 2016 Draft, and he had to book it to the other side of the country to Pasco, Wash., to join the Tri-City Dust Devils.

A pro journey was far from guaranteed. Bednar wasn’t heavily recruited out of Mars High School. He didn’t light up radar guns as a teenager, but when Lafayette College coach Joe Kinney saw him pitch in person as a senior, he offered him a scholarship. David accepted, but that meant he would need to move to the eastern part of Pennsylvania, away from home.

It didn’t matter. Sue and his father, Andy, were still there to watch, crossing the Keystone State plenty of times.

“Her and my dad would make trips to Lafayette all the time,” Bednar said. “They’d make a day trip out to Philly. I’d be pitching at 1 o’clock, they’d drive out early that morning and have to go home that night.”

Between being at college, going to the Cape Cod League and going to the other coast, Bednar had been away from his family for months. That was until Sue showed up in Pasco one day to see her son play and give him a hug.

Fast forward three years for the second hug. Bednar had risen through the Padres’ system and made his Major League debut in San Francisco. There wasn’t that much warning that Bednar was going up to the Majors. There were even fewer flights, so Sue and Andy couldn’t attend. They instead caught him in Arizona, the next stop on the Padres’ road trip.

That kid who wasn’t getting recruited out of high school was hugging his mom at a Major League stadium.

“It was just the realization of everything it took to get to that point,” Bednar said. “Just realizing how special that moment was.”

Bednar’s return home and growth into an All-Star closer has been one of the better local angles to come out of Pittsburgh this decade. Bednar also has been one of the most impactful Pittsburgh athletes in the community these past five years, being the Pirates’ nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award three times.

That’s a product of his upbringing, and what he, his brother, Will – who pitches in the Giants’ farm system – and sister, Danielle, learned from their parents. Bednar has a competitive edge when on the mound, something he learned from his dad, a coach and former pitcher himself. Off the mound, he’s almost always wearing a smile. Collected, chill, happy. That’s Sue.

“She’s always really supportive and positive,” Bednar said. “I think that’s where I get my ‘go with the flow’ type mindset. It was her balance.”

Earlier this year, Bednar and his wife, Casey, welcomed their first child. Now embarked on his own parenting journey, he has some role models to look up to.

“It’s not like one memory that sticks out,” Bednar said. “It’s the culmination of all of them, with the common theme of [her] always being there for me. I think that’s what means the most.”