Gerrit Cole will wait to throw first pitch due to future ‘mound issue’

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole will have quite the challenge of slowing down an explosive Cubs lineup in Wednesday’s wild-card game.

This may be part of the reason he’s delaying his first pitch, which may be an effort to channel the 1909 Pirates’ spirit.

In 1909, Pittsburgh defeated the Detroit Tigers and Ty Cobb in seven games to win the World Series.

According to ESPN’s John Buccigross, Cole will delay his start to 7:09 CST. The pitcher cited a mound issue as the cause for the late start, even though this news was reported early Wednesday.

It’s been duly noted that baseball players are superstitious so it shouldn’t be a surprise that Cole would try to invoke the support of his past brethren.