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Editor's note: This is the second story in a series looking back at various aspects of the Curve as the franchise celebrates its 20th season.
It's hard to imagine Curve history without Adam Hyzdu, but we don't have to because, as he pointed out repeatedly, Altoona was "Where I was supposed to be."
The Hyzdu legend, which includes him having his No. 16 retired by the Curve in 2000 and still being beloved by fans nearly two decades later, is one of the most remarkable things you'll find anywhere in minor league baseball.
But how did it all start?
With Hyzdu back in town for tonight's game and a bobblehead giveaway for his place on the franchise's all-time team, it's worth going back in time to May of 1999 and revisiting what led "Mr. Curve" to Altoona in the first place.
"Something we were trying to do at the time was building clubs with better, winning records in the minor leagues, and we felt Adam would add that," then-Pirates general manager Cam Bonifay recalled this week. "It turns out he added much more."
Hyzdu was a first-round draft pick of the San Francisco Giants in 1990, but by May of 1999, he was a 27-year-old outfielder who still had yet to reach the major leagues. And he no longer fit into the plans of the Boston Red Sox, who released him from Triple-A Pawtucket.
"It was kind of a weird time because I was feeling so positive because I had such a good spring training and just wasn't part of the mix when the season started," Hyzdu said by phone from Arizona this week. "So I felt reasonably comfortable that I'd be able to get a job."
He called a friend, a manager in the Triple-A International League, who checked with another guy about a potential job. But there wasn't an opening.
So, Hyzdu packed up his stuff at Pawtucket and began to drive back to see his family in Cincinnati, where he had been a local star who broke Ken Griffey Jr.'s home run record at Moeller High School.
"I was like, if it's supposed to happen, it'll happen," he said of landing a job.
Then, sure enough, fate intervened.
As he drove toward Cincinnati, the Curve were playing a road series at Akron. During that time, Pirates farm director Paul Tinnell had called Hyzdu's agent.
"My agent called and said, 'Hey, I've got a job for you, but it's in Double-A,'" Hyzdu said. "I'm like, 'All right. At least I'm playing.'
"Before I got to Cincinnati, I was called to go meet the team in Akron. Almost on the way, so it kind of worked out perfect."
Hyzdu had hit 23 homers with 84 RBIs and batted .276 for Pawtucket in 1997, but the Red Sox didn't call him up to the majors. Two years later, after Boston had released him, he had reached a different point in his development career, and one key thing appealed to the Pirates.
They had a new Double-A affiliate in Altoona, and the roster was filled with a bunch of young, talented players. But many of those players were having a tough time adjusting to Double-A because of their immaturity on and off the field, and the Curve were languishing well under .500.
The Pirates wanted Hyzdu to come in and be the veteran leader who could help the younger players. And boy, did he ever.
"It was kind of like the first crossover because they signed me because there was some guys on the team that were very young and immature, and they wanted me to be an influence," Hyzdu said. "And so for me, it was the like the first time I really crossed over to, OK, I'm not the prospect anymore. I'm now the old guy that's supposed to help."
Things are very different in the Pirates' organization now compared to then. Under the current front office, the Bucs for years have sent high-quality but younger players to Double-A to test them, sort of letting them sink or swim and seldom signing older free agents. The Curve have reached the playoffs three straight years and won the Eastern League title last season, so the philosophy has worked.
In 1999, though, the Pirates were mired in what would become a 20-year losing streak in the major leagues. The philosophy then was to mix and match the younger prospects on minor league teams with a bunch of veterans who could help shoulder the burden in a lot of areas.
"Our thought process was just to find quality guys that could help us win," Bonifay said. "It was Paul (Tinnell's) responsibility on a day-to-day basis to do the research, look at our scouting reports and then make the decision on who we should invite to major league camp or minor league camp.
"All that went through me, but Paul was the trigger man in the whole process and should definitely get the credit that he deserves for bringing a quality player (like Hyzdu) into our organization."
Tinnell and the Pirates were the first ones to call Hyzdu's agent with a job offer. There weren't any additional other offers, although Hyzdu said that's not uncommon.
"No, because once you sign up, that's pretty much the end of it," he said. "I didn't need to wait around. I was, 'Well, this where I'm supposed to be.'"
Hyzdu joined the Curve for that first series in Akron, and since this was 1999 and the Internet didn't have a bevy of information available on minor league players, there really was no way to quickly learn details about who Hyzdu was and what he could bring to the table.
Radio broadcaster Rob Egan even infamously referred to Hyzdu as "Hydzu" throughout that first game, and to this day, Egan can still laugh about it because it just went to show how unknown the outfielder was to his new team.
It didn't take long, however, for all of that to change.
"When he arrived, he was kind of a man amongst boys," Aaron France, a pitcher on that 1999 Curve team, said this week from California. "He had so much experience and had been around the block, and he really kind of carried our team on his shoulders there for a while. He was a fan favorite, he was wonderful at the plate."
Hyzdu turned out to be a sensational player for the Curve, hitting .316 with 24 homers, 78 RBIs and a 1.003 OPS in 1999.
He also proved to be a great team leader.
"We did have some younger talent on that team," France said. "I know (Triple-A) Nashville had a lot more experience, around-the-block type of guys, and so the Curve team had a lot of guys that were kind of making their first appearance in Double-A that year. So to have somebody like Adam Hyzdu, who had that kind of experience, was definitely something that I think the team needed."
Hyzdu was new to the role of veteran team leader, but he was so good on the field and handled himself so well off of it that it was impossible for his teammates not to be impressed -- and to learn something.
"I think there's certainly an element of having a responsible type approach to your daily grind of play, instead of being just, hey, I go play baseball," Hyzdu said.
Hyzdu's terrific play warranted him a great deal of attention from the local media. He would do something special almost every day, so he was constantly on TV and in the newspapers serving as the team spokesman. He handled those responsibilities as well as he played, and as the All-American boy in a town with a brand new professional team, he naturally became the face of the franchise.
Hyzdu's story from 2000 and beyond is well known in these parts. The Pirates shockingly did not send him to Triple-A that spring and instead had him come back to Altoona for a second season.
"Well, it wasn't ideal," he said of going back to Double-A in 2000. "But again, I just figured that's where I was supposed to be. And I've kind of lived most of my life that way, and it's given me a lot of comfort because my road through baseball is really windy. So just understand that God is in control, and if you're supposed to be here, then fine. There's peace with that."
Hyzdu was nothing short of tremendous for the Curve in 2000. He established franchise records that still stand today by hitting 31 homers with 106 RBIs, plus he batted .290 while playing in all 142 games and committing just one error in the outfield. He was the easy choice for Eastern League MVP, the only one in Curve history.
The franchise made an incredible statement when it retired Hyzdu's No. 16 on the final day of the 2000 season. The Curve were just two years old and already were retiring a player's number, which seemed odd to many people around the Eastern League.
But had they been in Altoona during the two years, those people would have understood what Hyzdu meant.
Bonifay, now a scout for the Cincinnati Reds, said he's never seen anything like the Altoona-Hyzdu connection in all his years in the game.
"It's a special relationship," Hyzdu said. "I was there the first two years of the team, and it just kind of budded into this weird kind of mutual respect and love, and it was great."
After all he had done for the Curve, it finally happened. The Pirates called Hyzdu up to the big leagues in September of 2000, and he made his MLB debut at 28 years old. The city of Altoona and Curve fans had rallied around him so much that he was getting an enormous amount of media attention in Pittsburgh throughout the season.
Bonifay said the decision to give Hyzdu a shot in the majors was an easy one.
"There was really no pressure to bring him to the major league level," the former GM said. "More of excitement and hoping he would continue to do that once he got to the major league level if given the opportunity. ... We were more than overjoyed the way it turned out because he not only was a quality player, but a quality individual that did everything the right way."
Hyzdu went on to play in 221 major league games for four teams between 2000-06, and he was part of a Red Sox team that won a World Series in 2004. He retired following the 2007 season, having hit 299 home runs with 1,085 RBIs and a .273 batting average for his career.
Hyzdu now resides in Arizona and owns an RV business, and he lives a pretty quiet life, which he enjoys. He told a funny story when asked about his Curve legacy and the retired number.
"Here's what's happening now," he said. "I have friends' kids who go and visit the town or their son calls and tells them they're taking a picture of the Hyzdu sign.
"I'm just thankful for the respect, I guess," he added. "It's very easy to be anonymous, and for the most part, I kind of like that. But this is actually a neat thing."
It's as unique of a relationship between a minor league town and a former player as you'll find, and after all these years, it's still pretty amazing.
"Yes, that does amaze me," Hyzdu said.