Eldred reminisces about journey from Blair County to Japan
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Driving to Altoona Thursday for an appearance at PNG Field, Brad Eldred thought back to his time in a Curve uniform.
"It was almost 20 years ago," Eldred said before the game. "Quite a long time and to think it's been that long, it's kind of scary. It was a long time ago, but it's nice to see that not much is different."
The affectionately nicknamed "Big Country" had plenty to reminisce about for his time in Altoona. His time with the Curve was one of the most incredible performances in all of professional baseball.
Those memories included going on one of the most spectacular runs in professional baseball history, hitting 30 home runs in 60 games, and 50 RBIs in a single month.
"It was a really good spurt of playing well, and it was like, you hope it never ends, of course, but that's not baseball," Eldred said. "It's hard to match that really, there's no other time that's really quite as good as that spurt."
He's not wrong, there's not been anything like that, especially in Altoona.
"I don't really remember too many. strikeouts from here," Eldred said. "I don't remember getting out too many times, which is good, but you always forget the bad, bad stuff anyway."
The legend of Eldred goes far beyond what he did in Altoona. It involves a struggle in Pittsburgh where he hit only 15 home runs as a Pirate then takes him to Japan where he excelled as a member of the Hiroshima Carp hitting 163 home runs over the course of his career playing in Japan.
"It was a really great league. They have a lot of good players. A lot of guys that could play in the Major Leagues," Eldred said of the talent in Japan.
Baseball in Japan is far more than the players on the field, what goes on in the stadiums during games is a big factor in the experience for both fans and players alike.
"It's just like being in the major leagues," Eldred said. " The cool was the cheering section is kind of like a college football game. The whole time you're hitting they're cheering and doing horns and trumpets. So it's a little different than here as opposed to where guys cheer only when something happens. So they're kind of full time cheer, lots of excitement and they love the game. Love it."
Eldred's last game for the Carp was in 2018, but he's still very much involved in the game of baseball and with the Hiroshima organization.
"Now, I'm scouting for the Carp," Eldred said. "I'm looking at players here trying to do the reverse, bring them over to Japan and see what they can do."
How fitting for Eldred that he's now looking for the next Big Country to follow in his footsteps.