Brandon Lowe's farming future part of how Pirates will celebrate Players' Weekend

LOS ANGELES — While it’s something he’d certainly like to delay for as long as possible, Brandon Lowe knows what he'll be doing on the first day of the off-season.

He’ll be buying a tractor with his son, Emmett. In the meantime, the impending adventure will compromise part of Lowe's gear for Players’ Weekend during the Pirates’ series against the Dodgers.

Lowe had a pair of bats made through Old Hickory and artist Chloe Berkey. One is a picture of a father and son on a tractor, the other a family on a duck hunt.

Both represent life goals for the Pirates second baseman, who recently purchased 60 acres of farmland in Tennessee and plans to make that his post-playing life, complete with animals, crops and, of course, a tractor or two.

“I love the idea of having space, being outside and raising kids in that environment,” Lowe said. “It really spoke to me, and I was able to convince my wife [Madison] to do it.

“We’re in the process of getting a house built. We’re not living there just yet, but we’re hoping soon.”

The tractor has its own story. Last offseason, Lowe nearly bought one sight-unseen. But he decided to wait and involve Emmett, who’s apparently obsessed with tractors.

“He gets his patience from me,” Brandon said, laughing. “Probably for the last three or four months, he’s been asking once a day, ‘Can we go buy the tractor?’ Day one of the offseason, we’re gonna go get it.”

In the meantime, Lowe can look at his Players’ Weekend bat, with a depiction of him driving the tractor and Emmett in the buddy seat. His other bat features Brandon, Madison, Emmett and daughter Bella on a family duck hunt.

It’s another bucket-list item for Brandon, who has brought Emmett on duck hunts and has been trying to convince Madison to brave the 4 a.m. wakeup calls and cold temperatures in the winter.

Lowe also isn’t the only Pirate with specially designed gear for Players’ Weekend.

Esmerlyn Valdez’s mom is an elementary school teacher back home in the Dominican Republic, and he’s been looking for a way to support youth and education initiatives.

That led to a partnership with Casa San Jose in Dormont, which provides social services, education, health care and immigrant rights advocacy to the Latino community in the Pittsburgh area.

Earlier this month, Valdez challenged a summer camp at the facility to draw their biggest dreams, with Roberto Clemente as an underlying theme. Valdez selected his favorite drawing and had it put on a pair of cleats for Players' Weekend.

Selecting the winner coincided with an appearance at Casa San Jose’s Back to School Bash, where Valdez signed autographs, posed for photos and spoke with dozens of families, before reading them a book about Clemente and talking about why the Great One means so much to him and the game of baseball.

Last year we saw Spencer Horwitz use Players' Weekend to raise awareness for mental health and support initiatives.

Horwitz said he's struggled with mental health issues in the past and had to leave a game in 2018 because he suffered a severe panic and anxiety attack during a Cape Cod League game. Like all of us, he has plenty of family and friends affected by mental health issues.

Four dots and half a parenthesis -- a design depicting two emotions -- adorned much of Horwitz's gear last season, which was auctioned to benefit the Charles E. Kubly Foundation, benefitting those affected by depression.

"It’s the same thing as social media almost," Horwitz said. "Fans and other guys around the league can see you in a different light. I’m sure when people talk to me at first base, they won’t think I’m someone who has struggled with mental health. But I’ve struggled with it. My family and friends have. It’s something that’s definitely close to me.

Players’ Weekend gear also highlights off-the-field interests like Jake Mangum’s obsession with Pokemon; Jacob Gonzalez being a fan of One Piece, a Japanese manga series; and Nick Gonzales loving John Wick movies.

Here's a sampling of other gear Pirates players will showcase this weekend in Los Angeles.

Players’ Weekend focuses on showcasing players’ personalities and off-the-field interests.

In addition to custom gear, you'll see plenty of player-focused programming across MLB Network and social media promotion of charitable initiatives and seeing the game through their eyes.

Much of the gear worn throughout the league will later be auctioned to benefit charities players select through MLB Auctions.

Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH on X.