Harrison puts aside Cincinnati ties for Wild Card Game

PITTSBURGH -- The large contingent of media entered the Pirates clubhouse Monday and made a beeline for the locker of ... no, not Andrew McCutchen, but Josh Harrison.

The Bucs' Mr. Versatility -- he has played six different positions, including pitcher -- is the Cincinnati Kid through and through: born and raised in the city, an all-around sports icon at both Princeton High School and the University of Cincinnati.

All of which make him a focal point of the National League Wild Card Game for media from the Queen City.

Harrison, however, wouldn't take the bait: Beating his hometown Reds wouldn't make victory any sweeter.

"Not really. We'd like to beat them, sure, but to us it doesn't matter if it's the Reds, the Cardinals, or whoever," Harrison said. "It's a blessing just being here and, at the end of the day, we just have to worry about ourselves, not who we are playing."

Harrison did allow that the past few days have connected him with more Cincinnati acquaintances than usual.

"They tried to reach out to me, texting, 'We're rooting for you.' I don't know if they mean 'you and the Pirates' or just rooting for me, but I'll take it as rooting for the Pirates."