Three questions with Pirates reliever Jared Hughes

Jared Hughes, relief pitcher

You’ve got some retro gaming going on in your time away from the park this spring with a Super Nintendo and an emulator for an N64. What made you want to have those retro systems?

“It’s what I grew up on, honestly, and it’s easier to travel with because it’s smaller. Honestly, having those systems, the older ones, are smaller than carrying around a big Xbox or something. It’s so much fun and so easy. You can kind of turn it on real quick and play it for 10 minutes and then turn it off. There’s no loading.”

Some of the games you said you’re playing are Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball, NHL 94, Madden 96 and Super Mario Kart for SNES, and GoldenEye 007 for N64. Why do you gravitate toward sports games?

“I just love playing those old school sports games on Nintendo, Super Nintendo and N64. Probably, because I’m competitive and it’s easy to play two players. You play Mario or something, it’s usually only one player. Even Zelda, I think, is one player. ... So I love the two player games, and my buddies and I used to get so competitive growing up.”

You’re now a father after your son, Will, was born in December. What’s that like and how has fatherhood changed your perspective on life?

“It’s awesome. It’s a lot of fun. The little man, it’s pretty easy right now. He sleeps a lot. So knock on wood, hopefully he keeps sleeping a lot. ... I feel like I already valued family first. So just having him here confirms that. ... It’s really special in that you see this little life that you have to take care of. So the responsibility portion of it definitely changes my perspective.”