When Andrew McCutchen Proposed to His Girlfriend on TV

The Pirate superstar asked his girlfriend to marry him the way many celebrities do—in front of an audience.

by Rich Watson

In recent years, Andrew McCutchen has become one of the game’s biggest stars, mostly as a Pirate. He’s at the tail end of his career now, but his achievements to date include being a five-time All-Star and a former National League MVP. He also competed on the international stage in the World Baseball Classic in 2017.

As a Pirate, he met and dated Maria Hanslovan, the woman who would become his wife in 2013. How he proposed to her, though, took her and his fans by surprise.

First-round draft pick

McCutchen, a Florida native, was drafted by the Pirates in 2005 as the eleventh overall pick in the first round. He opted to go pro instead of attending college at the University of Florida as a football wide receiver. After several years as a top minor league prospect, he was called up by the Pirates in June 2009. He played center field and singled in his first at bat. 

He finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting, though Baseball America named him their Rookie of the Year.

McCutchen’s MVP season

In 2013, the Pirates made the playoffs for the first time since 1992 and the Barry Bonds era, mostly because of McCutchen. He hit .317 with 21 home runs and 84 RBI. He was sixth in stolen bases (27) and runs scored (97), plus among NL center fielders he was third with eleven assists and first with three double plays. Those numbers were good enough to make him the first Pirate to win the Most Valuable Player award since Bonds.

The Pirates won their Wild Card Game against Cincinnati and then faced St. Louis. The best-of-five Division Series went the full five games before the Cardinals broke through for a 6-1 victory.

McCutchen would go on to play for the Giants, Yankees and Phillies in subsequent years, but he has enjoyed being a Pirate the most. As a Pirate he was nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award in 2013, which combines playing ability with off-the-field commitment to community. He mentored Pittsburgh’s inner-city youth and baseball players and worked with Habitat for Humanity, among other services, and welcomed the association with Clemente:

…I don’t want people to know me because I played baseball. I want people to know me for other things I did outside a baseball field. Yeah, Clemente was a great baseball player, but the things he did off the field said more about him. That’s the person that I admire, and that’s how I want to be.

Dating Hanslovan

Hanslovan was part of the Pirates’ cheerleading squad known as the Cannonball Crew when she met McCutchen. Before that the Pennsylvania native majored in biochemistry and forensic chemistry at Slippery Rock University. 

They began dating in 2009 and four years later, he was ready to get hitched—but he had a special idea for how to propose to her.

Popping the question on Ellen

McCutchen was scheduled to appear on a Christmas episode of Ellen, the daytime talk show of Ellen Degeneres. Hanslovan was in the audience. He had a highlight video prepared in advance and at one point during the show, it was played for her.

She joined him on the stage. He pulled out his wedding ring, and in front of Ellen’s studio audience and all her TV viewers, he asked Hanslovan to marry her.

She said yes, of course.

They’ve since had two sons, Steel and Armani. Last month they welcomed a baby girl, Ave Maria.

The Phillies bought out the remainder of McCutchen’s salary rather than re-sign him. This makes him a free agent, and though Pirates fans are hoping he could return to Pittsburgh for one more chance at glory, the odds don’t look good. Still, even if McCutchen’s baseball career is over, his career as a husband and father remains active.

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