TAMPA — This week’s Pop Quiz question came to us from Jerry Jacobs of Manhattan:
Name the future Hall of Famer who appeared — and sang! — on a 1972 episode of “Hee Haw.”
— On Wednesday at McKechnie Field, I spoke with Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez, who grew up in the New York area and played high school ball at Horace Mann in Riverdale.
KD: Do you still have connections in New York? Is your family there? I wasn’t sure.
PA: I’ve got a ton of family still in New York.
KD: Do you make it back there much?
PA: Just for holidays. Either Christmas or Thanksgiving. Usually just once during the offseason.
KD: And did you grow up a New York baseball fan?
PA: Excuse me?
KD: Did you grow up a New York baseball fan?
PA: I actually grew up a Red Sox fan. My dad was a Red Sox fan. I just kind of followed in his footsteps.
KD: Were you in New York growing up? Was it just in high school? I wasn’t sure.
PA: I grew up pretty much my whole life in New York, yeah.
KD: That was pretty bold, to root for the Red Sox.
PA: Like I said, my dad was a Red Sox fan, so I wanted to follow his footsteps.
KD: I just wanted to ask you about the Home Run Derby last year. I know it got a lot of attention in New York. I know David Wright got booed here, and it wound up working out for you. Was it worth…is it fun for the players? I’ll tell you, as a sober adult, it’s kind of slow and drawn-out. It can be boring.
PA: No, it’s definitely very exciting. I had a lot of fun doing it. I’m very appreciative of the opportunity to be able to do that, especially at home. I had a blast with it.
KD: Did you ever speak to David about the fans booing him?
PA: I think it got a little blown out of proportion. Again, I was just very fortunate to get the opportunity at the end. I just think it was blown out of proportion.
KD: Yeah. I just can’t imagine fans caring enough about who’s in it.
PA: Well, they obviously do. It is what it is. Again, at the end it worked out the way it did. I think it just shows the support we get from our fan base here. It’s a good thing.
KD: You won the Silver Slugger award last year, right? You won the home run title.
PA: Yes.
KD: What do you get for that?
PA: A silver bat.
KD: An actual bat.
PA: Yeah.
KD: Where are you keeping that?
PA: I don’t know. I don’t have it yet.
KD: Do you have any goals for this year?
PA: Just to continue to learn. Continue to grow as a person, as a player. Help this team. The main goal is to win the World Series.
KD: Obviously the power is a huge plus. Do you work on getting on base more at all? Is that a focal point?
PA: We work on everything.
KD: I appreciate your time.
PA: Â No problem.
–Your Pop Quiz answer is Johnny Bench. If you want to submit a tidbit that correlates baseball with pop culture, please send it to me at kdavidoff@nypost.com.