241 miles – a three hour and 36 minute drive – separate Victory Field in Indianapolis, Indiana and Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri.

It’s the distance Indianapolis Indians infielder Matt Hague traveled to make his first appearance of the 2014 season with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Hague spent time with the Pirates in 2012 and has a total of 54 days of Major League experience. Like most players, his road to “the Show”  has been anything but straight and smooth. It’s been curvy with many stops along the way.

From high school baseball until the Big Leagues, Hague has played for nine teams:

• Kentwood High School Conquerors
• University of Washington Huskies
• Oklahoma State University Cowboys
• State College Spikes (A-, New York-Pennsylvania League)
• Hickory Crawdads (A, South Atlantic League)
• Lynchburg Hillcats (A+, Carolina League)
• Altoona Curve (AA, Eastern League)
• Indianapolis Indians (AAA, International League)
• Pittsburgh Pirates (Major League Baseball)

For Hague, finding out he was being called up was different than most, like Indians’ teammate Gregory Polanco who found out post game. The news came mid-game. He recalls sitting on the bench while manager Dean Treanor was on the field at third base coaching and started calling him over. Since it was the middle of the game Hague wasn’t sure where this conversation might go.

“He said, ‘Get your stuff. Don’t say anything. You’re going to St. Louis right now. You have to drive right now,'” said Hague. “I didn’t say anything and was like, ‘Wait, are you being serious?'”

Dean then told him to stop talking and get his stuff and go. So that’s what Hague did and he found himself traveling that 241 miles to Busch Stadium.

“I was pushing the time, until the game time started,” said Hague. “The game in St. Louis was at 8:05 p.m. this time so when I got there, there’s an hour difference. I got there at 6:40 p.m. for a 7:05 p.m. game there.”

He arrived so close to game time mostly because there was traffic and construction. “I had a lot of road rage,” he said. That’s understandable, especially knowing that when he arrives at the stadium he will be joining the Pirates for the first time since Spring Training.

“First of all, going to St. Louis is awesome. I’ve always really wanted to do that. In 2012, when I was called up I didn’t get a chance to go to St. Louis then,” said Hague. “But it was awesome, all the history and the fans there. It was an honor to be there.”

In his first at-bat, he grounded into a double play. What that meant, a lot of heckling and text messages from his Indianapolis teammates. Not only that, but then in his next at-bat he faced Aroldis Chapman and like most who come up to bat against him, Hague was punched out.

But two days later, he was back to joining the Tribe in Indianapolis, only to then travel to Durham, North Carolina to be a participant in the Triple-A Home Run Derby.

Like anyone who gets called up to join the big club, Hague knew that his time might be short. It lasted just four days. But he was given four days of experiencing the larger stadiums – of which he said the coolest part is seeing the triple-deckers and seeing them full of fans – and being considered a Major Leaguer.

“Anytime you’re in the Big Leagues, it’s always a good thing,” he said. “It’s fun to be a part of that.”

And for Hague, those four days was just a glimpse of what his future holds.