PITTSBURGH – Don Kelly has made many a drive to a Pittsburgh ballpark throughout his life. He grew up in nearby Mt. Lebanon. He played college ball at Point Park University. He started his Major League playing career as a Pirate and spent the past six seasons as the bench coach.
And through all the mixed emotions that the previous 24 hours or so had brought, that drive to PNC Park on Friday afternoon – his first one as manager of his hometown Pirates – felt different, too.
“I’m excited about the opportunity,” Kelly said ahead of a 3-2 win over the Braves in his first game as the Bucs’ manager. “When we look at these things, yes, the record isn’t where any of us hoped it would be right now. But there’s a lot of opportunity for growth, there’s a lot of opportunity to get better, and I’m excited about that.”
Kelly was named the Pirates’ manager Thursday after the team relieved Derek Shelton of his duties. General manager Ben Cherington described Kelly’s managerial status as permanent for 2025, declining to look beyond this season.
Kelly certainly has the qualifications to be a big league manager after interviewing for openings across the league periodically throughout his six years as Pittsburgh's bench coach. Before joining the team’s coaching staff, the Butler, Pa., native spent a year as first-base coach for the Astros, had a turn in player development and played nine years in the Majors, including four under Hall of Famer Jim Leyland.
Kelly grew up trick-or-treating at Leyland’s house. Now, he gets to join the fraternity of Pirates managers.
“This is someone who cares way more about the Pirates, the city, cares way more about the people in that clubhouse than he does himself,” Cherington said Thursday. “He's just an elite human being and teammate. He comes to the ballpark every day focused on only one thing -- how to help this team get better. It's truly not about him, because it never has been.
“It will have to be a little bit more now as a manager, and I think he understands that. I have so much faith in the combination of the human he is and the skills that he has and the reasons he does the job. He does it for only one reason – to help the Pirates, because he believes in the Pirates and wants to deliver for Pittsburgh.”
Pirates players talked Friday about needing to find a spark to get going, and there is a respect for Kelly, who has been working alongside many of them for years. Kelly can relate to what they’re going through, and it creates a bond.
“He was a grinder,” reliever Ryan Borucki said. “He wasn't a superstar on his team. He had to earn everything that he had. That goes a long way in a clubhouse when you can really relate to a guy that's been there.
“He's been under the lights. He knows what it's like to struggle in the big leagues. He knows what it's like to be going. Just being able to have a guy like that as our manager is going to be a good thing for a lot of us, to have that connection that we can really talk and he knows how we feel."
Coming in during the season, Kelly will have a challenge molding this team in his image. What he wants is a team that plays with energy and attitude, that has a “commitment to each other and playing the game the right way.” It won’t be perfect – baseball isn’t a perfect game – but the Pirates can find a way to compete.
In short, it sounded like a Pittsburgh kid who was molded by all levels of Pittsburgh baseball.
“How do we show up every day?” Kelly said. “How do we show up with that enthusiasm like we did when we were in Little League, high school, and bring that enthusiasm out onto the field and show up every day to get better and show up every day to help the team win a ballgame?
“I think that’s something that I’m looking forward to from these guys, is seeing every single day that intent to get better, the intent to win and playing with that enthusiasm every single day.”
It also sounds like Leyland wisdom. Kelly talked to his former skipper before taking the helm for the first time, and if there’s anything he wants to take from Leyland, it’s showing that his players know he’s in their corner.
“At the end of the day, I think that that’s – when the players know you care about them and they know that at the bottom line you care about the team, you care about winning,” Kelly said. “That's what we tie back to."