Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 84
The final score matters, but Pirates GM Ben Cherington also has a bigger picture in mind
Ben Cherington has been a baseball executive long enough to know the importance of the game’s numbers, whether they are as simple as the won/loss record or as complex some of the new analytics. But at this stage of the season, you can bet Cherington hasn’t done the math on...
Pirates GM Ben Cherington: Gregory Polanco’s release best for both parties
The Pittsburgh Pirates could have sent Gregory Polanco to the minors or banished him to a lesser role on the major-league bench, but general manager Ben Cherington explained Sunday that releasing the team’s longest-tenured player was the best option. “We feel like we got to the point where, if we...
Yoshi Tsutsugo’s 3-run homer in 9th leads Pirates to victory against CardinalsVideo
Throw Yoshi Tsutsugo’s name onto the growing pile of questions facing the Pittsburgh Pirates when this season ends. Tsutsugo, who can become a free agent in the offseason, stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday after most of his teammates had failed with a bat...
Pitt’s 21 seniors hope to break program’s cycle of mediocrity
Oldtimers like to say with age comes wisdom, and Tre Tipton has plenty of both. Tipton, a senior wide receiver from Apollo-Ridge, is the second-oldest player on the Pitt football team, 42 days younger than linebacker John Petrishen. Tipton joined the team in 2015. Coach Pat Narduzzi and assistants Andre...
Pitt Take 5: Hall of Famer Jimbo Covert shows Panthers how to build a winning culture
They cleaned up nicely, this Pitt football team. After nearly three weeks of practice, Pitt’s seniors combed their hair, dressed up in their Sunday best — tight end Lucas Krull wore a bowtie — and were honored guests at the Kickoff Luncheon at the Westin Pittsburgh, downtown. For a long...
Pitt’s 4 captains represent offense, defense, special teams
On a Pitt football team with 21 seniors, including 14 who decided to come back for the bonus year granted by the NCAA, the four captains this season will represent all three units — offense, defense and special teams. After a vote by the players, quarterback Kenny Pickett, defensive end...
Athletic director Heather Lyke ‘expects’ to remain at Pitt after she was contacted by Michigan State
Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke said Friday she has been contacted by Michigan State about its opening for the same job, but she said she doesn’t expect to leave. “There has (been contact),” she said before Pitt football’s Kickoff Luncheon at the Westin Pittsburgh. “I’m very happy at Pitt. I’m...
Unwanted after high school, Pitt defensive end Chris Maloney awarded scholarship
Gracious thank-yous kept pouring from Chris Maloney’s lips after an emotional team meeting Thursday morning. On the last day of training camp, Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi awarded Maloney a scholarship after three seasons as a walk-on defensive end. That ended the need to write tuition checks and triggered a barrage...
Duquesne’s nonconference schedule includes trip to Virgin Islands, renewal of series with DePaul
With seven new players and a renovated home court, the Duquesne men’s basketball team will open coach Keith Dambrot’s fifth season Nov. 9 against Rider. Duquesne released its nonconference schedule Thursday, and Rider of the Metro Atlantic will be one of four first-time opponents, including UC Irvine (Big West), Weber...
Pitt notebook: Pat Narduzzi believes NCAA limit on padded practices won’t hinder Panthers’ physicalityVideo
The look from Pat Narduzzi said it all Wednesday morning. He turned his head and looked askance at the reporter who asked about his team’s physicality. It was as if Narduzzi wanted to say, “How dare you?” “We’re going to be physical, no doubt about it,” he did say, finally....
After his mother’s death, Pitt wide receiver Tre Tipton says, ‘Now, she sees everything’Video
Kim Tipton loved nothing more than watching her son, Tre, play football. She went to all the games, but Kim lived in Vandergrift. Meanwhile, Tre was at Pitt for the past six years, earning a bachelor’s degree in communications, working on a master’s in social work, playing wide receiver going...
Day after scrimmage, Pat Narduzzi surprises Pitt players with trip to KennywoodVideo
Years ago, Bill Cowher liked to tease his Pittsburgh Steelers players, make them think it was just another day at training camp, gather them around him in the morning on the fields of Saint Vincent College and announce everyone was going to the movies. Of course, the buses parked in...
ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 ‘competitors’ bond to form ‘groundbreaking alliance’
The joint news release from the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 said the three power conferences will “remain competitors.” Nonetheless, their three commissioners Tuesday announced what the ACC’s Jim Phillips described as a “groundbreaking alliance” that will allow all 41 schools from the three leagues to work together while dealing...
Pirates rally from 4-run deficit to defeat last-place Diamondbacks
Look at the box score from the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 6-5 victory Monday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks, and you’ll see more runs than the home team has scored in any of their previous eight games. The bats came alive at PNC Park, right? In certain crucial moments they did when...
Gregory Polanco in Pirates lineup Monday; Michael Chavis recalled to play 2nd base
Returning to PNC Park for the start of a seven-game homestand, the Pittsburgh Pirates turned the page toward another chapter in their ongoing rebuilding process. This time, however, there’s a twist. Gregory Polanco’s still here. There were multiple reports Sunday night that Polanco, the longest-tenured and highest-paid Pirates player, was...
Pitt basketball’s nonconference schedule include trips to West Virginia, Madison Square Garden
Pitt basketball’s nonconference schedule will keep the Panthers tucked inside Petersen Events Center for seven consecutive games (nine overall), with trips to Morgantown to play West Virginia and Madison Square Garden for a date with St. John’s adding a bit of spice to the preseason. “Our nonconference schedule is really...
Pirates enter final 38 games looking for a right fielder
In the five seasons before the arrival of Gregory Polanco, the Pittsburgh Pirates conducted what amounted to one-year tryouts in right field. From 2009-13, management always wanted to find a keeper to insert in front of the Clemente Wall at PNC Park. But Brandon Moss, Lastings Milledge, Garrett Jones, Jose...
Reports: Pirates place Gregory Polanco on waiversVideo
Gregory Polanco, heralded as a future star when he joined the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2014 but whose career slid downhill after shoulder surgery four years later, was placed on waivers Sunday night, according to multiple reports. The Athletic was first to report the news. The Pirates had no comment. If...
Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright maintains mastery of Pirates
Adam Wainwright has two nice streaks going against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Only one really matters. Wainwright, who turns 40 on Aug. 30, doubled Sunday for the second time in his past two pitching appearances against the Pirates. Meanwhile, he ran his winning streak against Pittsburgh to nine in a row...
Penn State AD Sandy Barbour eager to welcome spectators back to Beaver Stadium
For decades, Penn State accepted and met the challenge of herding more than 100,000 people into Beaver Stadium for football games. That changed last season in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic, with no ticket, parking or concession revenue and an oddly silent atmosphere at games. But Penn State athletic...
ACC volleyball coaches pick Pitt to win conference
The Pitt women’s volleyball team was picked to win the 2021 ACC championship, finishing first for the fourth consecutive year in the conference’s Preseason Coaches Poll, released Friday. When the ACC poll was released in 2013, Pitt was picked 13th, but its reputation grew steadily with ninth-, seventh-, fifth- and...
Pitt Take 5: Pat Narduzzi speaks of War Daddys, running backs and freshmen
The phrase pre-dates Pat Narduzzi’s coaching career by about three decades, but you can bet the Pitt coach knows a War Daddy when he sees one. War Daddy? It doesn’t take much research to discover that the phrase first was used by coach Harold “War Daddy” White at Perkinston Junior...
Pitt linebacker John Petrishen shows signs of growth
More than six years have passed since John Petrishen last roamed the halls of Central Catholic. So what was the deal Thursday with this 25-year-old man apologizing to anyone at the school who might be offended by his appearance? “I wouldn’t be allowed in there today,” Petrishen said. Do you...
ACC rules teams must forfeit if they can’t play a game because of covid-19 complications
The ACC is getting tough on its schools that can’t field a team because of covid-related absences among players. The league announced Thursday that teams unable to play a game because of an excessive number of covid-19 absences will be forced to forfeit. The forfeiting team will be given a...
Armed with 3.7 GPA, Ryan Jacoby transfers to Pitt, petitions NCAA for immediate eligibility
If Ryan Jacoby, an offensive lineman who transferred from Ohio State to Pitt, is rewarded with an NCAA waiver and is eligible to play this season, Pat Narduzzi believes there’s plenty of time for him to learn the playbook. How is he so sure? Jacoby is coming to Pitt with...
