Kevin Gorman stories, Page 129
Pirates announce furloughs of business employees, pay cuts starting June 1
With the baseball season in limbo because of the covid-19 pandemic, Pittsburgh Pirates president Travis Williams announced Thursday afternoon that the ballclub will be instituting furloughs to business operations employees, beginning June 1. “The impact of the coronavirus has been felt by everyone within our community and our industry. The...
Penn State counting on Tariq Castro-Fields to be leader, lockdown corner as a senior
Tariq Castro-Fields is well aware what Penn State expects of him this season, as he’s being counted on to be both a leader and a lockdown defender at cornerback. What Castro-Fields didn’t know is that none of the 37 Nittany Lions selected in the first round of the NFL Draft...
Pirates manager Derek Shelton calls MLB proposal ‘challenging’ and requires adjustments
Derek Shelton joked that proposed MLB safety guidelines will force him to buy bench coach Don Kelly a pair of Air Pods to communicate and they will have to eliminate pickoff plays. But in a guest appearance 93.7 FM on Wednesday afternoon, the Pittsburgh Pirates manager called MLB’s 67-page proposal...
Pirates infielder Kevin Kramer out up to 6 months after hip surgery
Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Kevin Kramer underwent surgery on his right hip last week and is expected to miss four to six months. The procedure, performed by Dr. Marc Philippon in Vail, Colo., was “a labral repair to address recent and chronic symptoms that prohibited Kramer from continuing his training in...
Pirates, Pittsburgh Police officers team with Topps to launch baseball card program
The Pittsburgh Pirates are teaming with Topps and cops. Pirates Charities, the Topps Company and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police Officers are combining to launch a baseball card program to encourage positive youth behavior. The cards, designed by Topps, will feature Pirates players and City of Pittsburgh Police officers. They...
Former Pirates star Starling Marte says his wife, Noelia, has died of a heart attack
Former Pittsburgh Pirates star outfielder Starling Marte announced his wife, Noelia, died of a heart attack. Marte posted a photo of the two together at the Grand Canyon on his Instagram and Twitter accounts Monday night, with the following caption, translated from Spanish: “Today I go through the great pain...
Shaler native Art Howe returns home from Houston hospital after ICU stay for covid-19
After spending time in intensive care last week battling the coronavirus, Shaler native Art Howe returned to his Houston home Sunday and said he is “feeling a little bit better.” Howe, 73, was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as a 24-year-old in 1971, and played second base and third base...
Pirates to sell ‘Safety Jolly Roger’ T-shirts to raise funds for covid-19 relief
The Pittsburgh Pirates unveiled on Monday T-shirts with the Jolly Roger logo wearing a red bandana as a face mask that will be sold to raise funds for coronavirus relief efforts. In a news release, the Pirates said the modified logo was designed to promote safe social health practices, and...
Shortened MLB season offers good and bad scenarios for Pirates All-Star slugger Josh Bell
A shortened baseball season could be enticing to Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Josh Bell, who is coming off an All-Star season with career bests with 37 home runs and 116 RBIs. MLB submitted to the players’ union a proposal with an 82-game schedule with regional matchups, which would pit the...
What will Pirates All-Star first baseman Josh Bell do for an encore to his dream season?
An excited Rick Eckstein pulled Josh Bell into the batting cages at Pirate City early in 2019 spring training, sharing a vision he had for the Pirates slugger: Thirty home runs and 100 RBIs. Eckstein, in his first season as Pirates hitting coach, believed Bell was on the verge of...
Pirates bench coach Don Kelly preps for unknowns of spring training, MLB season
When Derek Shelton joked he talks with Don Kelly “about 80 times a day,” the Pittsburgh Pirates manager added it was “kind of half jokingly.” As the Pirates bench coach, Kelly is not only Shelton’s right-hand man and a trusted confidant but in charge of running a second spring training...
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred: Having no season would be ‘devastating’ for baseball
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in an appearance on CNN on Thursday night that not playing a baseball season would be “devastating” for teams, and that losses could approach $4 billion. Manfred made the comments during an interview on CNN Global Town Hall with Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta,...
WVU coach Neal Brown says Mountaineers ‘looking forward to a date’ for football’s return
Neal Brown remains “cautiously optimistic” that there will be a college football season this fall. What the West Virginia coach would like is a target date to set his sights upon. Not just for himself but especially for Mountaineers players. “It’s important that we play during this fiscal year,” Brown...
Pirates team up with Dunkin’ Donuts to donate breakfast to AHN health care workers
The Pittsburgh Pirates and Dunkin’ Donuts are celebrating National Hospital Week by providing breakfast to seven Allegheny Health Network hospitals this week. Together, they are donating 25 dozen donuts to hospital workers to support front-line workers amid the covid-19 crisis, starting Tuesday at Allegheny General and West Penn hospitals, Wednesday...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Money aside, MLB proposal could be favorable for Pirates
Now that the MLB proposal to play this summer has been presented to the MLB Players Association, it’s worth taking a look at how it affects the Pittsburgh Pirates. Granted, it’s far from a done deal. Where there will be a fight over financials and health protocols, many of the...
For John Wehner, final game for Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium was ‘most amazing thing’
From the first time he set foot inside Three Rivers Stadium to the last, the memories are as clear for John Wehner of taking the 51C bus from Carrick to baseball games as a young fan as they were of playing third base for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The final game...
Before Jay Buhner became a ‘Seinfeld’ storyline, the Pirates traded him to the Yankees
If you think Frank Costanza was livid with New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner for trading Jay Buhner, he would have had a lot of problems with the Pittsburgh Pirates, too. Not to, you know, air any grievances. The death of actor Jerry Stiller on Monday brought back memories of...
Pirates farm director Larry Broadway calls 5-round MLB draft ‘a challenge’ for club
Pittsburgh Pirates senior director of minor league operations Larry Broadway called reports the 2020 MLB Draft will be reduced to five rounds “a challenge” Saturday morning in an interview on 93.7 FM. MLB and the MLB Players Association agreed in March to allow the league to reduce the draft from...
WVU athletic director Shane Lyons calls pay cuts, furloughs ‘absolutely necessary’
Facing a projected $5 million budget shortfall after the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the NCAA Tournament and spring sports, West Virginia University on Friday implemented pay cuts and furloughs in its athletic department. WVU athletic director Shane Lyons called the moves “absolutely necessary” in a video conference call Friday afternoon....
Pirates bench coach Don Kelly distributes food to Pittsburgh’s homeless at Light of Life
Pittsburgh Pirates bench coach Don Kelly and his wife Carrie volunteered with Pirates Charities and Silver Star Meats to distribute meals to the city’s homeless Friday. More than 500 boxed meals were scheduled to be distributed by the Kellys and staff members from Pirates Charities at Light of Life Rescue...
For Pirates, no minor league season could become major problem for top prospects
There are so many unknowns surrounding major issues in baseball — from setting a spring training start date to what an adjusted season would look like — that the Pittsburgh Pirates haven’t had many conversations about the minor ones. When it comes to the minor leagues, MLB teams could have...
Pirates player rep Jameson Taillon weighs in on MLB’s possible start datesVideo
Jameson Taillon was caught off guard when he learned of reports that MLB is preparing a return-to-play proposal to present to the MLB Players Association, but the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander and player representative found it refreshing to hear possible dates for the start of spring training and the season. Taillon...
As MLB prepares return-to-play proposal with start dates, Pirates staying in ready state
As baseball prepares for the possibility of a return, with reports of target dates in early June to start spring training and early July to start playing games, the Pittsburgh Pirates are attempting to be in a sweet spot. That’s what Pirates general manager Ben Cherington called the “ready state”...
If MLB uses the DH in a shortened season, these five Pirates could be candidates
The Pittsburgh Pirates don’t know if or when they will play this summer, let alone what types of rule changes baseball will implement for a season shortened by the coronavirus crisis. MLB already plans to implement two major changes: Starting and relief pitchers must face a three-batter minimum; and rosters...
Pirates’ Derek Shelton: Watching KBO games get ‘juices flowing’
When it comes to watching baseball, Derek Shelton doesn’t care who is playing, let alone whether the players in the game speak the same language. The Pittsburgh Pirates manager jokes he has been known to watch the Caribbean World Series on ESPN, not that he can comprehend the majority of...
