Kevin Gorman stories, Page 85
After an offseason of turnover, Pirates prepare for spring training position battles
Before baseball’s lockout began, the Pittsburgh Pirates went on what amounted to their type of spending spree. By signing one-year free-agent contracts, pitcher Jose Quintana ($2 million), first baseman Yoshi Tsutsugo ($4 million) and catcher Roberto Perez ($5 million) became the club’s highest-paid players and, essentially, locked up three spots...
Baseball is back: MLB, players agree on new CBA to ensure full season; Pirates open April 7
After a lockout that lasted extra innings, baseball is back. On the 99th day of the lockout, MLB and its players agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement to ensure a full season that will start April 7 and expands the playoff field to 12 teams. The MLB Players’ Association...
Adapt and evolve: Pirates focus on farm system amid lockout, embracing failure as path to success
With MLB in a lockout, the Pittsburgh Pirates are focusing their attention on their minor league players by embracing a philosophy that can come across as contradictory: In order to succeed, embrace failure. Pirates director of coaching and player development John Baker casually paraphrases Marcus Aurelius in discussing discomfort, the...
Pirates adjust plans for 2022 home opener
After failing to reach a new collective bargaining agreement, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred on Tuesday announced the cancellation of the first two series of the regular season. The Pittsburgh Pirates are now tentatively scheduled to open the season April 7 with a four-game series at the St. Louis Cardinals. The...
‘I feel the pain and hurt’: Ex-Schenley star D.J. Kennedy playing for Ukrainian team praying for teammates
D.J. Kennedy has played professional basketball in 10 countries over three continents in the past decade, so the 32-year-old former Schenley star wasn’t worried about living in Ukraine until last week. That changed when Russia invaded Ukraine early Thursday, attacking major cities in which he has played for BC Prometey....
Central Catholic’s Tre Tarpley hopes to plant roots after being drafted by USFL’s Maulers
Arnold “Tre” Tarpley III considers it more of a declaration than a promise, but it’s one he intended to keep. So he spoke his plan of playing professional football into existence, making a series of YouTube video diaries called “Trust the Seed.” Tarpley, a Jefferson Hills native and former Central...
Central Catholic grad Arnold Tarpley, Aliquippa alum Dravon Askew-Henry picked in USFL Draft
A pair of former WPIAL stars were selected in the second day of the USFL Draft on Wednesday, when the Pittsburgh Maulers picked safety Arnold “Tre” Tarpley III of Central Catholic and Vanderbilt in the 18th round Wednesday and the New Jersey Generals took safety Dravon Askew-Henry of Aliquippa and...
Pittsburgh Maulers select QB Kyle Lauletta with 1st-round pick in USFL Draft
The Pittsburgh Maulers turned to a Hall of Fame quarterback to announce their first-round draft pick, and Steelers great Terry Bradshaw attempted in vain to get the pronunciation of Kyle Lauletta’s last name right. It's hammer time in Pittsburgh ⚒ #DropTheHammerSee the moment Terry Bradshaw announced Kyle Lauletta is joining...
Former WPIAL football stars playing waiting game in hopes of being selected in USFL Draft
T.J. Neal has taken a circuitous route in chasing his dreams of playing professional football, going from major-college programs to living in hotels as he bounced around indoor and spring leagues. The 28-year-old McKeesport native has toiled in obscurity while watching his former teammates at Illinois and Auburn shine in...
Aaron Donald’s trainer not surprised by retirement rumors: ‘He might as well go out on top’
When NBC announcer Rodney Harrison discussed the “strong possibility” that Aaron Donald could retire if the Los Angeles Rams won Super Bowl LVI, DeWayne Brown wasn’t the least bit surprised. Through his 2/10ths Speed and Agility program, Brown has trained Donald since he played at Penn Hills and watched his...
Watching Aaron Donald win Super Bowl an emotional moment for ex-Penn Hills coach
Demond Gibson watched as Aaron Donald couldn’t contain his tears of joy as confetti swirled around the Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle amid the Super Bowl LVI championship celebration. “I wanted this so bad,” Donald told NBC’s Michele Tafoya in a postgame interview. “I dreamed this, man. I dreamed this....
If MLB adopts universal DH, Pirates lack in-house candidates beyond 1B Yoshi Tsutsugo
When MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced that owners agreed to adopt the universal designated hitter, it promised to end a National League tradition and force the Pittsburgh Pirates to adjust their lineup. For the first time since baseball’s lockout started on Dec. 2, Manfred spoke publicly Thursday at the owners...
As Tyler Boyd’s position coach at Pitt, Bobby Engram shared stories of the Super Bowl stage
Amid the chaos of a week where he was named offensive coordinator at Wisconsin, Bobby Engram managed to find time to talk about one of his proteges making it to the Super Bowl stage. As Pitt’s wide receivers coach, Engram recruited Tyler Boyd out of Clairton High School and was...
From WPIAL to Pitt to Super Bowl, Tyler Boyd, Aaron Donald chasing dream to win a ring
Tyler Boyd was one of a handful of Cincinnati Bengals players standing on the stage at Arrowhead Stadium as they celebrated their first AFC championship in three decades after an epic comeback against the Kansas City Chiefs. Then the audio went out on the loudspeakers, and Boyd couldn’t hear a...
Brewers hire ex-Pirates slugger Pedro Alvarez in baseball operations, player development role
Former Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Pedro Alvarez, who starred on their three wild-card teams from 2013-15, has found a post-playing job with one of their NL Central rivals. The Milwaukee Brewers have hired Alvarez as a baseball operations and player development assistant. Alvarez, 34, is the son-in-law of Brewers bench coach...
Caitlyn Callahan made Pirates history, turning a can’t-miss opportunity into a coaching job
Caitlyn Callahan’s initial interview with the Pittsburgh Pirates felt more like a casual conversation, so she was in her comfort zone in what amounted to an open audition for a job. A day after an hourlong talk with minor league technology and video coordinator Marc Roche about a minor league...
Led by Henry Davis, the Pirates have 6 prospects ranked in top 100 by The Athletic
The Pittsburgh Pirates have six prospects ranked in the top 100 by The Athletic’s Keith Law, including one in the top 20 whose selection is sure to raise some eyebrows. The surprise? Their highest-rated Pirates prospect is catcher Henry Davis, who is ranked No. 20 in The Athletic’s top 100....
Gene Clines, member of 1st all-minority lineup, Pirates’ 1971 World Series champs, dies
Gene Clines took great pride in making baseball history as a member of the first all-minority starting lineup and the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 1971 World Series champions, especially considering the company. Clines was a backup in an outfield that featured Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell and seven-time All-Star...
Kevin Gorman: Hall of Fame votes for steroids-era players complicated, controversial
My ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame reflects the nature of voting as the game comes to grips with the steroid-era scandal that started with MLB turning a blind eye only to end up with a black eye. It’s complicated, contradictory and controversial. Complicated: There were 30 names...
Pirates make changes to medical staff, as AHN appoints 3 new doctors to provide team care
The Pittsburgh Pirates are making changes to their medical staff, as team physician Dr. Edward Snell is leaving after 22 years to become Allegheny Health Network’s sports performance medical director. Under the guidance of Pirates medical director Dr. Patrick DeMeo, a newly appointed three-man team of AHN doctors will partner...
34 years later: Pitt’s Jerome Lane’s backboard-shattering dunkVideo
Editor’s note: Tuesday marks the 34th anniversary of Jerome Lane’s monster dunk, one of the most famous plays in Pitt basketball history. Here’s columnist Kevin Gorman’s memories of it on the 25th anniversary. The story was originally posted on Jan. 25, 2013. As inevitable as watching Jerome Lane elevate for...
David Ortiz voted into Baseball Hall of Fame; Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens left out againVideo
Baseball turned a blind eye, and Hall of Fame voters a deaf ear. Despite a cacophony of calls for Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, arguably the greatest hitter and pitcher of their generation, to earn enshrinement into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, both came up short of receiving the...
Pirates GM Ben Cherington gets creative with unconventional approach to minor league hires
The Pittsburgh Pirates are proving they aren’t afraid to take an unconventional approach to player development through the makeover of their minor league affiliates over the past two years. From hiring former major league catcher-turned-mental skills coach John Baker to run their farm system to seeking new voices from outside...
Baseball Prospectus includes 5 Pirates in its Top 101 rankings, including 4 in top 40
Ben Cherington warned that there is “no single piece of perfect feedback,” but the Pittsburgh Pirates general manager welcomed word of the club’s prospects earning top-100 national rankings this week. When Baseball America ranked six Pirates among its Top 100 prospects on Wednesday, Cherington viewed it as a “signal of...
Pirates GM: No plans to hire another coach to replace Glenn Sherlock on Derek Shelton’s staff
The Pittsburgh Pirates lost a member of Derek Shelton’s coaching staff when Glenn Sherlock left to become Buck Showalter’s bench coach with the New York Mets, but general manager Ben Cherington doesn’t expect to add another coach to replace Sherlock. Cherington said Wednesday afternoon that between third-base coach Mike Rabelo,...
