Pirates/MLB category, Page 230
As MLB tries to save 2020, minor-league teams across the country might be out at home
As the 30 MLB team owners and the players union bicker over how to divvy up the revenue in a potential 2020 season, at least they are projecting to have some cash hitting the books. Ticket revenue and concessions accounted for 30-40% of the $10.7 billion MLB made last season,...
Pirates closer Keone Kela ‘fairly confident’ that MLB, players union can come to an agreementVideo
Keone Kela believes major leaguers want to play baseball this summer and said he is “fairly confident” that the MLB Players Association can come to an agreement with the owners. The Pittsburgh Pirates closer expressed hope the 2020 season can resume during an interview with Bucco Talk host Dan Zangrilli...
Debate rages over Gov. Wolf’s comments about return of sports in Pa.
I feel like Dante in the movie “Clerks.” “I’m not even supposed to be here today!” Yeah, this was supposed to be an off day. Extend the holiday weekend a bit. But I got a call from one of our editors last night, asking if I’d be willing to do...
Pirates affiliate among minor league baseball teams selling curbside fare
New releases available on-demand from your couch rather than on the big screen. Takeout-only dining. No-contact deliveries. Curbside pickup for wine. They’re all signs of the times — a way for businesses pummeled by the coronavirus pandemic to keep open their doors and continue paying employees. Count sports among the...
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...
Tim Benz: Gov. Wolf’s comments about sports fans were arrogant and inaccurate
While exploring the prospect of major sports events returning to Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf put his foot in his mouth. Even while wearing a facemask. Yup, for this guy, that’s possible. Apparently, Wolf isn’t satisfied telling Pittsburgh’s quarterback whether he can get his haircut. He’s also telling Pittsburgh fans whether...
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...
‘U mad, bro?’: Fans hot over Harrison’s envelope, Pirates payroll, Crosby comparisons
This week’s “U mad, bro?” hits on the Pittsburgh Steelers, Penguins and Pirates alike. So all the Pittsburgh pro sports fan bases can be satisfied with those who are unsatisfied! We look for balance here at “Breakfast With Benz,” and we aim to please. Or agitate. Whatever comes first. It...
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...
John Steigerwald: Despite what Blake Snell says, MLB players in no danger
Blake Snell is afraid. In case you never heard of Snell, he is a 27-year-old pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays. In a Twitch stream Wednesday night, he said, “I should not be getting paid half of what I’m getting paid because the season’s cut in half.” That’s what the...
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,...
Ken Macha on Pitt Hall of Fame, almost managing Pirates, Dave Parker legends
For nearly 70 years, baseball has been tied to Ken Macha. At age 69, the former Major Leaguer is still coaching with Westmoreland County Community College. His path on the diamond saw him roam as far as Venezuela, Montreal and Japan. But it so often threaded its way back through...
Mark Madden: Sympathetic figures lacking on both sides of MLB labor dispute
The MLB labor dispute that erupted from a health crisis is reminiscent of “Breaking Bad”: No sympathetic figures are to be found anywhere. The owners are employing distasteful opportunism by trying to shame the players into revenue-sharing, however temporary. That is a de facto salary cap, and the players would...
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...
Tim Benz: MLB owners are sneaky, but anti-cap paranoia makes players look worse
I’m not one who likes to compare big-time sports to everyday life. Matters of salaries and collective bargaining agreements and billions of dollars of revenue crop up quite a bit in professional athletics. When that happens, tune in to a sports talk radio show and invariably “Joe Working Class Hero”...
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...
Tim Benz: Trying to answer ESPN’s impossible question about Barry Bonds and Pirates
Recently, ESPN.com put forth one overarching debate for every franchise in Major League Baseball. Not one they are currently facing. Rather on an “all-time” question for each club. Items such as: • Which member of the Red Sox belongs on the Boston sports Mount Rushmore: Ted Williams or David Ortiz?...
