The Pittsburgh Pirates’ season had just ended when general manager Ben Cherington discussed with Don Kelly the desire to extend his contract as manager, with a simple theme affirming the decision.

Cherington explained that it went beyond Kelly’s success since taking over when Derek Shelton was fired May 8 after a 12-26 start, and more to do with an observation made over his six seasons on staff.

“One is to help somebody else. The other is to help the Pirates win,” Cherington said at a news conference Monday afternoon at PNC Park. “That sounds simple. It’s also incredibly hard to do every hour of every day, and incredibly powerful. And because he’s done that, he has earned trust in that clubhouse, throughout the organization.

“He has credibility. He has both the ability to influence us going forward in the most positive ways, and he also has all of the experience and skills and judgement necessary to do this job at the highest level. I’m very confident that he’s the right person for this job.”

The Pirates made Kelly their manager on a permanent basis Monday. To the 45-year-old Mt. Lebanon and Point Park alum who played for the Pirates in 2007, it fulfills a lifelong dream. He grew up a Pirates fan and played for Hall of Famer Jim Leyland with the Detroit Tigers in a nine-year major-league career.

“To grow up here in Pittsburgh, in Mt. Lebanon and go to Point Park and to now be sitting here as manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, it’s extremely humbling,” Kelly said. “Understand that it’s on myself, the coaching staff and the team to deliver on that. We have to hold ourselves to a higher standard for baseball in Pittsburgh, and I think that we’ve laid a foundation for that and totally believe that we are going to get to that, hold that standard and bring playoff baseball back to Pittsburgh.”

Kelly led the Pirates to a 59-65 record, including 32-33 after the All-Star break. Despite the team going 71-91 overall and finishing in last place in the National League Central for the sixth time in seven years, Kelly believes the Pirates are closer to being a contender than their record indicates. The Pirates swept seven series under Kelly, including against the NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies (June 6-8), American League wild card Detroit Tigers (July 21-23) and NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers (Sept. 2-4).

“Donnie has earned the respect of the players, front office, and our fans — and he has certainly earned mine,” Pirates chairman Bob Nutting said in a statement. “Donnie took over the team at a true low point. Since then, we’ve seen meaningful progress, not just in the clubhouse culture, but on the field. His connection to the community and passion for the franchise make him more than just a manager. He is a Pittsburgher; he is part of our community. He’s the right fit, at the right time, and is the right person to lead us forward.”

While the Pirates credit Kelly for his positive attitude and communication skills, he also took the advice of his mentors by being authentic. Kelly vowed to remain the same person who returned to the Pirates as bench coach under Shelton in 2020, running spring training and serving as a sounding board for the skipper while working with infielders. He also promised to have his players’ backs and, true to his word, was ejected in his second game as Pirates manager. That wasn’t by design, Kelly swore, but it showed the fiery side of someone with a reputation for his mild-mannered and good-natured personality.

Kelly also shared a story about how, upon meeting Francisco Cabrera at spring training while playing for the Tigers, he didn’t hesitate to tell the man who drove in Sid Bream for the winning run for the Atlanta Braves in Game 7 of the 1992 NLCS that he ruined his childhood.

“That’s what drives me, that is what drives us every single day to be the best version of ourselves, to be the best version out on the field and to work tirelessly towards bringing winning baseball back to Pittsburgh, which we are going to do,” Kelly said. “We’ve taken strides this year in doing that. We are certainly not there yet. We are on the track to get there. But we are on the way, and I think that the culture in the clubhouse, the players’ commitment to each other, to winning and, honestly, in representing Pittsburgh in the right way, the way that I’ve known the city as a blue-collar, hard-working town that does those things every single day. That’s the standard that we expect from our players: to show up and work tirelessly. We talked a lot this year about earning respect in how we do that every single day. It never stops. It never has stopped.”

Kelly also joked about how unaccustomed he is to having a multi-year contract, which eluded him throughout his MLB career to the point that he and his wife, Carrie, joked about how his first one didn’t come until he joined the Houston Astros as first base coach in 2018.

Cherington said Kelly was the obvious choice when the Pirates needed to replace Shelton, and that his actions on the bench and in the clubhouse made it “very clear” Kelly should remain their manager.

“One thing that stands out, it’s a lot that’s led us to that clarity, but one that thing stood out, clearly to me, is that he was so willing to go after the hardest stuff and he was effective going after the hardest stuff — and I’m talking about standards and holding the team to a standard, holding me to a standard, holding individual people and players to a standard, holding the culture to a standard,” Cherington said. “The difficult conversations that you have to have to do that, he was so willing to go after that stuff. A, it was only effective because of the trust he had built prior to that, but B, that’s not easy to do when you don’t yet have the permanency of the job. He did it anyway and among a lot of other things, that stood out to me as great examples of strong leadership.”

Kelly deflected the praise, crediting the players for responding to his managerial style and his coaches for their support, including 78-year-old Gene Lamont for coming out of retirement to serve as an adviser. Most of all, Kelly embraced the expectations of leading the Pirates to the postseason for the first time in a decade.

“I think for the organization, to the fans, to the City of Pittsburgh, I will work tirelessly fighting for you,” Kelly said, “fighting with you to help make the Pittsburgh Pirates the best team possible and to bring playoff baseball back to the City of Pittsburgh.”

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