Pirates' Don Kelly Addresses Influence From Jim Leyland
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PITTSBURGH — New Pittsburgh Pirates manager Don Kelly learned a lot during his time as a player and coach, but one person in particular stands out.
Kelly spent six seasons with the Detroit Tigers, 2009-14, the first five playing under Hall of Fame manager Jim Leyland. He appeared in 544 games, slashing .234/.297/.340 for an OPS of .637, with 244 hits, 28 doubles, seven triples, 23 home runs, 98 RBIs and 87 walks to 163 strikeouts.
Leyland and Kelly had success together in Detroit, never having a losing season and winning three straight American League Division Titles from 2011-13. They made the ALCS in both 2011 and 2013 and then the World Series in 2012.
Kelly would go into coaching, serving as an assistant on the player development staff for the Tigers, before earning promotion to scout. He spent a season with the Houston Astros as their first base coach in 2019 before taking over as bench coach for the Pirates on Dec. 7, 2019.
He just took over as Pirates manager on May 8, after the front office fired previous manager Derek Shelton.
Kelly started his new tenure in the right way, as the Pirates defeated the Atlanta Braves, 3-2 at PNC Park on May 9.
It was an incredible moment for Kelly, who grew up in Pittsburgh and played for Point Park, to now lead his hometown team to a victory as a manager.
"It has," Kelly said. "Carrie and I talked about it this morning. It’s humbling. Thinking back, knowing Chuck Tanner and playing for Jim (Leyland), just the history of the organization and to be part of that is really special."
Leyland had great success with the Pirates, particularly from 1990-92, where they won the NL East and made the NLCS each season.
He managed the Pirates for 11 seasons from 1986-96, finishing with a 851-863 record, working with players like Barry Bonds, Tim Wakefield, Bobby Bonilla, Andy Van Slyke and Jay bell.
While many people reached out to Kelly after the win, he appreciated that Leyland was one of them.
“He did," Kelly said. "Just congratulations on the W. I haven’t talked to him today. Just through text, but it was nice."
Former players speak fondly of Leyland, especially Bonds, who named him his favorite manager playing baseball.
Kelly also had nothing but great things to say about Leyland and the impact he had on his life and time as a baseball player.
“Absolutely. For those of you that know him, he has influence on a lot of people who are around him a lot," Kelly said. "A positive influence. As we all go through life, we’re a part of those people that we’ve been around. He’s a big part of that for me.”
Kelly even leaned on Leyland during his first game as manager for the Pirates, as he learned how to deal with managing games far earlier on in his career, especially when playing.
“I think as a player, you feel that and yesterday I felt it a little bit. You learn how to slow it down, not that I did it perfectly yesterday. But learning how to slow it down — I think playing for a guy like Jim (Leyland) the way that he managed, and being a bench guy for him, I was always managing along with him because I wanted to be prepared for those situations. I think learning through that of how to be prepared, knowing what situations he may or may not use me in, what he was looking to do to win a ballgame really helped me get prepared to slow it down. I'm sure there's going to be times it does speed up and same thing I tell the players — you've got to learn how to breathe, slow the heart and the mind down and continue to move on.”
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.