Our staff chooses top 21 stories of 2019

We turned five years old in 2019, making it special year for our site.

And in that time, we've covered a lot of meaningful moments in Pittsburgh sports. Certainly, 2019 was no different.

As we've done every year to lead off our annual Year in Pittsburgh Sports project, we'll offer the DKPittsburghSports.com staff's choices for the top 21 stories of 2019. Why 21? Well, it's an honor of the biggest -- and most tragic -- story in our city's history, on New Year's Eve 1972, when Roberto Clemente was killed in a plane crash flying supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.

The theme of this year, if it can be summed up that way, was pain. The Steelers, Penguins and Pirates were all crushed by injuries, all deeply impacted. And all of that and more was covered -- in depth, on the scene -- by our talented staff.

We're proud to be bringing you this news and we hope it continues to show. And we're happy to have you all on board along the way.

In descending order:

21. HOUNDS HAVE BEST YEAR 

Soccer succeeding in Pittsburgh?

The Hounds entered 2019 with some serious expectations. That'll happen when you earn a home playoff berth — and a disappointing first-round exit — the previous year. The city wanted more from its soccer club, and the city got more — to the tune of a franchise-best 19-4-11 record, good for first place in the USL Eastern Conference.

Ultimately, the Hounds were defeated,2-1, by Louisville City FC in the conference semifinals before an overflow crowd of 6,073 at Highmark Stadium, but what came before that was magical for a stretch. Not only did the Hounds go 8-0-3, allowing just two goals total during the final 11 games of the regular season, but they obliterated Birmingham Legion FC, 7-0, in front of a rain-soaked, rowdy home crowd in the opening round of the postseason. That certainly washed away the taste of last year's early exit.

Oh, and that average attendance of 3,729 was the team's highest since 1999 and 2000, its first two years of existence. Make that 20 wins on the year. -- Hunter Homistek 

20. RUTHERFORD TO HALL

Only one Pittsburgher was inducted into any Hall of Fame in 2019, and it was a general manager.

19. DRAKE DIES AT CAMP

Not many fans knew Darryl Drake, but the Steelers loved their wide receivers coach and were devastated by his sudden death during training camp Aug. 12 at Saint Vincent College.

The players were headed back to Latrobe for practice after an off day following their preseason opener when director of communications Burt Lauten came back into the media area asking if anyone was there. He broke the news to the couple of reporters who had gotten onto campus early that Drake had died during the night.

A longtime veteran assistant coach, Drake had only been with the Steelers for two seasons, but had shepherded the team's receivers through the Antonio Brown saga in 2018 and was instrumental in JuJu Smith-Schuster's development. The 62-year-old's patience and wisdom with a young receiving group was one of the things the team was looking forward to after it moved on from Brown in the offseason.

The Steelers canceled practice that day but returned to the field the next day for an emotional scene, captured by our Matt Sunday. Just as they took the field, it began to rain -- fitting the mood of the team. -- Lolley

18. REYNOLDS, NEWMAN EMERGE

Not much was memorable for the 93-loss Pirates by summer's end, but one feature that carried through the season was dual rookie breakouts of Bryan Reynolds and Kevin Newman. For a while, Reynolds was leading the National League in batting and wound up with a .314/.377/.503 slash line, 16 home runs and 68 RBIs. Newman had an even stronger second half and wound up at .308/.353/.446.

On top of that, both were cool, collected citizens and seen as future leaders of a clubhouse that embraced them right away.

However much hope there is for 2020, a big bunch of it lies with these two. -- Dejan Kovacevic

17. THE PENGUINS' KIDS, TOO

The Penguins had two youngsters break through, as well.

Jim Rutherford sent a conditional draft choice to Edmonton July 26 in exchange for the rights to defenseman John Marino, who had decided to leave Harvard after three years. Rutherford had less luck trying to deal goalie Tristan Jarry, who he feared he would lose on waivers if he tried to send Jarry to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton during training camp.

Happily for Rutherford, he never received an offer that tempted him to part with Jarry, and he ultimately decided to keep him on the major-league roster and assign Casey DeSmith to the American Hockey League instead.

And while neither Marino nor Jarry appeared to have a prominent place in the Penguins' short-term plans just a few months ago, both have made major contributions to the team's success through the first half of the 2019-20 season. Jarry has supplanted Matt Murray as the Penguins' go-to goalie and Marino has handled every role he's been given, even working alongside Kris Letang on the No. 1 pairing after Brian Dumoulin was injured. -- Molinari

16. DUCK-MANIA ... FOR A BIT

Speaking of surprise rookies ...

Devlin 'Duck' Hodges became the toast of the town -- if just for a few short weeks. The undrafted rookie quarterback was released at the end of training camp, but re-signed in the aftermath of Ben Roethlisberger's season-ending injury to be Mason Rudolph's backup.

Hodges helped the Steelers to a win before a largely pro-Steelers crowd in Los Angeles against the Chargers in his first career start Oct. 13, but when he replaced an ineffective Rudolph in Week 12 at Cincinnati and led the Steelers to a 16-10 win, "Duck-mania" was in full flight in Pittsburgh.

Hodges reached full-fledged celebrity status the following week, when he led the Steelers to a 20-13 win over the Browns at home, then won his third consecutive start in Week 14 at Arizona, becoming the first undrafted rookie quarterback since the 1970 NFL merger to win his first three games in a non-strike season.

But that was as far as it would go. Hodges lost his final three starts, completing just 53.7 percent of his passes while throwing one touchdown and six interceptions. Mike Tomlin went back to Rudolph in the second quarter of a Week 16 loss to the Jets and he rallied the Steelers from a 10-0 deficit to a 10-10 halftime tie. But Rudolph suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the third quarter and Hodges couldn't keep the momentum going in a 16-10 loss.

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. -- Lolley

15. MINKAH FROM MIAMI

On Sept. 17, the Steelers traded a first-round draft pick and some other later-round choices to the Dolphins for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and a couple of draft picks, and some wondered why the team would do so when it could be trading away a top-10 pick.

As it turned out, the Steelers had a need at safety after Sean Davis was lost for the season with a shoulder injury and felt Fitzpatrick was the missing piece to their defensive puzzle. So it made the deal for Fitzpatrick, a player on whom the Steelers had a top-10 grade in the 2018 draft.

Fitzpatrick made an immediate impact on the defense, intercepting a pass and forcing a fumble in his first game with the team despite having just three practices with his new team before that game in San Francisco. And he continued to be an impact player for the Steelers throughout the season, earning his first trip to the Pro Bowl.

Oh, and that supposed top-10 draft pick the Steelers were giving away? In part thanks to the acquisition of Fitzpatrick, it turned out to be the 18th selection in the 2020 draft the Dolphins acquired for a Pro Bowl player. -- Lolley

14. DRAFT-DAY MOVE FOR BUSH

It was no secret the Steelers wanted to improve their inside linebacker corps in the offseason. But picking 20th in this year's draft, they weren't going to have a chance at one of the top two inside linebackers, LSU's Devin White or Michigan's Devin Bush.

Knowing that, the Steelers got proactive on April 26, the first day of the NFL Draft, trading their first and second-round picks in this year's draft, and a third-rounder in 2020 to the Broncos to move up to the 10th spot and select Bush.

"This is a quality young man who’s really an excellent football player," Mike Tomlin said at the time. "As an inside linebacker, his game is really predicated on what is needed to play the position in modern-day NFL football because he can not only play the run but he’s got exceptional cover abilities, and he can also rush the passer.”

It marked the first time since 2006, when the Steelers moved up in the first round to take Santonio Holmes that the team had made such a move.

The speedy former Michigan star showed his worth, as well, leading all NFL rookies with a team-best 109 tackles, while also intercepting two passes, getting one sack, recovering four fumbles -- one of which he returned for a touchdown -- and picking up nine tackles for a loss. -- Lolley

13. BELL'S BOOMING BAT

Josh Bell's prodigious summer was pushing into Willie Stargell territory for a while, and his 60 extra-base hits -- including 27 home runs -- before the All-Star break were the most in National League history. Which, naturally, was followed by an All-Star selection, Home Run Derby and all.

He'd cool off, but no one will turn up a nose at 37 home runs, 116 RBIs and all ... that ... distance, not least of which was two balls launched into the Allegheny River on the fly, shots of 472 and 454 feet, plus another over the batter's eye beyond center field. PNC Park had never seen an exhibition like it.

Beyond that, his warm personality made him an even better hit with fans. -- DK

12. GUENTZEL'S GREAT YEAR

A spectacular year for Jake Guentzel ended in a terrible way Monday night, as he underwent shoulder surgery to repair damage done when he crashed into the boards during the Penguins' 5-2 victory over the Senators at PPG Paints Arena.

His recovery from the operation is expected to last 4-6 months.

Guentzel was injured after he scored the Penguins' final goal, which happened to be his 20th of the season, and just hours after he was named the Penguins' representative to the NHL All-Star Game.

Guentzel was one of just a handful of players to appear in each of the team's first 39 games, and his goal and two assists against the Senators pushed his team-leading points total to 43.

He finished the calendar year with 44 goals and 41 assists in 82 regular-season games. -- Molinari

11. LOTS OF PAIN, LOTS OF GAIN

Considering all the success the Penguins have had for the past decade or so, few people likely are surprised that they are again firmly in contention for a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

Except for people who've paid attention to the bloated total of man-games they've lost because of injuries and illness during the first half of this season, and the key players they've gone without for extended stretches.

Only six players -- Guentzel, Brandon Tanev, Dominik Simon, Teddy Blueger and Zach Aston-Reese and defenseman Marcus Pettersson -- have appeared in every game to date, and then, of course, Guentzel went down. Meanwhile, high-profile guys like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Patric Hornqvist, Brian Dumoulin, Justin Schultz and Bryan Rust have reached double-digits in games-missed. -- Molinari

10. WATT'S DRIVE TO DPOY

T.J. Watt had three hits on Tom Brady in the Steelers' season-opening loss at New England but didn't record a sack or interception. That was noteworthy because in every other game the team played this season, Watt had at least half a sack or an interception, finishing the season with a streak of 15 consecutive games with at least one big play made.

It earned him AFC Defensive Player of the Month honors for November, a second Pro Bowl bid and the team MVP award. Could NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors follow, as well?

Watt certainly had the numbers, finishing the season with an AFC-best 14.5 sacks, tied for the NFL lead with eight forced fumbles, 55 tackles, 14 for a loss, and 36 quarterback hits to go along with his two interceptions and seven pass defenses.

Watt seemed non-plussed by all the attention. Of course, when your older brother, J.J., has been named NFL Defensive Player of the Year three times, maybe it seems like the norm. -- Lolley

9. STEELERS MISS PLAYOFFS

Despite the loss of Roethlisberger in Week 2, despite James Conner essentially missing the entire second half of the season and JuJu Smith-Schuster having 12 catches in the second half, the Steelers sat at 8-5 following a Dec. 8 win in Arizona against the Cardinals.

But consecutive losses to the Bills and Jets knocked them out of control of their playoff hopes and needing a win Dec. 30 in Baltimore, coupled with a loss by the Titans in Houston, for their most simple path to the postseason.

It wasn't to be. Scoring just 10 points for the third consecutive game, the Steelers lost their final game of the season, 28-10, to the Ravens to secure their second consecutive non-playoff season. It was a disappointing finish to what had been an exciting turnaround following a 1-4 start to the season. -- Lolley

8. PIRATES' EPIC COLLAPSE

It's easy to forget after the finish, but the Pirates were a game under .500 and 2.5 out of first place after what'd been a fun first half ... until ... oh, my, 25-48 the rest of the way, including some of the worst baseball of the century in these parts through the better part of July and August that saw a 3-24 free fall.

Honestly, I covered so much of that, both at PNC Park and on the road, and it's still hard to believe that either of those happened, the good or the bad, to such extremes. The fact is, once the rotation became decimated by injury, the bats eventually were going to run out of rallies. And that was going to be that. But wow.

At the same time, that stretch exposed a lot of ugly truths about the state of the Pirates' minor-league system that might otherwise have remained hidden. -- DK

7. KESSEL BECOMES A COYOTE

Phil Kessel became a two-time Stanley Cup champion and something of a folk hero in Western Pennsylvania during his four seasons with the Penguins.

Nonetheless, he seems to have a limited shelf life wherever he plays, and his run with the Penguins ended when they traded him June 29 to Arizona with a fourth-round draft choice in 2021 and minor-league defenseman Dane Birks for winger Alex Galchenyuk and defense prospect Pierre-Olivier Joseph.

Trading Kessel also opened some salary-cap space for the Penguins, giving them some badly needed flexibility to make other personnel moves. -- Molinari

6. BRAWL HEARD ROUND THE WORLD

The Browns entered 2019 with great expectations. So when they beat the Steelers, 21-7, Nov. 15 in Cleveland to give them wins over the Steelers and Ravens in the same season for the first time since rejoining the league in 1999, it should have been a reason for celebration.

Submitted without commentary.

? via @SteelBlitzburgh pic.twitter.com/YdZ8g8QuyI

— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPghSports) November 15, 2019

The game made newscasts across the country, but for all the wrong reasons. With eight seconds remaining, Cleveland's star defensive end Myles Garrett took Mason Rudolph to the ground well after the quarterback had thrown what should have been a meaningless dump off pass to Jaylen Samuels. Rudolph took offense and the two tussled as Garrett got up off the quarterback, with Rudolph grabbing at his helmet

Garrett responded by yanking the helmet from Rudolph's head. Then, when Rudolph charged him as Steelers offensive linemen David DeCastro and Matt Feiler got between the two, Garrett swung the helmet at Rudolph, hitting him on top of the head. DeCastro wrestled Garrett to the ground as Maurkice Pouncey punched and kicked at him.

By the time the smoke cleared, Pouncey, Garrett and Browns defensive end Larry Ogunjobi had been ejected. The next day, all three were suspended by the NFL. Garrett received an indefinite suspension, while Pouncey got three games -- later reduced to two -- and Ogunjobi one for shoving Rudolph to the ground from behind.

That was just the tup of the iceberg. Thirty-three players received fines from the game totaling over $700,000, including Rudolph, who received a $50,000 fine.

To make matters worse, during his appeals hearing the next week, Garrett claimed Rudolph used a racial slur during the incident, something vehemently denied by the quarterback and found to be groundless by the NFL. -- Lolley

5. FELIPE VAZQUEZ ARRESTED

I really don't want to rehash this any more than you'd want to read it. He's where he belongs. -- DK

4. BEN LOST FOR SEASON

Roethlisberger has been the one constant for the Steelers since 2004, giving the franchise its' longest run of quarterback stability in its history. But that changed Sept. 15 against the Seahawks when Roethlisberger completed a 9-yard pass to James Conner to set up a Chris Boswell field goal just before halftime and then did not return for the second half of the Steelers' 28-26 loss. On his final few passes in the game, Roethlisberger could be seen after each throw grabbing at his elbow. He was replaced by Rudolph in the second half.

As it turned out, Roethlisberger needed surgery on his right elbow, something that had been bothering him during the week leading up to the game. The quarterback was not listed on the team's injury report that week, though he was given Wednesday's practice off as he typically had done the last few years. The NFL fined the Steelers $25,000 for not disclosing the quarterback's injury.

Roethlisberger had surgery on the elbow and he and the team are optimistic he'll be ready to resume throwing by the time OTAs come around following the 2020 draft. They'd better be. Roethlisberger signed a two-year, $68-million contract extension in April that will take him through the 2021 season. -- Lolley

3. NUTTING FIRES EVERYONE

At first, when the Pirates' season ended, it looked like Bob Nutting wasn't going to fire anyone other than his field manager, Clint Hurdle.

And as the person who'd led every baseball column over two months, from coast to coast, with the same two words -- "Fire everyone." -- I made it very passionately known that, if this owner wasn't going to take seriously his stewardship of the franchise, maybe it was time for him to go, too.

Nutting did fire everyone. It took a while, but down they went, one by one. Frank Coonelly. Neal Huntington. Kyle Stark. Everyone who mattered in his power structure, right from the top, soon replaced by impressive choices in Travis Williams, Ben Cherington and others.

It was the biggest baseball win of the summer for local fans, who responded with appropriate relief and delight at a chance to start anew. -- DK

2. SWEPT AWAY

The Penguins looked to be, at best, a long shot to claim the franchise's sixth Stanley Cup when the Stanley Cup playoffs began last April, but the odds of them lasting just a week in the postseason were even worse.

But the improbable sometimes happens, and so it was that the Islanders -- who had finished a mere three points ahead of the Penguins during the regular season -- ran them out of the playoffs in just four games, capped by a 3-1 New York victory in Game 4 at PPG Paints Arena.

It was the first time the Penguins were swept in a playoff series since the Eastern Conference final against the Bruins in 2013, and just the Islanders' second series victory in 26 years. New York would be swept by the Hurricanes in the second round. -- Molinari

1. AB ... NONSTOP AB

You couldn't turn off Antonio Brown news in 2019. Heck, he was the most-searched person on Google during the year. First, he got benched for the Steelers' regular season finale in 2018 after he skipped out on practice during the week. Then, he demanded a trade and went on a slash-and-burn campaign against the team, dying his mustache blonde and calling himself Mr. Big Chest. There were some attempts at a reconciliation, including a meeting with Art Rooney II in Miami, but in the end, the trade had to happen.

It finally did March 10, as Brown was shipped to the Raiders for third- and fifth-round draft picks. Many felt the return was too little. But the reality was that Brown's antics over the previous three months had made him a toxic individual. That proved to be the case in Oakland, as well, as he forced his way off the Raiders -- who gave him a three-year, $50-million contract extension -- before the regular season even began.

He subsequently signed with the Patriots -- a deal that was announced when the Steelers were in New England to play their opener -- but lasted just a couple of weeks there before being released again, this time because of some off-field issues with accusations of sexual misconduct.

Brown's season in 2019 consisted of one game for the Patriots in which he caught four passes for 56 yards and a touchdown in a win over the Dolphins. The Steelers, meanwhile, landed receiver Diontae Johnson and tight end Zach Gentry with the picks they received from Oakland for Brown. Johnson led the team in receptions as a rookie and the NFL in punt return average. -- Lolley

PART 2, Thursday: The year in quotes

PART 3, Friday: The year in photos