After speaking with Jim Leyland, Gene Lamont knew Don Kelly might ask him to join the Pirates' coaching staff.
If Kelly did, Lamont knew he'd "probably" say yes.
“It’s been 25 years. I guess I just wanted to get this black and gold on again," Lamont said. "It’s good to come back to help Donnie, but I also wanted to come back for myself, too. I wanted to be here."
Lamont, 78, will be in the Pirates' dugout and will work as a special advisor under Kelly, who he coached as Leyland's bench coach in Detroit. Kelly didn't have to go far to fill his coaching staff.
Lamont managed the White Sox from 1992-1995 and the Pirates from 1997-2000. He was also with the Pirates, Red Sox, Astros and Tigers as a coach. Kelly values Lamont's experience and his opinion.
"I hope that he's completely honest with me and tells me what I need to hear and not what I want to hear," Kelly said. "That's what I need when we're going through a game."
When considering taking the job, Lamont said he discussed that with Kelly, and mentioned Ben Cherington as well. Lamont didn't want to take the job if they wanted a "yes" man.
"I’ll give Donnie my opinion. I just wanted to make sure that Donnie didn’t want, and Ben (Cherington) didn’t want a guy that’d give them the answers that maybe they thought you wanted to hear," Lamont said. "I’m going to give my opinion and hopefully, it’ll help.”
The Pirates are set to start a seven-game homestand against the Reds and Brewers. They still sit in the basement of the National League Central and have one of the worst offenses in all of Major League Baseball as they rank last in runs scored (141), RBIs (138), batting average (.217), slugging percentage (.322) and OPS (.619).
One coaching change won't fix bad play, bad hitting or a lack of talent. But, when asked for his initial thoughts on the team, Lamont said this:
"Me being here is not going to make our guys hit better. If they hit like I did, we’d be bad. Hopefully we can get it going. I know we’ve lost some tough games lately. You’ve got to win tough games. In the big leagues, everybody says play hard. Well, in the big leagues you’ve got to play good. And we have to play better.”
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THE ASYLUM
Greg Macafee
9:17 pm - 05.19.2025NORTH SHORELamont to be an 'honest' voice for Kelly
After speaking with Jim Leyland, Gene Lamont knew Don Kelly might ask him to join the Pirates' coaching staff.
If Kelly did, Lamont knew he'd "probably" say yes.
“It’s been 25 years. I guess I just wanted to get this black and gold on again," Lamont said. "It’s good to come back to help Donnie, but I also wanted to come back for myself, too. I wanted to be here."
Lamont, 78, will be in the Pirates' dugout and will work as a special advisor under Kelly, who he coached as Leyland's bench coach in Detroit. Kelly didn't have to go far to fill his coaching staff.
Lamont managed the White Sox from 1992-1995 and the Pirates from 1997-2000. He was also with the Pirates, Red Sox, Astros and Tigers as a coach. Kelly values Lamont's experience and his opinion.
"I hope that he's completely honest with me and tells me what I need to hear and not what I want to hear," Kelly said. "That's what I need when we're going through a game."
When considering taking the job, Lamont said he discussed that with Kelly, and mentioned Ben Cherington as well. Lamont didn't want to take the job if they wanted a "yes" man.
"I’ll give Donnie my opinion. I just wanted to make sure that Donnie didn’t want, and Ben (Cherington) didn’t want a guy that’d give them the answers that maybe they thought you wanted to hear," Lamont said. "I’m going to give my opinion and hopefully, it’ll help.”
The Pirates are set to start a seven-game homestand against the Reds and Brewers. They still sit in the basement of the National League Central and have one of the worst offenses in all of Major League Baseball as they rank last in runs scored (141), RBIs (138), batting average (.217), slugging percentage (.322) and OPS (.619).
One coaching change won't fix bad play, bad hitting or a lack of talent. But, when asked for his initial thoughts on the team, Lamont said this:
"Me being here is not going to make our guys hit better. If they hit like I did, we’d be bad. Hopefully we can get it going. I know we’ve lost some tough games lately. You’ve got to win tough games. In the big leagues, everybody says play hard. Well, in the big leagues you’ve got to play good. And we have to play better.”
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Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
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