Kevin Gorman stories, Page 130
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Pirates players weigh pros, cons of MLB plotting playoff expansion
The playoff picture is the furthest thing from the minds of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who started spring training without their best all-around player, ace pitcher and All-Star closer on a roster with a projected payroll around $50 million. That didn’t stop us from asking Pirates players about a New York...
Pirates director of sports medicine anticipating Gregory Polanco will report healthy to camp
BRADENTON, Fla. — The Pittsburgh Pirates are anticipating that right fielder Gregory Polanco will be healthy when he reports to Pirate City for spring training, director of sports medicine and performance Todd Tomczyk said Wednesday. Polanco played in only 42 games last season after having setbacks from surgery on his...
Pirates reportedly agree to deal with speedy center fielder Jarrod Dyson
BRADENTON, Fla. — The Pittsburgh Pirates are adding another center fielder to their roster, as they reportedly agreed to a one-year contract with 10-year veteran Jarrod Dyson on Wednesday. The deal is pending Dyson passing a physical exam. The Pirates have agreed to a Major League deal with outfielder Jarrod...
Pirates’ Jameson Taillon ‘definitely curious’ to follow Ben Roethlisberger’s recovery from elbow surgery
BRADENTON, Fla. – The two players with the most prominent right arms in Pittsburgh sports saw their 2019 seasons end with surgery on their throwing elbows in a five-week span. As he rehabilitates from Tommy John surgery in mid-August, Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon said he intends to closely monitor the...
Kevin Gorman: Pirates pitchers hope Tommy John recovery becomes ‘instant classic’Video
BRADENTON, Fla. What began as a friendly, one-on-one basketball game between a pair of pitchers at Pirate City turned into a tug-of-war that left Jameson Taillon and Chad Kuhl physically spent — all because of three words. No, not Tommy John surgery. Win. By. Two. The winner would be whoever...
New Pirates catcher Luke Maile finds comfort with familiar facesVideo
BRADENTON, Fla. — Luke Maile might be a newcomer to the Pittsburgh Pirates, but the faces that are familiar to the 29-year-old catcher carry some serious weight within the organization. Maile played for Pirates manager Derek Shelton in Tampa Bay and spent the past three seasons under the supervision of...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: New-look Pirates back to being all about baseballVideo
The first sign that things are different with the Pittsburgh Pirates this spring training was the missing signs. The hallway outside the clubhouse at Pirate City didn’t have any of the inspirational messages and mottos posted on the walls that were hallmarks of the previous regime. Hanging in their place...
Kevin Gorman: Keone Kela wants to become something bigger than Pirates closer
BRADENTON, Fla. The least surprising storyline of spring training for the Pittsburgh Pirates is Keone Kela enters it with every intention of claiming the closer’s role. Kela is the front-runner to go from setup man to stopper to replace jailed two-time All-Star Felipe Vazquez, given the effectiveness Kela showed in...
Chris Archer brings positive perspective to Pirates, promises ‘better version of myself’Video
BRADENTON, Fla. — Chris Archer arrived for the start of spring training sporting a new look after cutting off his signature, shoulder-length dreadlocks. What the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander wants, following a career-worst season, is to rediscover the pitching form that made him a two-time All-Star and staff ace in Tampa...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Position battles take center stage at Pirates spring training
If there is optimism surrounding the Pittsburgh Pirates entering spring training, it’s with the change in leadership. The starting lineup is another story. New Pirates manager Derek Shelton inherits a 93-loss team minus its ace pitcher, All-Star closer, veteran catcher and best all-around player when pitchers and catchers report to...
Kevin Gorman: New Pirates manager Derek Shelton’s short, sweet message: Have funVideo
The Pittsburgh Pirates wanted a new voice with a new message, and they got their wish when Clint Hurdle was fired after his was tuned out too often over the last of his nine seasons. Derek Shelton is preparing for his first spring training as a major-league manager by practicing...
Kevin Gorman: Can Joe Musgrove become the leader the Pirates need? Maybe he already hasVideo
Joe Musgrove wasn’t showing a gap-toothed smile when he talked about “taking it in the teeth” and how the Pittsburgh Pirates’ season went south amid clubhouse chaos. But Musgrove knew what was missing. “We had a lot of internal problems going and some issues getting things together on the field,”...
Pirates sign 16-year-old Australian outfielder Solomon MaguireVideo
The Pittsburgh Pirates signed 16-year-old Australian outfielder Solomon Maguire as a non-drafted free agent on Wednesday. We have officially signed outfielder Solomon Maguire (Sydney, Australia) as a non-drafted free agent. The Pirates have now signed 43 players during the 2019-20 international signing period. pic.twitter.com/VItxSs8bLB— Pirates (@Pirates) February 5, 2020 The...
Kevin Gorman: Timing would be terrible for Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi to leave for Michigan State
We’ve always known it was only a matter of time before Mark Dantonio would leave Michigan State and speculation would surround Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi’s name to surface as successor. That countdown started only seconds after the news broke. And the timing is terrible. When Dantonio abruptly retired Tuesday —...
Kevin Gorman: Pitt proves wins don’t need to be prettyVideo
Jeff Capel was trying to tell his Pitt players to shoot less with hesitation and more with conviction, no small feat in a game where you wouldn’t hesitate to convict the Panthers for their putrid performance from the perimeter. Miami abandoned its man-to-man defense and packed the paint with a...
Kevin Gorman: From Kobe Bryant to Super Bowl, sports world a roller coaster ride of tears, cheers
Chuck Franciscus was 5 years old when he became a Los Angeles Lakers fan for life, watching in awe as Magic Johnson went from throwing no-look, behind-the-back passes to playing center and scoring 42 points in winning Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals to clinch the world championship. Franciscus...
Kevin Gorman: A ‘Dream Outfield’ deferred, Pirates turn to Gregory Polanco for productionVideo
Now that the Pittsburgh Pirates have traded two-thirds of the so-called Dream Outfield, we finally can wake up to this reality: It was more of a fantasy. The idea of fielding an outfield of All-Stars Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco in the same fashion as the early 1990s...
Kevin Gorman: Kobe Bryant’s death brings back Pittsburgh memories of his ‘Mamba Mentality’Video
Rick Bell is a hoops junkie, so he was watching the Maryland-Indiana college basketball game when he received a text message from his son, RJ, a junior guard at Geneva. Did you hear about Kobe? No, Bell replied, asking what happened. He was killed in a helicopter crash. That was...
Kevin Gorman: Josh Bell is face of the Pirates, who hope his bubble won’t burstVideo
Josh Bell makes it a point to practice in game-like conditions so he always pops in a mouthful of bubble gum for batting practice, mimicking his motions for facing major-league pitching. When he left the batting cages for a photo shoot Thursday to promote the Pittsburgh Pirates’ new road jerseys,...
Kevin Gorman: Trading Starling Marte might force the Pirates to finally use the R-wordVideo
The Pittsburgh Pirates touted their unveiling of new road jerseys at PiratesFest on Friday at PNC Park as “rewriting the script,” which is one way to use an R-word without using the R-word. Refresh. Recalibrate. Rewrite. Anything but rebuild. The Pirates have a new management team attempting to create a...
Kevin Gorman: Make no mistake, Matt Murray and Jack Johnson push Penguins past BruinsVideo
Perhaps no Pittsburgh Penguins have served as lightning rods for the fan base more than goalie Matt Murray and defenseman Jack Johnson, and both were being blamed for a three-goal, first-period deficit against the Boston Bruins. Murray and Johnson took their share of abuse in the first five minutes Sunday...
Kevin Gorman: Jeff Capel gets cutthroat against Carolina, as Pitt gets sweep to savorVideo
Jeff Capel wasn’t aware of the last time the Pitt Panthers pulled off a regular-season sweep in conference play, claiming he hadn’t studied the program’s history well enough to know. What the Pitt coach does know — perhaps better than any of his players could ever imagine — is the...
Pirates announce CARE-a-van stops will feature All-Star Josh Bell, new manager Derek Shelton
The Pittsburgh Pirates announced the schedule for the Pirates CARE-a-van, which will have stops at 35 public and private community events in 18 cities from Jan. 22-24 leading up to PiratesFest on Jan. 25 at PNC Park. The CARE-a-van features four busloads of Pirates players, including All-Star first baseman Josh...
Kevin Gorman: Why Bill Cowher calls this Mike Tomlin’s best coaching job for the Steelers
As Bill Cowher reminisced about winning Super Bowl XL, he recalled how he was corrected after calling his Pittsburgh Steelers underdogs before playing the Seattle Seahawks. “Someone said, ‘I think you guys are favored,’ ” Cowher said of the four-point odds. “I said, ‘Nope, we’re underdogs. I’m not going to...
Kevin Gorman: After Hall call, Bill Cowher can’t wait for a lights-out Steelers conversation
We watched Bill Cowher’s famous jaw drop Saturday night upon learning of his selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and saw his chin quivering Sunday when his daughter’s social media post was read aloud. Now that the live reactions to his induction in August in the 20-member Centennial...
