PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Every time Pirates manager Don Kelly gets ejected from a game he immediately gets a call from a Hall of Famer. It’s the guy who has mentored him to be in this job.
“(Jim) Leyland calls me every time I get thrown out,” Kelly said then added a chuckle.
“He’s always just looking out for me. He’s always cognizant of reputation. I think that something that I learned from him is really the only reputation that matters is in the clubhouse.”
“As you go and compete, the way that the guys get after it when you are standing up for your players. Which is something that Jim always did and guys feel that. It doesn’t matter what else happens.”
As a former player, Kelly said he understands times when you feel like your team is being ‘disrespected’. He then backed off that word to say he’s going to stand up for his players and this team.
“I'm a competitor,” Kelly said. “That's what, as I player, helped me get to where I got to. I think these guys have that same thing.”
Kelly defended getting tossed after a ball appeared to glance off the visor of the helmet of 20-year-old Konnor Griffin on Monday. He said he heard the double-click of the ball hitting the helmet and then the glove.
“Konnor's not going to say anything in that moment,” Kelly said. “Just felt like for me to be able to stand up for him was something that we've got to do."
He said that ball was inches from it being catastrophic for Griffin and he was convinced the call wasn’t right. Kelly hopes the umpires understand it’s not personal against them, but very personal for him to make sure his players are protected.
“We are fighting for that respect, and we have to earn it,” Kelly said. “I can’t get thrown out all the time, but we need to fight for that respect on the field-competing, pitching, play defense, hitting, doing the things we do to win baseball games. It’s something that I truly believe in that we have to earn that every single day. And there are going to be times where we have to fight for that in different ways.”
He obviously doesn’t enjoy getting tossed from a game, after that happens he comes to his office and can only see the game from a high static ballpark camera and then what is shown on TV, although the delay of waiting for the TV is annoying.
Oh, there is one other issue Kelly has to deal with following an ejection. The initial text, before Leyland.
“First, it’s my wife,” Kelly said. “Most of the time I get yelled out for language and I apologize for that.”
LISTEN-What Kelly learned from Jim Leyland & who is the 1st to contact him
LISTEN-What Kelly learned from Jim Leyland & who is the 1st to contact him
