Pittsburgh Pirates fire manager Derek Shelton

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton, left, talks with umpire Mike Estabrook between innings of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres in Pittsburgh, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Derek Shelton was booed loudly when he was introduced ahead of his sixth home opener as the Pittsburgh Pirates manager last month. He shook it off in the aftermath, attributing the reaction to understandable frustration from a fan base weary of a franchise-wide reset that looks and feels stalled.

The man who arrived at spring training saying it was time to win pledged to get it cleaned up. A little over a month later, with the Pirates languishing in last place amid a flurry of missteps both on and off the field, Shelton was out of a job.

Pittsburgh fired Shelton on Thursday, a decision general manager Ben Cherington — who hired Shelton months after taking over the club’s baseball operations in 2019 — called difficult but necessary to salvage a season perilously close to essentially being over before Memorial Day.

“We aren’t performing the way we need to,” Cherington said a few hours after Shelton became the first major league manager jettisoned this year. “We’re not performing in a way that our fans deserve. We know we need to be better.”

The move came with Pittsburgh mired in a seven-game losing streak and languishing at 12-26 overall. Shelton went 306-440 in five-plus seasons with the Pirates. He navigated the ugly early days of Cherington’s rebuild with good humor and grace but struggled to find the right buttons to push on a small-market team that has little margin for error.

Longtime bench coach and former major leaguer Don Kelly will take over for the remainder of the 2025 season, a full-circle moment for the Pittsburgh native. Cherington called Kelly “an elite human being and teammate” with a “teacher’s heart.”

Those skills figure to be put to the test while overseeing a lineup that ranks among the worst in the majors in nearly every major offensive category.

Cherington was quick to not put the onus for the team’s failure entirely on Shelton. The GM who won a World Series with Boston a dozen years ago said multiple times that he was “more responsible than anyone.”

Maybe, but Cherington will report to work on Friday as usual when the Pirates open a three-game weekend series against Atlanta. Shelton, believed to be in the final season of a contract extension he signed in 2023 during a 20-8 start that turned out to be a mirage, will watch from afar, if he watches at all.

It’s not what either envisioned when the season began.

The Pirates, ranked 26th out of 30 MLB teams in opening-day payroll, hoped to take a step toward contention with National League Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes leading the way.

While the starting rotation in general has been steady, Pittsburgh’s largely inept offense has been an issue. A 2-1 loss to St. Louis on Tuesday encapsulated both Skenes’ and the Pirates’ season. One of the game’s bright young stars made a single mistake in six innings. It was all the Cardinals needed to win on a night Pittsburgh when managed just four hits.

St. Louis finished the three-game sweep less than 24 hours later in a 5-0 victory in which the Pirates showed little life. That was enough for Cherington to recommend to owner Bob Nutting and team president Travis Williams that it was time for a change.

Nutting called Pittsburgh’s opening six weeks of the season “frustrating and painful.”

What it shouldn’t have been, perhaps, is surprising.

The team did little in the offseason to address an offense that was the primary culprit in an August swoon that dropped the Pirates out of playoff contention.

Rather than finding a way to make a significant investment in proven major league talent, Cherington instead retooled parts of the coaching staff and scouting department, including firing hitting coach Andy Haines and replacing him with Matt Hague. The team’s modest personnel moves included bringing back franchise icon Andrew McCutchen, acquiring first baseman Spencer Horwitz and taking one-year flyers on veterans Tommy Pham and Adam Frazier on the eve of spring training.

McCutchen remains one of Pittsburgh’s more productive hitters, even at 38. Pham, meanwhile, is batting .183 and has already been suspended one game for making an obscene gesture toward fans while playing in left field. Frazier is at .229, and Horwitz is currently in the minors rehabbing a wrist injury he sustained not long after coming to the team.

Pittsburgh finds itself in the same position offensively it was a season ago. Cherington likened the team’s opening 38 games “a perfect storm” but tried to express optimism, both in its ability to rebound and his own long-term prospects.

“I don’t believe you have to squint too hard to see a better team in 2025, I really don’t,” he said. “I’m not blind to the fact that we’ve ourselves in a hole and we got to climb out of that. No way to do it but a pitch at the time. We all have that goal.”

Asked if he still considers himself the right person to lead the Pirates out of a wilderness they’ve been in for most of the last 30-plus years — save for a stretch from 2013-15 when McCutchen led a brief renaissance — Cherington nodded.

“I know that there’s frustration — and maybe anger — that it hasn’t happened yet,” he said. “I believe it’s going to happen. I believe strongly I’m going to be a part of making it happen. I have a lot of confidence in our baseball operations group. We have to get better. I know that. Period.”

New York Rangers hire Mike Sullivan as coach days after he and the Pittsburgh Penguins parted ways

(AP File Photo)

The New York Rangers have hired Mike Sullivan as coach. Sullivan was out of a job for less than a week after he and the Pittsburgh Penguins agreed Monday to part ways. Sullivan replaces Peter Laviolette, who was fired after the Rangers missed the playoffs following a trip to the Eastern Conference final last year. Sullivan, who coached Pittsburgh to the Stanley Cup back to back in 2016 and ’17, is tasked with trying to turn the Rangers back into an immediate contender. General manager Chris Drury made the move to get Sullivan not long after receiving a multiyear contract extension of his own.

Penguins split with two-time Stanley Cup-winning coach Mike Sullivan

(AP File Photo of Mike Sullivan Coaching the Penguins)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mike Sullivan’s nearly decade-long tenure running the Pittsburgh Penguins is over. The team announced Monday that it was parting ways with the two-time Stanley Cup winning coach just over a week after the Penguins missed out on the playoffs for a third straight season. Sullivan’s 409 wins with Pittsburgh are a franchise record. He led the Penguins to back-to-back championships in 2016 and 2017 and had two more years left on his contract. Sullivan said recently that he wanted to remain with the club as it tries to retool around future Hall of Famer Sidney Crosby. Instead, general manager Kyle Dubas said “we felt it was the best course forward for all involved” to move on.

Mason Rudolph is reuniting with Pittsburgh Steelers on a 2-year deal, AP source says

File Photo -Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph throws a pass during the second half of the team’s NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts in Indianapolis on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. The Colts won 30-13. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mason Rudolph is back to where he once belonged. The veteran quarterback has reached an agreement to return to the Pittsburgh Steelers on a two-year deal, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal has not yet been made public. The signing gives the Steelers at least one experienced quarterback on the roster after Pittsburgh declined to bring back Justin Fields, who signed a two-year deal with the New York Jets. Russell Wilson, who started Pittsburgh’s last 12 games in 2024, is meeting with other teams this week.

Beaver County Radio To Broadcast WPIAL Championship Triple Header on Saturday

(Brighton Twp., Pa.) Beaver County Radio is proud to announce that we will be broadcasting  a High School Basketball  triple header on Saturday, March 1, from the WPIAL Championships at the Peterson Events Center in Pittsburgh.  It all gets started at 10:30 AM  with the pregame and then at 11AM the Aliquippa Lady Quips will take on Neshannock Lady Lancers. In game two of the triple header the Aliquippa Quip boys will take on south Allegheny Gladiators in the 3A final. We’ll finish up the day with the Lady Cougars of Blackhawk that will be taking on Oakland Catholic Lady Eagles in the 4A final at 3PM. Mike Azadian, Frank Salopek, and Gene Matsook will have the call of all three games on Beaver County Radio.

You can listen to the games on our website by going to: https://streamdb6web.securenetsystems.net/cirruscontent/WBVP?CFID=8cee42d2-a317-444a-9fb6-0ad212472410&CFTOKEN=0

You can also download the St. Barnabas Broadcasting  App for free at the Google Play and Apple I-Tunes Store.

CCBC Players of the Game (Bishop Canevin vs Aliquippa): Tuesday February 25, 2025

 

99.3 FM, 1230 WBVP and beavercountyradio.com’s CCBC Players of the Game for Bishop Canevin vs Aliquippa High School Basketball WPIALPlayoffs

Your CCBC Players of the the game:

Bishop Canevin: Drew Allen

Aliquippa: Jeremiah Pratt

You can see all of the past CCBC Players of the Game for High School Sports by clicking on the CCBC Logo Below:

 

 

WPIAL Basketball Playoff Scores: Tuesday, February 25, 2025

Tuesday – February 25, 2024:

 

 

            1230WBVP-AM, 99.3 FM, beavercountyradio.com-WPIAL High School Playoffs – Basketball Game of the Week

Bishop Canevin

Aliquippa

36

66 Final

                                                                       Class 5A Boys      
                                                                         Class 4A Boys      
 

 

                                                                         Class 3A Boys      
 

 

 

 

                                                                          Class 2A Boys      
 

 

 

 

Longtime Pittsburgh Penguins announcer Mike Lange, known for his distinctive style, dies at 76

FILE – Pittsburgh Penguins long time broadcaster Mike Lange addresses the crowd before the unveiling of a statue depicting Pittsburgh Penguins Hall of Fame center Mario Lemieux outside the NHL hockey team’s arena March 7, 2012, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Hall of Fame broadcaster Mike Lange, whose imaginative goal calls made his raspy voice immediately recognizable to Pittsburgh Penguin fans for decades, has died. He was 76.
The team confirmed Lange’s death Wednesday. No cause was given.
“Mike was a wordsmith — a magician behind the mic,” the Penguins said in a statement, later adding “only Mike could make the biggest names in hockey seem more magical with just his voice.”
Phil Bourque, a former Penguin who spent years alongside Lange in the team’s radio booth, called his former partner “one of the kindest, most loyal and loving humans I’ve ever met.”
Lange spent nearly five decades chronicling the franchise’s rise from also-ran to Stanley Cup champion five times over, his unique delivery and quirky sayings serving as the soundtrack for iconic moments from Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux and longtime running mate Jaromir Jagr to current stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
The Hockey Hall of Fame inducted Lange in 2001 when he received the Foster Hewitt Award for broadcast excellence.
From “It’s a hockey night in Pittsburgh” to “Elvis has left the building” to “he beat him like a rented mule,” Lange’s distinctive turns of phrase made his voice instantly recognizable.
When Pittsburgh defeated Chicago to win a second straight Stanley Cup in 1992, Lange punctuated the title on the team’s radio network by telling listeners “Lord Stanley, Lord Stanley, get me the brandy.”
Born in Sacramento, California, on March 3, 1948, Lange called games in the Western Hockey League before doing a one-year stint with the Penguins in 1974. He left while the team experienced financial difficulties before returning to Pittsburgh for good in 1976. He didn’t miss a single game for the next 30 years, serving as the club’s lead broadcaster on its television and radio networks as Pittsburgh became one of the NHL’s marquee clubs.
It wasn’t uncommon for Lange’s calls to be mimicked by sportscasters everywhere, with former ESPN anchor Keith Olbermann putting his own twist on a Lange classic by using the line “he beat him like a rented goalie” occasionally during NHL highlight packages. Lange even appeared as a broadcaster — and trotted out some of his singular sayings — in the Pittsburgh-set Jean-Claude Van Damme action movie “Sudden Death.” The fictional 1995 film was set against the backdrop of a Stanley Cup matchup between the Penguins and the Chicago Blackhawks.
Lange moved to the radio side full-time in 2006, calling the team’s Stanley Cup wins in 2009, 2016 and 2017 before retiring in August 2021 after 46 years with the Penguins. The team honored him in October that year, which Lange noted marked his 50th in broadcasting.
“I didn’t get cheated in my quest to do what I have always loved,” Lange said in a statement that coincided with his retirement.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL