PITTSBURGH >> When you walk into Don Kelly’s modest office, just across the hall from the home clubhouse at PNC Park, it’s hard not to miss the man who, nearly four decades earlier, came before him.

And it’s hard, too, not to recognize the similarities between Kelly and the man who, in so many ways, helped mold his life and career, first when Kelly was a boy growing up in Pittsburgh, trick-or-treating at Skip’s house, and then as a major-league player, and now as a big-league manager.

Jim Leyland and Don Kelly have been connected, in ways both small and large, for most of Kelly’s life — including most of Kelly’s six-year career with the Tigers, when he was a utility player and a favorite of Leyland’s — and here they are again, connected by one job, Leyland’s old and Kelly’s new. Both major-league managers for the first time, Leyland in 1986, Kelly now. Both in their 40s, Leyland 41 then, Kelly 45 now. Both taking over an awful Pittsburgh Pirates ballclub.

And should one somehow miss the many connections between the two men, there’s a not-so-subtle reminder hanging right above the main door to Kelly’s office — it’s a vintage photo of Leyland, in the Pirates’ black and gold, tipping his cap, almost as if he’s gesturing toward Kelly’s desk.

“Oh, man, a ton,” Kelly said in his office before a game earlier this month, when asked how much he learned from Leyland. “He cared about his people, players, staff. He cared about the team, cared about winning, and everything that he did revolved around that — to take care of the people and let them know how important winning was. And the decisions that he made were based in regard to that, to the people, and to win. When he did something, it was never personal. He wanted to win, and he made the best decision that he could make in the moment to try to win.”

There’s not a whole lot of winning going on in Pittsburgh these days, though there’s been more under Kelly than his predecessor, Derek Shelton, who was fired a little over a month into his sixth season on the job, with the Pirates 12-26. Under Kelly, who was promoted from bench coach, the Pirates, with lots of pitching and not a lot of hitting, have been playing better, even if he’s not always around till the end of the game to see it (more on that later). The Pirates are a respectable 17-18 under Kelley as they visit Comerica Park for a three-game series, starting Tuesday night.

It marks Kelly’s first trip to Detroit as a major-league manager, and it’s a return to the place where he got the itch to one day go into coaching. As a career bench guy —for his major-league career, he played in 584 games, but only started 257 of those; in Detroit, he hit .234 with 23 homers and 95 RBIs — he typically found himself with plenty of time to observe what was going on around him.

And he often found himself observing Leyland, picking up everything but a two-pack-a-day cigarette habit.

“He’s forgotten more baseball,” said Kelly, “than we know.”

Fan favorite

DKB. Say those three letters, and Tigers fans will know, instantly, who you’re talking about— and they’ll often smile. That’s Donnie Kelly, Baby, the nickname popularized by late Tigers radio broadcaster Jim Price. It came from a moment of elation, and it stuck.

In a Tigers era that saw so many stars, Kelly developed his own, almost cult-like following. His boyish looks and wholesome demeanor (nobody would’ve been surprised if he had kept a Tide stick in his back pocket or feasted on orange slices after games, or both) certainly helped endear him to Tigers fans. So, too, did a couple of memorable moments on the field, none more than his home run at Yankee Stadium in the first inning of a do-or-die American League Division Series game in 2011. In a lineup that included Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, Magglio Ordonez and Austin Jackson, Kelly, somehow, found himself starting and batting second. Leyland had a feeling.

“Those moments,” said Curtis Granderson, a teammate of Kelly’s with the Tigers in the minor leagues and major leagues, who, in that 2011 series, was playing for the Yankees. “Leyland knew some stuff that the rest of us didn’t.”

The next October, in the ALDS with the Oakland A’s, Kelly hit a walk-off sacrifice fly to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead, en route to the World Series.

Kelly had a negative career WAR over nine seasons in the big leagues, including stints with the Pirates and Miami Marlins. His WAR in six seasons with Detroit was just 0.7. But he made a mark, and, Leyland said, he earned it.

“Everybody thought he was Jim Leyland’s pet. That wasn’t true,” Leyland said over the phone the other day. “I thought he was a very valuable player for us. I really liked him, but you don’t let that interfere into picking a team and trying to win ballgames.

“If you’re playing in the big leagues, at any position, you’re pretty good,” added Leyland, who, himself, never did get above Double-A as a player with the Tigers, before going onto a 22-year career as a major-league manager that, in 2024, landed him in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

“Probably the best thing about him is he realized what kind of player he was and what he could do to contribute. He never complained. He knew better. He knew who he was and what he was when. When people in those roles accept those roles and don’t cause problems inside the clubhouse, that’s a really valuable piece for a manager.”

It’s worth noting, Leyland actually cut Kelly in spring training in 2006, leading Kelly to eventually leave and sign with the Pirates, and then the Arizona Diamondbacks, before returning to the Tigers’ organization in 2009. He went on to play 544 games with Detroit, at every position but one (shortstop). Yes, he even pitched. Yes, he even caught.

He gave Leyland the tool that Detroit’s current manager, AJ Hinch, cherishes so much: versatility. Kelly could play everywhere and had a little pop at the plate from the left side.

Almost as importantly, though, he was a good clubhouse guy, one who got along just as well with the backups as he did with the stars, like Justin Verlander. The players took to him, and so did the fans.

“I think anybody can relate to a guy who gives great effort at all times, who isn’t the All-Star player. Especially in Detroit. Everybody likes the blue-collar grinder, the guy who kind of made himself into something when projections and the scouts said differently,” said Andy Dirks, a teammate of Kelly’s in Detroit from 2011-13 who’s since joined the Tigers’ TV and radio broadcast teams. “You’ve got somebody who’s smiling and does it with grace and does it with sincerity. He’s a real guy. Little show, all go. I think that attracts people, when a guy is really sincere.

“He had the respect of Skip, but Skip doesn’t just give respect. (Leyland) always had his players’ backs, but you gotta earn it. Skip’s not just gonna keep you around just because you’re a good guy.

“You’ve gotta be able to play, too, and Donnie worked on his game and figured out a way.”

‘He’s authentic’

Kelly played five years under Leyland in Detroit and one under Brad Ausmus, before he finished his playing career with the Marlins. He returned to Detroit as a scout, before landing his first major-league coaching job, in 2019, as first-base coach for the Houston Astros, who were then managed by Hinch.

Kelly spent just one season in Houston before returning to Pittsburgh to be Shelton’s bench coach. But he made an impression on Hinch, who’s provided a training ground for multiple future major-league managers, including Kelly, Alex Cora (Boston Red Sox) and Joe Espada (Astros).

Like anybody who knows Kelly, it was the people skills that stood out to Hinch.

“I loved his connection to the players. I thought he’d be a good teacher, he’s super humble, you know, he’s relatable,” Hinch said before a game at Comerica Park over the weekend. “He had his journey in baseball that had been full of peaks and valleys. I think you can help players with that. He’s authentic. And that combo, to me, was an easy hire, because he immediately added special traits to the team.”

In addition to first-base coaching, Kelly helped Hinch’s 2019 Astros team with base-running drills, infield work and outfield work. “We had him touch everything,” Hinch said.

Often in baseball, the best managers are former catchers or former utility players. And it’s not by accident.

“We have to watch a lot of baseball from the bench,” Hinch, an ex-catcher, said with a laugh. “Sometimes, it’s because we’re not on the field and we learn more about this position. He has a great feel for the game, and given that he had to know so much about so many positions, it gave him a great head start.”

Leyland, 80, long has been dubbed an old-school manager, while Hinch, 51, has been front and center in the age of analytics, none more so than late in 2024, when he orchestrated so-called “pitching chaos” to lead the Tigers to a miraculous playoff appearance, a first-round win over his former team, the Astros, and then a five-game loss to the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Division Series.

Leyland, who managed eight years in Detroit, and Hinch, in his fifth with the Tigers, are more similar than perhaps you’d been led to believe, Kelly said.

“AJ and Leyland are the two that I learned the most from,” Kelly said. “It’s hard to compare (them). Even if you ask Leyland right now, he would talk about the analytics in baseball, it’s a fancy word for information. They always used the information to help make decisions. It’s evolved, and they put a fancy term on it, in analytics. AJ is very good at understanding that, as well.”

So, what bonds them?

“That drive to win and the care they have for the people around them,” said Kelly, who attended Mount Lebanon High and Point Park University in Pittsburgh, “in order to direct and shepherd that toward the goal of winning.”

Leyland wasn’t sure when Kelly was playing for him that he’d go on to coach or manage someday, though he had an inkling. Kelly was a sponge looking for information, not so much asking questions during a game, but rather, usually the next day, at batting practice.

By the time Kelly was working for Hinch, he had been dubbed a manager in waiting by those around the league.

“He has a great feel for the game,” Hinch said. “He had great traits of a connection with players, a curious mind and an incredible work ethic. So I’m thrilled for them.”

‘Starting to build something here’

The Pirates’ brass, led by owner Bob Nutting and general manager Ben Cherington, don’t exactly have a lot of goodwill built up with the fan base. The franchise has had six consecutive losing seasons leading into 2025, they’ve developed few hitters and they’ve long been a non-factor in free agency, more than enough to make fans’ blood boil.

But then, before this season, they made a couple of incomprehensible and unforgivable blunders. On the outfield wall in right field, Hall-of-Famer Roberto Clemente’s name and number were covered with an advertisement for booze. Then, while repairing the sidewalks outside beautiful PNC Park, they dug up and dumped thousands of commemorative bricks that had names and messages from generations of Pirates fans.

The Pirates, amid swift and harsh public backlash, made amends on both counts.

Then, on May 8, Shelton was fired, and Kelly was tapped to replace him. In the eyes of many who’ve been around Pirates baseball for a long time, the team got something right.

“The mood has lightened a lot since he’s taken over,” said John Perrotto, a baseball reporter who’s covered the Pirates for 38 years, since the very early days of Leyland’s 11-year stint as manager in Pittsburgh. “Finally, the clouds have lifted, and at least a few rays of sunshine are coming through now.

“You know, (Kelly) truly is almost impossible not to like. … He’s got that touch with people that Leyland had. Obviously, he’s not the gruff guy smoking cigarettes. He’s like a new-school version of Leyland. He understands what makes people tick, and I always thought that was Leyland’s best strength.

“Leyland loved guys like Donnie, and Leyland knew how hard it was to play the game, and Donnie knows that the same way. I think the players appreciate that he was able to carve out, what, (nine) years of service time out of a pretty limited skill set. (Players) know he’s coming from a point of understanding how difficult the game is.”

Kelly also understands that nobody knows everything, which is why after he was hired as manager, he quickly turned to his former bench coach in Detroit (and another former Pirates manager) in Gene Lamont to be his right-hand adviser and pseudo-bench coach in Pittsburgh. Lamont, drafted by the Tigers 60 years ago, returned to the dugout at age 78.

Neil Walker is biased, as Kelly’s brother-in-law since 2007, but he also knows baseball, having played in the majors for 12 seasons, including seven with his hometown Pirates.

Walker, now a Pirates’ broadcaster, has known for a while that Kelly is cut out for this ? he was, after all, a finalist for the Red Sox managerial job, before Cora got it, for a second time, before the 2021 season.

“Communication,” Walker said, of Kelly’s biggest attribute. “Anybody that’s in the Major League Baseball realm, they’ll tell you it’s about people, right? It’s about connecting with players, connecting with management, connecting with media, with all that. Donnie gets that. He understands that as much as you might know the X’s and O’s, and I think he learned that from Jim Leyland. That’s something that is overlooked in certain aspects in the baseball world.

“He gets that motivation is one thing, and to understand people and how the game works at the major-league level, you have to be able to have the players’ trust more than you have to have players’ respect.

“He’s starting to build something here. He’s trying to set a standard.”

Don’t, however, mistake Kelly’s relatability and nice-guy, every-man demeanor — Kelly still owns a Jimmy John’s in a Pittsburgh suburb, and often would do the deliveries himself, as did Walker — for being a pushover. Leyland admittedly wondered if Kelly had the firmness it took to be a major-league manager. He doesn’t wonder anymore.

Kelly expects the best, from himself, from his players, and, oh yes, from the umpires, too.

“It’s been a good learning experience over these first few weeks,” Kelly said with a sly smile.

Showing fire

Kelly never did get ejected during his major-league playing career. It’s hard to confirm if he ever even swore.

But it took just two games into his managerial career to get his first ejection, bringing the Pirates’ fans to their feet. They’ve seen a lot of baseball over the years. They were happy to see somebody else ticked off about it.

Five games later, Kelly was ejected again — before he hired Lamont.

“I told him if I’m gonna have to manage every third or fourth game, I don’t know if I wanted to (take the job),” Lamont said with a chuckle. “He’s into the game. … He’s into the game so much, it’s gonna happen at times.”

Since Lamont has come aboard, Kelly has been ejected for a third time, and might’ve gotten ejected again if Lamont didn’t physically grab him by the shoulder to keep him from coming out of the dugout. Another time, during a rain delay earlier this month, Kelly got into a heated conversation with Astros general manager Dana Brown.

This surely isn’t your parents’ DKB, nor does it surprise those who know him best.

“He played for Skip. If anybody was gonna get ejected and had the most epic ejections of all-time, it was the guy he loved,” Dirks said. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Said Walker: “Listen, I see Donnie at family events, I see him in many different realms. He is one of the most calm and cool people I know. He also understands that there’s a time to show his fiery side. More than being a quote-unquote ‘red ass,’ I think more than that, he understands that there’s a time and a place to stick your neck out.”

Added Hinch: “He’s all in for his players.”

Leyland, who was ejected 73 times during his major-league managerial career (including 30 times with the Tigers), said Kelly has to be careful on that front. He doesn’t want to get a reputation around the league. Leyland talks with Kelly regularly and isn’t afraid to give his input. Leyland has been impressed with how Kelly has handled the pitching staff, but wonders if he’ll need to ease up on the quick hook for starting pitchers (the Pirates have one of the best in the game, in Paul Skenes), in order to keep from wearing out the bullpen.

Kelly said Leyland, who is an adviser to the Tigers’ front office but lives in Pittsburgh and often attends Pirates games, isn’t afraid to give his opinion. And Kelly embraces that, even though Leyland’s biggest message to him when he got the managerial job was simple: “Be Donnie Kelly. Don’t try to be somebody you’re not.”

Interestingly, when the Pirates fired Shelton and promoted Kelly, they didn’t give him the traditional “interim” tag. He is the manager, through at least the end of the season. Beyond that, it’s tough to say. Cherington could be on the hot seat, and any new general manager would probably be afforded the opportunity to hire their own manager.

Kelly’s long-term future isn’t much of a concern right now. He’s trying to get the Pirates (29-44), the team he grew up rooting for, out of last place in the National League Central.

That climb starts in Detroit, which, like for Leyland, is his home away from home.

“It’ll be great. It’s always great to come back to Detroit,” Kelly said in his PNC Park office, which, in another hat tip to Leyland, is where he holds his pregame media scrums, rather than at a podium, which has become more standard (and stale) throughout baseball. He even started a recent media session with a funny story, like Leyland used to do. “It’s like our second home. You know, I have a lot of friends still up in the area, and I look forward to seeing them. And then, obviously, AJ, is there doing a heck of a job and, you know, the team’s playing well.”

“I’m sure the city’s excited and on fire, and I’m just looking forward to getting back.”

He’s still DKB, just a little older, a little wiser — and, it turns out, a lot louder.