After stepping in as the interim manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, former Detroit Tigers utility player Don Kelly is surrounding himself with familiar faces from his time in Detroit.
On Friday, the Pirates announced the additions of former player and longtime bench coach Gene Lamont and ex-Tigers third baseman Chris Truby to Kelly’s major league coaching staff. Lamont, who previously managed the Pirates from 1997 to 2000, will serve as a special advisor to Kelly, while Truby is being elevated to a “major league coach” role after managing Pittsburgh’s Triple-A affiliate earlier this season.
Lamont, a veteran baseball figure with deep ties to the Tigers, began his playing career as a catcher selected 13th overall by Detroit in the 1965 draft and debuted with the team in 1970. Over his brief MLB playing career, Lamont appeared in 87 games, hitting four homers with a .233 batting average. He transitioned into coaching and managing, most notably working under Jim Leyland—first as a third-base coach in Pittsburgh, then later as his bench coach with the Tigers from 2006 to 2017, overlapping with Kelly’s playing stint in Detroit from 2009 to 2014.
Chris Truby, who didn’t cross paths with Lamont during his time in Detroit, has spent the past few years in the Pirates’ organization. A former infielder who debuted with the Astros in 2000, Truby had a standout rookie year but struggled to replicate that success in later stints with Montreal, Detroit, and Tampa Bay. He played 89 games with the Tigers in 2002, hitting .199 with two homers. Truby last played in the majors in 2003 and retired in 2007. This season, he managed the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians to a 23-17 record before his promotion.
The Tigers-Pirates connection continues to run deep, largely due to Jim Leyland’s influence. Now, one of his former players is building his own staff by bringing in coaches with shared Detroit roots.
