“Mission accomplished” best sums up Gene Lamont’s return to the Pittsburgh Pirates’ coaching staff in 2025.
When the Pirates broke camp in Bradenton, Florida, for the regular season opener in late March, for Lamont, returning to a life in uniform and jetting to ballparks throughout North America was furthest from his mind.
Living in retirement after more than 50 years of service to baseball, as a player, coach, manager, and front office executive had its rewards, by routine, for Lamont. Based in Southwest Florida, most of Lamont’s schedule consisted of playing golf with his neighbor and longtime coaching mentor Hall of Fame manager Jim Leyland. Spending time with his children and grandchildren also topped Lamont’s “honey do list.”
Then, in early May, after the Pirates’ dismissed manager Derek Shelton as the club was off to a horrendous 12–26 start—the call came. It was time for Lamont to polish his cleats, and start packing for Pittsburgh.
“I was golfing with Jim Leyland when we heard that Donnie was hired,” Lamont told The Epoch Times on Monday from his Florida home. “Jim said to me that [Kelly] is going to need someone with experience to work with him. Then, Donnie reached out and called me.”
Lamont, 78, ran the offer by his wife Melody and his two children, and considered how an extended time away from his grandchildren would affect his family. He concluded that mentoring Kelly was doable.
Prior to catching a flight to join up with Kelly and the rest of the Pirates’ coaching staff when the Cincinnati Reds came to Pittsburgh’s PNC Park to begin a homestand on May 19, Lamont’s last time coaching on the MLB level came in 2017 with the Detroit Tigers.
As it turned out, the Kelly–Lamont partnership by all considerations is deemed a success.
Under Kelly’s leadership, the Pirates turned in a 59–65 National League Central record. Pittsburgh did well at playing home games under Kelly’s direction by going 37–25.
Having managed the Pirates and the Chicago White Sox during his career, Lamont’s approach to Kelly’s getting acclimated to the top job in the dugout was simple: Give the skipper who was elevated from bench coach space to figure things out, but be within arms distance, should advice be requested.
Throughout Lamont’s return to the Pirates, fans watching games on TV and those in attendance with an eye on the dugout could see that the “special assistant to the Pirates’ manager” and Kelly were inseparable.
“As the season went on, I could see Donnie taking more control of the game. If he had any problems come up, I was impressed that he took care of them right away. It was obvious that as the season progresses, Donnie seemed more relaxed. We would get to the ballpark between 1:00 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. for night games that began at 7:00 p.m. What makes players better is experience. The same goes for managers,” said Lamont, who was a player with the Tigers in 1970 when called up in September, and hit a home run on his first MLB at-bat.
Other than taking in one Pirates’ spring training game last March, Lamont hadn’t been to an MLB game in some time. When accepting the Pirates’ offer and Kelly’s asking, Lamont had to quickly get up to speed on not only Pittsburgh’s roster, but the rest of the MLB squads. According to Lamont’s assessment of his working with Kelly, it turned out just fine.
“I’m really glad that I did it. When the season ended for us, I wasn’t glad that it was over. It seems to me that the whole experience went by fast,” Lamont says.
Although he lives near the Pirates’ “Southern Home” in Bradenton, Lamont has no plans to replicate his coaching role in 2026—at least not with the big league club. Lamont cites his age as a factor of wanting to return to a slower pace of everyday life. But, Lamont does offer a firm “maybe,” should the Pirates make him an offer to work with one of their minor league affiliates. It’s clear that Lamont’s Pirates’ loyalty runs deep. He speaks of being impressed with the upgrades at Pirates City where the club trains, since his last season in 2000 managing for Pittsburgh.
Lamont offers a ringing endorsement of Pirates’ general manager Ben Cherington, who he says “got the right guy” for the job. It’s Lamont’s opinion that the players respect Kelly and that they played well for him.
For now, the Pirates sweeping of the Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers last season are highlights that bring a smile to Lamont (and are no doubt accomplishments that Kelly is equally proud of). Going from not knowing what to expect when temporarily setting up residency in Pittsburgh six months ago, to observing a rookie skipper who “wanted to win so bad” come into his own, Lamont rode off into MLB’s sunset a happy man last month.
