If the issuance of a smile, wave, handshake or fist-bump was kept as a statistic, Pittsburgh Pirates manager Don Kelly might be the organization’s leader.
Most behind-the-scenes PNC Park employees likely have experienced at least one of those interactions with Kelly. Ditto for the Pirates’ players, coaches and extended support staff.
Kelly, with his affable demeanor, doesn’t fit the bill of someone prone to frequently losing their temper.
And yet, the Pirates’ mild-mannered hometown skipper is tied for the major-league lead in ejections among managers (three) so far this season.
“I’m going to stand up for our guys and our team,” said Kelly, a Mt. Lebanon and Point Park University graduate. “I think that yes, I can be quiet and have a more low-key demeanor. I’m also a competitor. That’s what, as a player, helped me get to where I got to. I think these guys have that same thing.”
Tied with Kelly is none other than Derek Shelton, who led the Pirates from 2020-25 before being fired in May of last year after a 12-26 start.
But Shelton landed on his feet quickly and is in his first year as manager of the Minnesota Twins, who visit PNC Park over the weekend, marking Shelton’s return to Pittsburgh.
Kelly was an inaugural member of Shelton’s staff, serving as his bench coach before succeeding him as manager May 8, 2025.
While Shelton can attest to Kelly’s comportment, he’s not surprised at Kelly’s feistiness with umpires when the situation has called for it.
“I did not know that,” Shelton said of his tie with Kelly. “I did know that I had three. It doesn’t surprise me. I know last year, right after I left, (Kelly) got a couple really quick. Those are all circumstantial. He’s also really close with (former Pirates manager Jim) Leyland, so you never know how that rubs off.”
Ahead of Friday’s series opener, Kelly had been ejected seven times through 181 career games managed.
He’s got a ways to go to catch Leyland, a mentor and friend, who over 22 big-league seasons as manager, including 1986-1996 with the Pirates, was ejected 73 times.
That ranks Leyland tied for 10th all-time, while Shelton has 19 in 803 games.
Undoubtedly secure is the late Bobby Cox’s record of 162 ejections — a full MLB season’s worth of being tossed — over 29 seasons.
Kelly’s first ejection did not come in the manager’s chair, nor during his nine-year MLB playing career, which spanned 584 games from 2007-2016.
Instead, Kelly was serving as Pirates bench coach Aug. 13, 2023, in the second game of a doubleheader at home vs. the Cincinnati Reds.
In the sixth inning of an eventual 6-5 Reds win in extra innings, Shelton, pitching coach Oscar Marin and reliever Ryan Borucki, who had recently exited the game, were chirping at home plate umpire Nick Lentz after a walk to Luke Maile.
Lentz responded by ejecting Shelton, Marin and the unfortunate Kelly, who had stayed silent but was in the wrong place at the wrong time, simultaneously.
Borucki pleaded with Lentz that it was him, not Kelly, whose comments merited ejection, but to no avail.
The ejections left third-base coach Mike Rabelo to manage the remainder of the game.
“That was my first ever,” Kelly recalled. “It was kind of disappointing, because I didn’t earn it. Honestly in that moment, (Lentz) thought I was a player. He threw out the manager, bench coach and pitching coach in one pitch, which I had never seen before, which is pretty fascinating.”
Since becoming manager, Kelly undoubtedly has “earned” some of his ejections.
Most recently, he was tossed May 25 against the Chicago Cubs for arguing with third-base umpire Dan Bellino after a review ruled that rookie Konnor Griffin’s helmet was not grazed by a pitch in the second inning.
Slow-motion replay of the pitch seemed to confirm otherwise, in both Kelly’s and Griffin’s eyes.
But Griffin was recalled from first base, at which point Kelly decided he needed to make a statement, even so early in the game.
what
Replay review did not show enough to overturn this Konnor Griffin non-HBP, and Don Kelly has been ejected. pic.twitter.com/NOf56RkjAu
— Platinum Key (@PlatinumKey13) May 25, 2026
“I know the replay was maybe a little vague, but you can see the ball change direction and the seams shift on the baseball when (Griffin) got hit,” Kelly said. “If you listen to the sounds, you can hear it double click, that he definitely got hit. Konnor’s not going to say anything in that moment. Just felt like for me to be able to stand up for him was something that we’ve got to do.
“It’s not personal, but part of it is because we just had a kid get hit in the helmet that is really close to being catastrophic, and we, in my opinion, didn’t get the call right.”
Griffin admired Kelly for defending him.
“He’s just standing up for us,” Griffin said. “I appreciated it. That’s why we like him. He gets into his competitive mode, too. He wants to win games, and he wants to fight for the players. That’s why we respect him a lot.”
That ejection was the second in three games for Kelly, who was also tossed May 23 against the Toronto Blue Jays for arguing about check swings with home-plate umpire Alan Porter.
Umpire Alan Porter initially failed to recognize a Pirates challenge request.
When pitching coach, Bill Murphy, complained, Porter pointed at Murphy, shouted, "get the fuck out of here", and ejected him.
The next pitch, manager Don Kelly complained about a check swing call… pic.twitter.com/c1HLkDxf6q
— Umpire Auditor (@UmpireAuditor) May 24, 2026
Roughly over a calendar year into his managerial career, ejections in bunches have been a theme for Kelly.
Three days after becoming manager, on May 10, 2025, Kelly was ejected for the first time in his role after arguing the strike zone with Clint Vondrak against the Atlanta Braves.
Six days later, against the Philadelphia Phillies, Kelly was thrown out after complaining about a missed check swing call by third-base umpire John Libka.
On May 30, 2025, against the San Diego Padres, Kelly was ejected for a third time after he blew up on home-plate umpire Edwin Jimenez for a bad strike three call on Henry Davis. The bases were loaded at the time, and a walk would have tied the score in the eighth inning.
“I think it’s something, talking about last year when I took over with the guys — we are fighting for that respect, and we have to earn it,” Kelly explained. “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.”
The aftermath of ejections are lonely experiences for a player, coach or manager who must retreat to the solitude of an empty clubhouse.
Home or away, Kelly heads back to the manager’s office, where he watches the remainder of the game on TV.
Before long, like clockwork, a pair of phone calls come in.
The first is from his wife, Carrie, who might chastise him for any foul language she was able to decipher via video replay.
Next is Leyland, who never ceases to have time to talk through things with his former player and protege.
“He’s always just looking out for me,” Kelly said. “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 — guys feel that. It doesn’t matter what else happens.”