Former Amherst High School, Liberty University and Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Randy Tomlin will serve as Liberty Christian Academy’s baseball coach, starting Jan. 23.

Tomlin, a southpaw who went 30-31 with a 3.43 ERA with the Pirates from 1990 to 1994 before his pitching career was sidetracked by a shoulder injury, spent 10 years as LU’s pitching coach and the past five in the same capacity with the Washington Nationals’ single-A affiliate at Potomac (2007 and 2008) and AA franchise in Harrisburg, Pa.

“I thought it was a good move for me to be at home to take care of the needs at home,” said Tomlin, whose father-in-law was diagnosed with cancer in October of 2010 and died last June. “I loved being with the Nationals and still do, but I needed to take care of my family.”

He is looking forward to his first head coaching position.

“I’m excited about it … to be able to be back at home and continue to do what I love doing,” said Tomlin, who has lived in Lynchburg since starting his coaching career at LU in 1997 and has an 18-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter at E.C. Glass and another son who’s 9. “This was a great opportunity at LCA to be at home, make an impact on kids’ lives and teach them about baseball and life.”

The Bulldogs’ current coach, Mike Morris, who guided them to the VIS Division I state quarterfinals last year, will stay on as Tomlin’s assistant.

“It was a classy move by Mike,” said LCA athletic director Frank Rocco, who was a fan of Tomlin’s when he pitched for the Pirates and coached football at LU at the same time Tomlin coached baseball. “To have a former Major League pitcher and professional baseball coach on staff, [Morris] agreed to step aside and learn from him.”

After coaching predominantly pitchers throughout his career, Tomlin will have his first chance to work with positional players and manage games at the high school level.

“It’s going to be a great challenge for me,” Tomlin said, noting the talent is in place to make a return trip to the state playoffs. “They’ve got a great group of young kids coming up through there, a core group of sophomores and a couple older kids who are going to be graduating next year, and I’m looking forward to spending time with them.”

Rocco believes the transition from coaching at the professional to the high school ranks will be a smooth one.

“He’s been working with high school kids for all the years he’s been coaching in the minor leagues,” Rocco said. “He’s stayed very connected to Lynchburg.”

Tomlin is close to receiving his teaching certificate and will work temporarily as a substitute teacher at LCA next semester.

“Anything I do, I’m committed to what I do,” he said. “I trust God for the plan He would have for me and opening those doors. For now, I’m committed to helping LCA to continue to build a baseball program. I’m just going to try to go out and win a state championship and pursue that as long as I can.”

However, he wouldn’t rule out a return to coaching in the Nationals’ organization in the future.

“I will miss them and do,” Tomlin said. “The Nationals and [Harrisburg] Senators treated me great. I made a lot of great friendships and loved working with the guys I did.

“I’m very happy with the opportunity they gave me,” he added. “They understood the decision I had to make. They said they would keep in touch with me. The door’s still open. It wasn’t closed when I left.”

Read More: John Grabow (P – LOS), Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Dodgers

According to reports, the Los Angeles Dodgers have signed left-handed reliever John Grabow to a minor league deal. The transaction was first tweeted by John Scanlan on Saturday and was verified by MLB Trade Rumors.

The 33-year-old Grabow struggled after he was acquired by the Chicago Cubs from the Pittsburgh Pirates in July 2009. Grabow posted a 5.52 ERA in 88 innings while knee and shoulder injuries caused him to miss games. It was a disappointing tenure especially after Grabow signed a two-year, $7.5 million extension four months into his time with the Cubs.

In 506 games over a nine-year career, Grabow is 24-19 with a 4.31 ERA in 476.1 innings pitched. He started his MLB career in 2003 with the Pirates after being selected in the 3rd round of the 1997 amateur draft.

For more on the Dodgers and their minor league deals, and more, be sure to read True Blue LA.

December 19, 2011 – Florida State League (FSL) Bradenton Marauders
BRADENTON, FL – The Pittsburgh Pirates and Bradenton Marauders are seeking concessions staff for the upcoming Spring Training and Florida State League (FSL) seasons at McKechnie Field. Jobs are part-time, gameday positions in roles including cashiering, cooking, bartending and other food services roles.

Workers are being sought immediately. Spring Training positions will last through the month of March and FSL positions will run until the conclusion of the FSL season around Labor Day. Employees will be asked to arrive at McKechnie Field on assigned gamedays. Most Spring Training gameday positions are during daytime hours while most Marauders gameday positions consist of evening shifts.

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Bradenton Marauders will be holding a Job Fair at Pirate City in the Dining Hall, 1701 27th Street East, Bradenton, FL 34208 on Thursday, January 5th and Thursday, January 19th. There will be two interview sessions held each day, the first session will run from 10:00AM – 1:00PM and the second session will be from 5:00PM – 8:00PM. Interested applicants may attend any of the four sessions.

If unable to attend the Job Fair at Pirate City, interested applicants may apply through the Online Job Fair at careers.pirates.com. Additional details regarding the Online Job Fair are also available at www.bradentonmarauders.com.

For more information about concessions positions with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Bradenton Marauders, please contact Pirate City at 941-747-3031.

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• Pittsburgh Pirates Searching for 2012 Concessions Staff – Bradenton Marauders

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Read More: C.J. Wilson (P – ANA), Paul Maholm (P – PIT), Mark Buehrle (P – FLA), Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs

According to a report from ESPN Chicago’s Bruce Levine, the Chicago Cubs are in negotiations with free agent left-handed starting pitcher Paul Maholm, who has spent the last seven seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Chicago Cubs have been looking for a left-handed starter this offseason, and Maholm presents a decidedly cheaper option than either C.J. Wilson or Mark Buehrle would have, especially if they can work out a deal similar to his last one:

Maholm made $6.25 million in 2011, the final season of $13.75 million deal he inked with the Pittsburgh Pirates prior to the 2009 season. He was a combined 53-73 with a 4.36 ERA during his seven seasons in Pittsburgh.

Playing in Pittsburgh didn’t do Maholm’s win-loss record any favors — he was 6-14 in 2011 — but he did post a respectable 3.66 ERA in his final season with the Pirates.

For more updates on Chicago sports, stay tuned to SB Nation Chicago. For more in-depth coverage of the Cubs, head over to Bleed Cubbie Blue. Also, check out MLB Daily Dish for Cubs rumors and transactions.

The young people who went through the line and collected autographs of Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle, pitchers Daniel McCutchen and James McDonald, and broadcaster John Wehner smiled from ear to ear on Thursday night during the team’s Winter Caravan stop at Cabela’s in Ohio County.

What they didn’t realize is they weren’t the ones getting the bigger thrill.

”It’s awesome,” said McCutchen, who didn’t meet his first Major League Baseball player until he was a junior in college.

It wasn’t until McCutchen was playing baseball at the University of Oklahoma when he met his first big leaguers in former Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim outfielder Reggie Willits and veteran MLB pitcher Jamey Wright, a couple of Oklahoma natives who worked out with some of the Sooners players.

”I know how big of a deal it was to me,” McCutchen said.

The Pittsburgh Pirates try not to let anyone in their fan base wait anywhere near that long for that star-crossed moment.

”The Pirates organization has been as aggressive in a good way as any of the three organizations I’ve been,” Hurdle said. ”The (Texas) Rangers were awesome. The (Colorado) Rockies were awesome. The Pirates, we’re connected to the community so many different ways – fundraisers for all different sorts of charities, book reads, clothes handouts, school visitations, hospital visitations – and there are a lot of individual foundations that players have set up. But we are absolutely trying to find our way to get more involved in the community. It’s a blue-collar town fan base and we love the interaction.”

Among Thursday’s Caravan stops was a clinic in Pittsburgh for special needs kids.

”That was really special to see those kids and see how excited they would get and all of the emotions they were spilling out there,” McCutchen said.

That’s something that isn’t uncommon for McCutchen and his teammates.

”I probably went to the (Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh) five or six times during the season,” McCutchen said. ”We tried to do it every homestand. That’s something that we really like to do.”

Hurdle said when something comes up, the Pirates are never short on volunteers.

”Whenever we’ve had an ask, we’ve been able to meet the need,” he said. ”That hasn’t always happened (in his previous stops). Our players understand. We need to get out. We need to let (the fans) know we appreciate them showing up. And through the months of June and July, (PNC Park) was rocking. The fan base was back; it was special. And we need to build that so we can have enthusiasm, that energy, for a six-month period.”

Jim Trdinich, the director of Pirates media relations, said it’s the same way throughout the entire organization.

”They all give back in some way,” he said. ”We have a program not only with the big-league club, but every minor league team has to devote a particular amount of hours to community service. Every year, we have a person at each level, including the major leagues, who spends the most time in the community who does the community service above and beyond.”

As Hurdle said, it’s not like that everywhere. That’s why he loves seeing those smiling faces as much as they enjoy seeing his.

”It’s an opportunity for us to give something back,” he said. ”Our fan base is critical. We know it comes from a three-state region. We know how important it is for the fans in West Virginia to associate with our ballclub. For us to come down here, make some eye contact, shake a hand, it’s special. I think it personalizes the relationship.”

Pirates Charities was integral to the Miracle Field of the Ohio Valley effort. A groundbreaking ceremony for the special needs facility was held in October at the J.B. Chambers Youth Sports Complex in Elm Grove.