By Will Graves, Associated Press

PITTSBURGH — A rare Super Bowl stumble by the Steelers. A season- and perhaps career-changing injury to Sidney Crosby. Signs of life from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

All highlighted another eventful but championship-less year in western Pennsylvania sports.

The Steelers tied the Dallas Cowboys ‘ NFL record by making an eighth Super Bowl appearance in 2011. But they couldn’t bring home their seventh Lombardi Trophy, falling to the Green Bay Packers.

The Pittsburgh Penguins began 2011 in the NHL Winter Classic at Heinz Field. The Penguins lost the game, then lost superstar Sidney Crosby for more than 10 months due to concussion-like symptoms. He returned briefly last month until his symptoms resurfaced.

And while the Pirates didn’t end their ugly 18-season losing streak, the club did post a 15-win improvement over 2010.

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.

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.

Baseball America is one of the most popular websites for finding information and rankings on Major League Baseball prospects. They often release rankings of the top overall prospects as well as each team’s top 10 prospects. Recently Baseball America updated all their lists and these are the top 10 prospects in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization according to them.

10. Jeff Locke, Left-handed Pitcher

When the Pittsburgh Pirates traded Nate McLouth the front office got a lot of heat from fans but in that trade the Pirates got Jeff Locke, who is now their 10^th best prospect, along with one of their current starters (Charlie Morton) and a prospect that Baseball America ranks as their best defensive outfielder (Gorkys Hernandez).

9. Stetson Allie, Right-handed Pitcher

Stetson Allie gave up 19 runs in just 26.0 innings pitched in his first season in the minors. Hopefully the 2010 2^nd round draft pick will get it together eventually but he has dropped to ninth on Baseball America’s list after being third last season.

8. Robbie Grossman, Outfielder

Robbie Grossman batted .294 with 13 home runs, 56 RBI and 24 stolen bases at Bradenton this past season. Grossman, drafted in the sixth round in 2008, is one of the few players on this list that was not drafted in the first three rounds of the draft. Baseball America ranks Grossman as the Pittsburgh propsect with the best strike-zone discipline.

7. Tony Sanchez, Catcher

Tony Sanchez was the 1^st round pick in the 2009 draft. Hopefully Sanchez will pan out because I believe the Pirates had about 87 different players field the catcher position last season. Last time Baseball America did a Top 100 overall prospects list Sanchez was the second Pirate on the list and was ranked #46.

6. Kyle McPherson, Right-handed Pitcher

Last season Kyle McPherson started in A+ where he went 4-1 with a 2.89 ERA with 60 strikeouts and just 6 walks. McPherson then moved up to AA where he went 8-5 with a 3.02 ERA, struck out 82 and walked only 21. Baseball America ranks this 14th-rounder as the Pirates’ pitcher with the best changeup and the best control.

5. Luis Heredia, Right-handed Pitcher

Luis Heredia was not drafted by the Pirates but was signed as a free agent out of Mexico for $2.6 million. Heredia went 1-2 with a 4.75 ERA in 12 games in the Gulf Coast League but he is still only 17-years old.

4. Starling Marte, Outfielder

Starling Marte was certainly the Pirates prospect with the best numbers last season. At AA Marte batted .332, hit 12 home runs with 50 RBI, scored 91 runs and stole 24 bases. Marte represented the Pirates in the Future’s Game and Baseball America ranks him as the Pirates’ best hitter for average.

3. Josh Bell, Outfielder

The Pirates made a risky pick when they drafted Josh Bell in the second round of the 2011 draft. Some teams wanted Bell in the 1^st round but passed on him, convinced he was going decline playing in the Minors to play at the University of Texas. The Pirates drafted him anyway and gave him a bonus too good to pass up, stealing a young first-round level draft pick in the second round.

2. Jameson Taillon, Right-handed Pitcher

Jameson Taillon was the 2^nd overall pick in the first round of the 2010 draft. On Baseball America’s last Top 100 prospect list they ranked Taillon as 11^th overall ahead of some high profile prospects such as Matt Moore, Michael Pineda, Freddie Freeman, Zach Britton and Kyle Drabek. Taillon pitched 92.2 innings in 2011 and allowed 41 earned runs (3.98 ERA), 97 strikeouts and 22 walks. Not bad numbers so far for a 19-year old.

1. Gerrit Cole, Right-handed Pitcher

Gerrit Cole was chosen first overall in the 2011 draft. On August 15^th Cole signed with the Pirates with a signing bonus of $8 million. Baseball America ranks Cole as the Pirates pitcher with the best fastball and the best slider.

Sources:

Pittsburgh Pirates Rankings at Baseball America

The last several generations of Lee Andrew Henderson’s family were Pittsburgh born and even though he was born in Alabama he has been a long time fan of the Pirates, Steelers and Panthers. Lee Andrew Henderson can be found on Twitter at @LeeAHenderson

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