A class act departs
Banister is laid off after decades-plus with Pirates
Jeff Banister has been a consistent source of positivity throughout his threeplus decades in professional baseball, all but four years of them with the Pirates.
So, it should surprise no one that Banister is taking a glass half-full approach to the fact that last week he was laid off from his job as a special assistant in baseball operations.
“I can link myself to Danny Murtaugh through Bill Virdon,” Banister said during a lengthy phone interview with the
Post-Gazette on Monday. “When you think about that … or Chuck Tanner, Jim Leyland … for a guy who wouldn’t even have been drafted in this year’s draft and to think about where I ended up inside the organization, it’s been 31 years of being truly blessed.”
Banister touched on a variety of topics, including how he wasn’t given much of a shot to succeed Clint Hurdle and also that he’d like to continue doing something in pro ball.
But the biggest takeaway was that Banister, a 25th-round pick of the Pirates in 1986 who would eventually play and coach across several levels, will never stop loving this city or organization, even if the ending was a little abrupt.
Banister actually said he empathized with general manager Ben Cherington and president Travis Williams because he knows these are hard decisions to make, ones he saw occur with former
manager Hurdle and former general manager Neal Huntington.
“There’s no clean and easy way, right?” Banister said. “Everybody who’s been in a position to where you had to release somebody or let somebody go, it’s hard because you’re ending something that they love doing. When Ben and I talked, I understood that.
“Would I still love to be there? Absolutely. I’ve got dirt under my fingernails from old Pirate City, where the golf course is a city dump, McKechnie Field still had corrugated metal fences and wooden seats and we had locker rooms with chicken wire and cement floors. I used to walk by Roberto Clemente’s room that they had sealed up. I put my hand on the door every day, asking The Great One just to give me a little bit of talent so I could stick around.”
Stick around Banister did, serving as a minor league manager and field coordinator and also an assistant coach at the major league level. The Pirates brought Banister back in January 2019 after he spent four years managing the Rangers, winning a pair of AL West titles.
For those reasons, many had Banister pegged as Hurdle’s successor should something happen. Banister seemingly did, too.
But after Huntington was fired, Banister said he knew his chances of managing in Pittsburgh were gone.
“When Ben got the job, he contacted me immediately and let me know he wasn’t going to interview me for the managerial job,” Banister said. “And I get that part of it. I knew when Neal was let go, a new GM coming in, my opportunity to manage the team was probably gone.
“It was disappointing because of the number of years and the people who had taught me along the way, the history of it all.”
Banister said he and Cherington had hoped to talk more and spend some time together. “Really learning what my skill set was for him and how I could help the organization.” Banister said.
But with the coronavirus pandemic delaying the season, it limited what Banister and Cherington could discuss. With with an eye toward the future and how Cherington would like to do things moving forward, the Pirates decided last week that it was better to go in a different direction, letting Banister and around 14 others go.
“I have no other feelings other than respect for Ben and Travis,” Banister said. “They’re tough decisions. They’ve probably been given some tough assignments, as well. I can only imagine what they’ve had to do through all of this.”
Earlier this spring, Banister said he did not go to spring training, the first time in 35 years that happened. “I wasn’t invited,” he said.
Instead, Banister focused on the positives. He actually got to watch his son, Jacob, play a few games of his senior high school baseball season before COVID-19 struck with full force. Jacob is headed to Northern Colorado in the fall.
“In retrospect, the way things have gone with COVID, it was almost a blessing that I didn’t go because I got to see him play more games than I’ve ever seen him play,” Banister said.
This summer will probably be similar, Banister said. It will likely be tough to get work now, and he’ll also be paid by the Pirates through October. But with the Pirates doing this now, Banister and others will have time to contact people throughout the game and perhaps line up work for next season.
That, Banister said, is very much appreciated.
“It caught me a little bit off-guard that it happened when it did,” Banister said. “However, I’m also fortunate that it happened when it did.”
Banister that he still believes “there’s a lot of coach left in me,” perhaps even a managing job. He did, after all, interview to manage the Astros shortly before spring training started.
“Not done by any stretch,” Banister added. “Helping players get better, I enjoy that.”