Pirates manager Shelton utilizes Steinbrenner influence

By MARK DIDTLER
Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton’s first managerial job as a 29-year-old was unlike any other in the rookie leagues: New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner was a regular at his home games. Talk about learning how to handle pressure. Shelton’s opportunity came in 2000 with the Yankees’ Gulf Coast League team, which played games at New York’s minor league complex in Tampa, Florida. That was about a mile from Steinbrenner’s fourth-floor office at the Yankees’ spring training ballpark. Shelton said Steinbrenner’s presence “100 percent” helps him today,