Major League Baseball

Pirates work on polishing social skills, image

Published May. 6, 2010 8:49 p.m. ET

foxsports

The Pittsburgh Pirates devoted more than two hours of their pregame routine to polishing their skills.

Not their base running, fielding or bunting. Their social skills.

Figuring a franchise coming off 17 consecutive losing seasons could use some image polishing, the Pirates brought in an expert who has worked with athletes such as Sidney Crosby and 30 first-round draft picks to sharpen their communication skills, boost their confidence and improve their media awareness.

The presentation by Steve Shenbaum, a former actor and the president and founder of game on Media, LLC trimmed part of the Pirates' pregame rituals before Thursday's game against the Cubs, but manager John Russell didn't mind.

``It was a lot of fun; the players enjoyed it,'' Russell said. ``It was a good two hours spent with a guy that was very energetic and got these guys to communicate with each other a little bit. It was very, very fun. It was interesting.''

Must have been productive, too. Soon after, the Pirates scored five runs in the first inning - tying their season high.

While game helps athletes present themselves well in public - social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter are covered - Shenbaum's talk also was aimed at building a closer team.

The Washington Redskins, Jacksonville Jaguars, West Virginia University and the University of Cincinnati also have worked with the company, which is based at the IMG sports academies in Bradenton, Fla.. The Pirates hold their spring training camp in Bradenton and have a Class A farm club based there.

Russell said part of the program was aimed at ``getting the guys to open a little bit and (show their) personalities. It's hard to explain. But it was fun.''

The company employs several communication coaches to help team and athletes show themselves favorably during interviews and public appearances. According to game on's website, it advises athletes in advance of pre-draft interviews by pro coaches and general managers, press conferences, meetings with sponsors or advertisers and appearances on talk shows or award shows.

Two areas of emphasis: displaying honesty, humility and humor and interacting well with fans.

Clients identified by the company include Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Eli Manning, Pete Sampras, Carmelo Anthony, Jordan Toews and DeJuan Blair, the San Antonio Spurs rookie and former Pitt player.

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