r hitting coach.Its no surprise to me, because theyve done it the last two years, Dale Sveum said. For them, this might be a m

PITTSBURGH -- Sheldon Jeter practically did a spit take when Pittsburgh hired Kevin Stallings to replace Jamie Dixon last spring.I was shocked, as I imagine most people were, said the senior forward, who played under Stallings for one season at Vanderbilt before eventually making his way to the Panthers. I didnt see that coming.Shock, however, eventually gave way to acceptance and something even more promising: optimism. When Jeters teammates asked him for a read on Stallings while they pondered whether to leave or not, Jeter offered some salient advice.I told them coach is a genuine guy, Jeter said. Everything he says, he means.Ultimately, everybody stayed, giving Stallings a solid foundation to start with as he begins anew following 17 years with the Commodores.Theyve embraced the changes, Stallings said. Theyve embraced the newness of the culture. Theyve embraced me.The promise of a fresh start in a system that will be more free-flowing than the one Dixon used to unprecedented success during his dozen years at Pitt helps. Stallings, who jokingly admitted he couldnt cover his butt with both hands as a defender during his own playing career, wants the Panthers to feel empowered to go out and make plays instead of reflexively looking at the bench following every miscue.I dont want them to make a turnover and say `Oh, coach is going to take me out, Stallings said. Eventually that negatively impacts their playing psyche.Pitt returns four starters from a team that went 21-12 in Dixons final season, one that ended with a second-round loss to Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament. External expectations are modest. Not so inside the Petersen Events Center. The day Stallings took over he and athletic director Scott Barnes both said the deciding factor was each sides firm belief the Panthers have everything in place -- from facilities and leadership to recruiting footprint -- to reach the Final Four.Getting back to the tournament would be a solid first step, one Pitt believes it can take even with Dixon at his alma mater (TCU) and the decidedly more emotive Stallings on the sideline.Were trying to build something this year, senior forward Jamel Artis said. People, writers, dont have us top in the nation right now. Were trying to prove them wrong.Some things to look for as Pitt prepares for its opener on Nov. 11 against Eastern Michigan:SENIOR MOMENTS: In Jeter, Artis, Michael Young and Chris Jones the Panthers have four seniors who have helped guide the rest of the roster through the transition from Dixon to Stallings. Stallings expects to repay that loyalty by relying heavily on the quartet, who averaged a combined 44 points a game last season.We will go as those guys go, Stallings said. If they lead us in a productive and positive way. Then everybody else will fall in line with that. If they are individualistic or self-driven then it becomes a problem.MAKING A POINT: Stallings has come up with an interesting solution in replacing four-year starter James Robinson at point guard: give Artis the ball. The 6-foot-7 Artis was effective at times when handling the ball in the high post under Dixon. Stallings wants Artis to bring the ball up too. Artis didnt exactly balk at the idea, figuring its the best way for the Panthers to win while also showing pro scouts what he can do.Watching Vanderbilt, their offense was pretty spaced out, Artis said. (Handling the ball) is part of the transition to the NBA.GIDDY UP: Stallings described his offense as structured freedom. The Panthers plan to take the concept and run with it. Contrary to popular opinion, Dixon did give his players more leeway offensively after the Panthers transitioned to the ACC. Yet they came with certain caveats and the threat of a quick hook when things went awry. While Stallings isnt going to indulge mistakes, but he will try to live with them as his players try to figure things out.You have to get to everybody going uptempo, Jeter said. We have to get everyone used to playing at his speed and really thinking on the fly instead of having a play set in motion.JUSTICE FOR ALL?: The Panthers welcome just three new faces this year: transfer guard Crisshawn Clark and freshmen Corey Manigault and Justice Kithcart. The fleet 6-1, 185-pound Kithcart should get plenty of opportunities to show Stallings hes capable of running the show. The key will be finding a way to play fast, but not loose. Custom Soccer Jerseys .35 million, one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration. 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It was supposed to be Big Papis night. It was supposed to be the Chicago Cubs night. We had our All-Star scripts and our All-Star storylines written in our heads. And then ...As usual, when it was time to hit the big stage Tuesday night, it turned into the Kansas City Royals show.It turned into Eric Hosmers magical All-Star evening. It turned into Salvador Perezs magical All-Star evening. It may have been July, not October, but it all felt very familiar -- two men who have spent so much time on the big stage doing what theyve now done so many times.Hosmer sliced a second-inning homer to left field in the first All-Star at-bat of his life. Two batters later, Perez became the first catcher in Royals history to make an All-Star Game home run trot, bopping a towering two-run bomb to left off his friend, Johnny Cueto. An inning later, Hosmer would single in yet another run, on his way to an All-Star MVP award.And that was the story of the 2016 All-Star Game: Royals 4, National League 2. And it all made perfect sense -- other than the fact that a team that hit two home runs in the entire World Series changed the All-Star Game with two home runs in the same inning.Wow. Crazy, Perez said, with a smile as wide as Coronado Beach, as that news was delivered to his locker. Thats why baseball is crazy. You know that. But crazy good. Yessir.Crazy good. Yessir. The Royals are full of crazy goodness, every time they need it most. So here is more of the craziness they sprung on the world, on the way to handing home-field advantage to whoever the heck the American League representative in the World Series may turn out to be:? Never once, in the six seasons and 575 games they had started together as big league teammates, had Hosmer and Perez homered in the same inning of any game -- regular season or postseason. So of course they both went deep in the very first inning in which they both batted in an All-Star Game.? And who gave up those two homers? Didnt it make perfect, crazy-good sense that it would be Cueto, their teammate on the World Series Express last fall? Only once, in 86 previous All-Star Games, had any player hit a home run off a pitcher he had played with the year before. (The lone instance: Alfonso Soriano homered off Roger Clemens in the 2004 Midsummer Classic.) Then Hosmer and Perez did it in a span of three hitters in this game. Yeah, right. Of course they did.? And no catcher had ever hit an All-Star home run against a pitcher hed caught the year before. But you cant say never anymore, thanks to Perezs homer. (Never? Perez gulped when we passed along that bulletin, then let out a giant laugh. Thats why were tight, boys.)? And oh, by the way, this was all very strange on Cuetos end, too. He hadnt given up two home runs in the same inning of a regular-season game since July 8, 2014. That was 70 starts ago.? Meanwhile, just one other time before this had any set of teammates homered in the same inning of the same All-Star Game, according to research by Elias Sports Bureau. You have to go back more than four decades to find the last time it happened, to Steve Garvey and Jim Wynn hitting long balls off Vida Blue in 1975.? And finally, how rare is it for two teammates to drive in all the runs for the winning team in any All-Star Game? So rare, acccording Elias research, that it had never happened before.ddddddddddddBut Hosmer and Perez know all about what it takes to do stuff that had never been done. Or stuff that people kept telling them couldnt be done. Its the specialty of their house. And on this night, it was the American League that reaped the benefits, not just the long-suffering citizens of Kansas City.I enjoyed that, said AL starter Chris Sale, who had fallen behind, 1-0, on a Kris Bryant homer, before Hosmer and Perez took over. Because the last time I faced them, those same guys took me deep. So it was nice to see that for me and not against me.The only two teammates who had even homered in the same game in any of the previous 40 All-Star Games were David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, of the 2004 Red Sox. And its an excellent bet that Hosmer and Perez wont approach the same orbit as the 1,080 career homers Ortiz and Manny would go on to mash in their careers.But in their own way, Hosmer and Perez have become the faces of this generation of Royals, much the same way that Papi and Manny were the faces of the curse-busting Red Sox. So for these two men to share this moment, on this night, left both of them with a singular All-Star glow that is going to take a long, long time to fade.Couldnt have worked out any better, Hosmer said. Salvy and I go way back. A lot of you guys know we have been playing this game together for a long time. And to share that experience and have the games we did tonight was really special.Moments after uttering those words, Hosmer strolled across the clubhouse to his locker, the MVP trophy tucked under his arm. Perez looked up in mid-interview and lurched toward his All-Star co-star, to deliver a high-five and a hug, saying: Whats up, my MVP?Hoz is the best, Perez said, after that little hug break was over. We play together a lot. And I feel so happy for him and for his family. And now hes MVP, so thats exciting.Their team has had a frustrating first half, thanks to an onslaught of injuries and rotation issues. But if youve had a tough time looking past the standings, you might have missed something: Both Hosmer and Perez have used that October glory for fuel. Theyre both headed for the best offensive seasons of their careers. So what they did on this night, on this stage, came as no surprise to their hitting coach.Its no surprise to me, because theyve done it the last two years, Dale Sveum said. For them, this might be a much smaller stage.This is kind of their setting, the Royals hitting coach went on. And Ive seen it the last two years. Theyre just special people when it comes to that stage.No Royal had hit a home run in an All-Star Game since Bo Jackson in 1989. And before this night, only Bo would know what it took to be an All-Star MVP. But not anymore. Because Hosmer and Perez would turn this into yet one more night when this generation of Royals rose up to rewrite the history of their franchise.It might not be enough to propel back toward another ride on the parade floats. But no matter where this journey leads them, Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez will always have the memories of this crazy-good evening playing on the DVRs in their brains.Crazy good. Yessir. ' ' '