PITTSBURGH - Rich Donnelly doesn't figure to be among the candidates for the now-vacant Pittsburgh Pirates managerial post.

"I don't think I'm on their short list," the former Pirates coach said. "I don't think I'm on any list at all."

But he would like to be.

Coming off his third year as third base coach for the Milwaukee Brewers, Donnelly, 59, served as a coach on Jim Leyland's staff with the Pirates from 1986 through 1996. He was the Bucs' bullpen coach from 1986-91 and third base coach from 1992-96. He rejoined Leyland with the Florida Marlins in 1997 and was third base coach for that World Series championship team.

A native of nearby Steubenville, Ohio, who still lives in that area, Donnelly didn't fly back to Milwaukee with the Brewers after Sunday's 3-1 loss to the Pirates. He simply drove home. And he'd love to stay home.

"Jim Leyland told me I should apply for the Pirate job, but I'm not going to," Donnelly said. "If somebody calls me and wants to interview me for a manager's opening, I'd be on a plane tomorrow. Otherwise, I already have a job I'm happy with, so I don't feel I should actively apply for other jobs.

"Now if I didn't have a job? Different story. That's just how I feel about it."

Donnelly interviewed for the third base and bench coaching openings for the Pirates when they restructured their coaching staff two years ago.

"I didn't get either job," he said. "If they're not interested in me as a coach, I doubt they're interested in me as a manger. And that's fine."

Involved in professional baseball for 35 years, 24 as a major league coach, Donnelly hasn't interviewed for a major league managerial job since the mid-1980s, when the Texas Rangers job was open. He had been first base coach for Texas from 1983-85 and managed the franchise's Triple-A affiliate for six years.

He lost out on that Texas job to Darrell Johnson, who lasted only a year as Rangers skipper, and Donnelly moved on to Pittsburgh.

"I bumped into (Rangers) general manager Eddie Robinson on a cruise a few years later and he said the biggest mistake he ever made in baseball was not hiring me as his manager," Donnelly said. "I was honored by that."

But he hasn't interviewed for a manager's job since.

"It's one of those things," Donnelly said. "I'm thankful for my career in baseball. I coached under one of the best managers of all-time (Leyland), I was part of three division titles and a World Series champion, now I'm working for a great guy in (Brewers manager) Ned Yost. I can't complain about a thing.

"I'm just a kid from 127 Langley Avenue (in Steubenville). I can't believe all the good that's happened to me in this game."

Still one of Leyland's best friends, Donnelly said the former Pirates skipper wants to return to the team.

"He wants the job badly, but Jim feels the same way I do - he won't call them unless they call him - and the Pirates haven't called him," Donnelly said. "Jim loves the young talent in Pittsburgh and believes they're ready to win very soon.

"The Pirates are similar to the Brewers. Both teams are seeing anticipated young talent arrive now, only our young talent is mostly hitting and theirs is mostly pitching. Young pitchers can get a team ahead of the game very quickly.

"Whoever does get the Pirate job is going to have more to work with than he realizes, I can tell you that," Donnelly added.

And if that somebody isn't Leyland, he won't sweat it. There will be other managerial openings out there.

"If I call Jim Leyland on his cell phone (today), I'm gonna get a busy signal," Donnelly said.