The Image of the Manager

"Why do the Tigers destroy players? They totally wreck them." My dad and I were talking the other day. Actually, we've had this conversation a few times. 

Tigers manager Jim Leyland has a team that plays in his image. 

Photo credit to Kevin Ward -- http://goo.gl/JmMf -- via Flickr. 

As a longtime Tigers fan, I always defend them. I only complain about the coaches on the Tigers, especially Lloyd McClendon, the hitting coach. It's my belief that he doesn't do much teaching to the players about situational hitting. Granted, by the time someone reaches the Major Leagues, they should have a concept, but it just doesn't seem to be happening in Detroit. 

Another frustration is Rick Knapp, the pitching coach. I thought he was a great hire originally, but now, I have my doubts. I guess I thought he was good because he came from the Minnesota Twins organization. It's troubling, however, that two pitchers, Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello, have been optioned to the AAA team in Toledo and come back better than when they left. Again, I am doubtful about the teaching at the highest level. 

Both the hitting and pitching suffered greatly last week–end in Cleveland. Absolutely, the Indians had no business sweeping the Tigers. It is embarrassing. The Indians are not a good team; therefore, the Tigers must be pretenders instead of contenders. 

Lynn Henning says that we fans should not blame Jim Leyland because it's the players who play. I disagree. The Tigers play in the image of the skipper. It's ho-hum, no big deal all the time. Leyland's favorite quote is, "They're professionals. I don't have to tell them they screwed up." 

Tell you what, after the Mistakes by the Lake, Leyland should have put the guys on a bus instead of a plane, made a pit stop in Toledo and explained that this is where the AAA players play. "Anybody want to stay here?" he could have asked. 

Anybody want to stay here?